Does ILL have you in a .tif?

[updated 2009.4.14]

So, you got an email with the article you requested from the Library’s ILL (InterLibrary Loan) department attached.

But when you try to open it, your browser refuses, or flips out, or whatever.  And you can’t see it.

Why?

Some libraries we borrow from will send articles directly to you, saved in a graphics format called .tif — which is good if you need to enlarge it.  However, that isn’t a format normally used by your web browser and it doesn’t know how to handle it.

Sorry about that, but sending directly to you means you get your request much faster.  Besides, there is a way to handle it.

What do I do with it?

With the email visible on your screen, try a right-click on the attachment listed to get the little menu of things to do with it, and then click on Open with.  If you can do this, you can select Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (if you have that) to open the file.   Another program that you can install that will open all sorts of graphics files is a freeware program called IrfanView, and once that is installed you could Open with Irfanview.

You might have to Save the file to your own computer first, such as on your desktop, and then try the right-click / Open with method on it there.

If you absolutely cannot get it to open, send it to libloan@uafortsmith.edu and tell us you’re having trouble.  We’ll reformat it in something you can open, or else print it out for you.

Sorry about the extra steps, but the idea is to get you faster service and have your request to you ASAP!

Additional tip from Joni Stine on navigation through the tif.  Those little blue arrows appear near the bottom of the screen, and one can easily navigate through the article this way.

(Why .tif format?  If it’s a picture or photo, the .tif format is better for enlarging than .jpg or .gif and doesn’t get pixelated (blocky looking) as quickly.)

Spring Book Sale!

The Spring book sale is Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, April 6/7/8 during the daytime hours.

Come see the wide variety, available on the Boreham Library patio by the front door.

Bring your bags!  Bring your boxes!  Bring your spare change!

Stimulate the economy and save money on these bargains.

Our Display in the News

The Times Record of March 10, 2009 had a feature article on the Library’s display using word art, featured in the display case by the elevator.

Library tech Dianne Werthmuller’s work was pictured and the story behind it detailed by reporter Pam Cloud.

Blackboard/WebCT videos

Dr. Kathy Wright points out that the orientation videos on Blackboard/WebCT online learning are here.

Trying to attach something to your email but can’t see the “My Computer” icon, just an “X” instead?

The 3rd video covers it under “Orientation part three“.

Move the cursor up over the “X” along the edge until it changes from an arrow to a hand.  Then click.

There’s also a troubleshooting video for other problems.

Everyone: ArkLink cards available!

The Boreham Library offers ArkLink cards to faculty, students and staff, which give you library privileges (checking out materials) at many other libraries in the state, including the University in Fayetteville and ATU in Russellville.  Just ask at the Circulation Desk in the Library.

These cards are good for one semester, and come in especially handy for commuting students and faculty.  You can get a new one each semester you might need it, any time during the semester, but only from the campus where you are a registered student or employee.

Remember, also, that with a current semester sticker on your regular photo i.d. card, it can be used at the Fort Smith Public Library branches and Scott-Sebastian Regional Library branches.  The Registrar or the Library can put on a current semester sticker for you if you’re currently registered or employed.

od* files from OpenOffice.org and OxygenOffice

Students using the free OpenOffice.org or OxygenOffice instead of Microsoft Office on their own computers should remember to save files in the Microsoft formats, not the default OpenDocument formats.

For example, instead of saving a report in the .odt format or a presentation in the .odp format:

change the Save as type: line to a Microsoft format such as .doc for reports and .ppt for PowerPoint:

This insures that your instructor can read the file and computers on campus can use it, and you can still work on it here or on OpenOffice.org or OxygenOffice on your own computer.

If you forget, however, the Boreham Library has a few staff computers with OpenOffice so staff can convert your files to Microsoft format for you, in a pinch.

To set OpenOffice.org or OxygenOffice to save in Microsoft formats automatically in the future, click here.

Everyone: “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate”

From time to time in Internet Explorer 7, you may see this warning pop up on a blue window when you click on a link:

There is a problem with this website’s security certificate. The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this Web site.You might see something similar in Internet Explorer 6, although not quite as scary-sounding.

First, don’t panic.  This sometimes appears even on Microsoft’s own website.  It’s supposed to be a protection measure, but it doesn’t work as well as it was intended to in normal use.

If you’re using part of the University’s web site, the Library web site, or the Library article databases — any links from our campus web sites (meaning with “uafortsmith.edu” somewhere in the URL address location box at the top of your browser window) — GO AHEAD AND GO THROUGH TO THE WEBSITE ANYWAY.

Explanation: web sites are supposed to pay for a “security certificate”, and pay to update it regularly, to show they are legitimate and safe.  However, sometimes they don’t do it soon enough, or something else is out of sync, and your browser (usually, Internet Explorer) gets worried.

If this were just any web site out there, you should be cautious, but the campus web sites and the ones linked by the Library are considered safe, with or without a security certificate.

