Friday, October 5, 2012

patron resumes

Probably everyone already knows this--if I did know it then I'd forgotten: if a patron wants to create a resume, he or she can do it through the Learning Express data base on the ALD web site. It can be saved there, too! The patron can log in some other time to access it. Suzanne Kaller and a patron taught me this last night.

Monday, September 24, 2012

aldhotspot troubles

I've had a couple of patrons ask me why their computers don't seem to realize that they're connected to aldhotspot; that is to say, the icon in the lower left-hand corner of the screen shows that the wifi connection between the computer and aldhotspot is strong, but the computer screen says something like "Page Not Found." Librarian Nick Taylor demonstrated that if a patron--after connecting to aldhotspot--will first connect to the internet by choosing a browser icon and then respond to the ALD splash page, the problem is solved. I've seen this series of steps work on a smartphone and laptop computers.
Nick also reminded me that cookies must be disabled/turned off/deleted for the aldhotspot connection to function: select Tools from the browser window and then choose Internet Options to manage them.

Monday, September 17, 2012

How to Clean Up Windows

Some of the built-in functionality in Windows is underrated. The Disk Cleanup does a pretty handy job of wiping out junk you don’t need such as Microsoft Office temp files and old error reports. To run Disk Cleanup, open My Computer. Right-click the drive the OS is installed on and click Properties. Under the General tab, you’ll see a Disk Cleanup button. Click it and the app will run an analysis of the machine. You can dump the Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, Offline Webpages, Microsoft Error Reporting Temporary Files, Recycle Bin, Temporary Files, Web Client/ Publisher Temporary Files, Temporary Offline Files, Offline Files, and Catalog Files for the Content Indexer with no ill effects.


You don't need to hire a tech just nice an easy!!!!!!

Friday, August 31, 2012

amazon instant video

Did you all know that movies and such can be rented from Amazon? I didn't, not until just now. Renting from Amazon might be a good option for patrons who want movies that are so old they're not even available via interlibrary loan. Read on if you want to see what Amazon says.

What Is Amazon Instant Video?
We have it all, anytime you want it: this week's newest movie releases, your must-watch TV shows, and classic favorites, all available right now. Plus, you can subscribe to current TV seasons, with new episodes available the day after they air.
Our store offers instant streaming on the Kindle Fire, as well as PC, Mac, Roku, and hundreds of TVs and Blu-ray players. Plus, all of your videos are stored in Your Video Library, so you can access them anywhere you go.

Rent or Own?
For most movies, you'll see two prices: rent or buy (own).
Rentals start at $2.99. If you rent, you'll have 30 days from when you rent to start watching, and once you start watching, most movies have a 24-hour window to finish watching. Once the rental is over, the movie will automatically disappear from Your Video Library.
Buying a movie or TV show means you can watch it as many times as you want, now or later,
subject to terms of use.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Helping parents to sign-in to Cherry Creek Schools website to register their children

We have quite a few parents coming in to register their children on the Cherry Creek Schools website, and we are finding that our pop-up blocker settings are preventing them from logging on to the Cherry Creek website.

Just clicking on the yellow bar to temporarily allow pop-ups, does not work for the Cherry Creek website.  What you need to do is to do is:
            Click on the “tools” tab located on the toolbar
            In the tools menu box click on “Pop-up Blocker”
            Then click on “Turn off Pop-up Blocker”

When the computer re-boots after the patron’s session, the pop-up blocker will automatically be turned back on.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Problems downloading to iPhone, one possible solution

A patron came in with an iphone who was having difficulties downloading books to it. After checking several things-- that she had the Overdrive app, that the books were showing up in her Overdrive account as checked out to her and ready for downloading, she was going through the proper steps to download. But we still were having no success. I went to Amy C. and asked for her help and advice. She said it had been discovered that with iphones you sometimes had to remove the Overdrive app and then re-install it and that usually that fixed the problem.

New SkyDrive

 
 
SkyDrive home
Store any file on your free SkyDrive and it's automatically available from your phone and computers—no syncing or cables needed. When you use SkyDrive, you'll never be without the documents, notes, photos, and videos that matter to you.
SkyDrive works on your devices with a free download. Or you can sign in and get to your files at SkyDrive.com.

For Windows, Mac, iPad, and mobile.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/home


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G49DiAEyUdw&feature=related

The new SkyDrive gives you automatic access to your files in your Hotmail inbox and across PCs, Macs, iPad, and mobile.

Give it a try.


 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Convert a scanned document to a word document

Elizabeth S. and I were working together up and a man asked Elizabeth how to convert a scanned document into word.  He wanted to download the scan a document into a job application but he had scanned it as a picture.  This is how we converted a scan document into word so it could  be manipulated and edited into his application.

This is how we answered his question.
Convert the scanned document to a TIFF file. The can be done by opening or copying and pasting it into Microsoft paint and then saving it as a TIFF file.   Go to the “start” menu, point to “All programs” and select “Microsoft office.”  Open “Microsoft Office Tools” and then “Microsoft Office Document Imaging”.  Click the “open” button and find the scanned document saved as a TIFF file.  Press the keyboard shortcut “Control+A” to select the document. The scanned document will have a red line around it, showing that it is selected.  Open a new word document.  Copy and paste the selected scanned document and now it is an editable Word document.    

Monday, June 11, 2012

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Prezi PowerPoint Presentation

I thought this youtube clip on Prezi PowerPoint was an awesome introduction for those who have only seen Microsoft's PowerPoint.  This is a really cool, simple, and  innovative way to do a presentation that can be saved on-line instead of on a flashdrive.  Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUJyvowJI4&feature=related

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Biography resources in context

It’s that time of year again in children’s area where the 4th graders are coming in looking for Colorado Biographies. There is some obscure famous Coloradans that we do not have books on. Please don’t forget to show students our website. Take the student to “Research and databases” and find “Biography Resources in Context” This is a good place to start if there is not a book.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Some Kindle e-books can be loaned out to your friends for as many as 14 days. Not all e-books are available to share. If you want to loan a book to someone, check on Amazon's website under "product details" to see if the book is categorized as "Lending: enabled". From the Manage Your Kindle page, click on "Loan this title" to send a message to whomever you're loaning the book. The book won't be available to you for that loan period. Check out Amazon's page at amzn.to/elT1rV for more info.