Tips to help you with the next set of more things on a stick

While attending a Webjunction session at an MLA conference in Bloomington,MN this month, I learned that there are more things on a stick to come January 20, 2008. From the reaction that I noticed, not all of them are excited (-_-) about the new Things. From observation as an IT person from the Rochester Public Library and the conversations I got from the people at MLA, the main reason some people are not excited about these "Things" is because they are time consuming. As a systems administrator I can tell you that you can save a lot of time on these "Things" and save a lot of time at work if your computer skills are a little bit up to date. While reading Computers In Libraries October 2008 I found this article on page 54 that may help you with the next set of Library on a Stick Things.

Thing 1 Reboot, Reboot, Reboot.
Just so you know it is perfection ok to reboot the computer when it gets sick. We IT people expect you to do that when first. Instead of taking Tylenol when we get sick, rebooting the computer can cure the computer's sickness 95% of the times.

Thing 2 Minor reboot troubleshoot
Both patrons and staff are prone to leaving floppy disks in drives and flash drives in USB ports, leading to the dreaded "non-system disk" error on boot. Before rebooting the machine, please take your floppy disk out first.

Thing 3 Copy /Paste
Copy and Paste is a very useful tool that everybody should know how to do and use as often as posible. To copy, just highlight the text or URL then "CTRL +C". To paste, position your mouse at the place you want to paste then "CTRL + V" . Right click on the mouse to Copy, Paste, and Delete can do the same trick. I like this better because it is faster. You can copy folders, URL, Text,ect. I recently showed a staff how to use the right mouse click and he loved it.

Thing 4 Save, Move, and Copy files
Make sure you know how to save, move and copy files. If you don't know how to save a file to a location that you like and don't know how to find a file where you saved, that is going to be very difficult on everything that you do. Get these basic skills down quickly. Make sure you save the files on one of the network drives so that they are backed up regularly if you have a network.

Thing 5 Ask questions
If you are confused or don't khow how to use some functionalities, ask your IT personnels or co-workers. We IT people won't laugh at you for asking basic computer questions so call. You shouldn't wait until one of us walk by your desk then ask.

Thing 6 Deal with Printer Pressure.
You know how to load paper into the library's printers, change cartridges, and clear paper jams? Where does each printer open up? Where is most likely for paper to jam? Do you know that you have to remove the protective plastic covering before installing a cartrigde? Don't waste patron's or staff's time by waiting for an IT staff to come to clear a paper jam or other small things.

Thing 7 Decide among printer options
Make sure you know how to change paper from portrait to lanscape, change from color to black-and-white, and how to print multiple copies. You should know how to select printers if you have multiple printers installed.

Thing 8 How do you print frames, how do you print selected text?
Do you know how to print a given frame or selected text off any page? Can you show patrons how to do it? Some times you don't want to print the whole website just to get a selected few text.

Thing 9 Master basic word processing functions
What do the buttons on top of the page do? How do you make text bold or italic? Change font? text color? insert and image? Your blogging skills can improve significanly if you know these basic word processing functions.

Thing 10 Is everything plugged in?
Monitor cables, power cables, they all have an annoying habit of getting loose especially in the public in Children's area and Young Adult area. If a particular mahcine or peripheral doesn't turn on, which cable to check? These are level one technical support questions that we IT staff always look for first before anything else.

Thing 11 Are you on the network? Is that website really down?
Am I the only one having this problem or is it just me? If a patron complain that that his/her favorite website is down, make sure everyone is having the same problem. The cute little icon in the bottom of the computer can tell you something too. An X means bad, no connection. You can try to reconnect to the network or fall back to reboot, reboot, and reboot. One more thing, if you can't find the network drives that you usually find under the "My Computer" icon, make sure you are logged onto the network but just the computer itself. It doesn't hurt to try and log in again.

Thing 12 What's the good password
Please try not to leave password on sticky notes in plain view or next to the computer. Store it in a place that you or your staff have access to easily. Does all staffs know what the new password is? A safe network will ask you to change your password once in a few months. Make sure you change it when it asks you to, write them down somewhere and memorize them quickly.

Thing 13 What's Open on my computer?
What programs are currently open? how do you switch between them? How do you maximize, minimize, and close windows? If your computer have many programs open, then tend to overload and crash often. They slow down your computer as well. Make sure the window is already open before launching again.

These are just the basic skills that can help you significantly if you have a good handle on them. They will prepare you for the next set of 23 things on a stick. As an IT staff, I have so many other things that I would like to add to these basic 13 things but I will save it for other time. Have to go.