If you’d like to avoid these warnings, you could switch to another browser such as Firefox, or you could follow Microsoft’s official advice every time this happens for a campus-related site:

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, install the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) self-signed certificate on the client computer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Windows Internet Explorer 7, click Continue to this website (not recommended).
   A red Address Bar and a certificate warning appear.
2. Click the Certificate Error button to open the information window.
3. Click View Certificates, and then click Install Certificate.
4. On the warning message that appears, click Yes to install the certificate.

This should only be done when coming directly from a campus site (with “uafortsmith.edu” somewhere in the URL address box at the top of your browser screen).  For any other sites, you should still be a little cautious.

Students: burning to a CD

[updated 2009.1.22]

WARNING: Be sure you have a CD and not a DVD disc.  Not all Library computers have drives that can write to a DVD, even though they can read it.  You may need to use a newer computer to burn to a DVD-RW or DVD-R disc.

• How to burn to a CD
• What if it won’t burn to my CD?
  

How to burn to a CD:

1.    Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW into the drive

2.    Right-click the file you want to copy, and select Send To

3.    Select CD-RW Drive or CD-R Drive

4.    Open My Computer (if it’s not open from the step above)

5.    At the bottom of the screen, a message bubble “You have files waiting…” appears.

Click anywhere on the bubble…do not click on the x to close it.

6.    The “Files Ready to Be Written to CD” screen appears.

7.    Highlight the file(s) to copy.  Note:  If you want to keep the files already on the CD, you must

select them also by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the files.

8.    Under CD Writing Tasks, click on “Write these files to CD”

9.    The CD Writing Wizard screen appears.     Click on Next.     Note: This may take a while.

10.    Click on Finish.     The CD ejects automatically.

If you want to check to see whether the files copied:

Close the CD tray

Close all windows

Click on My Computer

Click on the D: drive and open the file

[-- by Martha Coleman]

What if it won’t burn to my CD?

[by Dennis Van Arsdale]

Sometimes it works, and sometimes — not too often — it doesn’t.  Work, that is.

1. Check to be sure that you have a CD-RW disc (RW for ReWritable) and not a CD-R disc (R for Read only).  Once you finish a CD-R disc, that’s usually all you can put on it, even if it wasn’t full.  A CD-RW can have more added.
2. Be sure you have room on the CD-RW.  Check the amount of space left on the disc and then see if you’re trying to add file(s) which are too large.  You may need to delete something first to make room.
3. You cannot save to the same file name as one already on the disc.  You have to delete the old file on the disc before saving the new version.  (Yes, this is different than on the computer and on USB flash drives.  You cannot save “over” or “update” an old version on a CD.)
4. Sometimes even a Big Brand Name company can put out a lemon.  Maybe the disc itself is just defective.  If you bought several, try another one.  And another.  If you can use some of a pack, but not others, then the unusable ones are defective and you should mark them as defective so you don’t waste time on them again.
5. Wait — is that a CD or is it a DVD disc?  There are DVD-RW discs, but they may not work in many DVD drives which can write to a CD but not to a DVD.  Many older Library computers do not have DVD-writing drives, even though they can play DVDs.  (DVD writing drives were a later feature.)

Using U3 flash drives

example of a U3 flash drive

The flash memory drives that plug into USB ports on computers are a fast, reliable way to carry your data around.  They’re small, light, and usually faster and more reliable than diskettes or CDs, and we use them here at the Boreham Library for some of our staff work, too.

They’re called USB drives, flash (for the type of memory chip they use) drives, ThumbDrives (which is a brand name), pen drives (even if you don’t write anything on them), jump drives (not to be confused with jumping beans), keychain drives (but you don’t need to put them there!), memory sticks, and “those little gimmicks” (we use a lot of technical terms at the Library).

U3 Drives are an exception to a few rules

One particular kind of flash drive is the U3 type, which will have U3 marked on it someplace.

U3 drives have pre-loaded software on them, and you can add more at places like http://www.u3.com/ .  This allows you to run programs off these special flash drives, if the computer permits you.

U3 drives, however, are usually divided (partitioned) into 2 drives.  Plug in a U3 drive and check My Computer, and it might look something like this:

U3 drive listed with other drives

The U3 drive shows up as drive E (which is locked, to protect the software stored there), and drive F, which is where you can save new software and your own files.  Save your documents and such to drive F and leave the drive marked U3 alone (it’s only a small part of the total space, anyway).

For more information on USB Flash drives, check the information on our Computer Helpers blog.

Oh — you don’t have a U3 drive but still want to run software from it?  Check the blog for those, too — there are also places to get software that doesn’t require a U3 drive to work.

We highly recommend using these for saving your work when using Library computers.

Mike’s Bikes link

We have students looking for certain materials online, and here’s one example.

Mike’s Bikes (a General Business Simulation) can be found here:

N:\Labs\Business\APPS\MikesBikes

but this link ONLY works on campus, for students authorized for it, by going through My Computer to the N: drive directories.  If you use this link in your browser, you won’t find it.