Even more computers!

We’ve opened up Room 202 on the second floor to provide even more computers.  Twelve more!  Printing is sent to the Print Release Station in 201.

Please remember that Room 202 is also the room we use for teaching classes to use the Library, so appointments by classes will be posted on the whiteboard in the window by the door to 202.

At those times, we will ask anyone using the computers to please move out so we can hold a class session, so check the whiteboard in the window before you settle down to work in 202.

YouTube into PowerPoint

The Library’s own Computer Helpers blog has something for those who would like to use YouTube videos in their PowerPoint presentations.

YouTube’s terms of use say that all videos must come directly from them, so it is against their rules to download videos and use or convert them for use.

Instead, you can link to them from inside PowerPoint, and as long as you have an Internet connection, you can play them in a window on your PowerPoint slide.

Click here for instructions.

Fall Book Sale!

The fall book sale at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith will be held from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Oct. 6-8.

Printing goes green!

The campus, including the Library, is always looking for ways to cut waste and recycling costs.  One new way is by installing Print Release Stations for campus printers.

At closing, the Library usually finds a number of pages that were printed by mistake, or without thinking, which are never even picked up.  All these pages cost money (especially for expensive printer toner!) and even when recycled, take up time and energy.  Toner (the biggest cost) is not recyclable once used.

Your new campus i.d. is loaded with $10 worth of printing-only credit at the start of each semester for which you are registered, and you can add more money for printing yourself by going online with a credit card, or using the new payment station in the Library, to add credit with cash or a credit card.  You can also add credit at the Cashier’s Office in the Campus Center.

Just slide your card’s magnetic strip through the slot at the Printer Release Station and select your print job.  Enter your password for it, and the small charge is automatically deducted and your job prints.

You can see how many pages will print for each job, and how much it will cost.  (The amount shown there on your card is your total in all your accounts on the card, not just your printer account.  For details, go online to check your accounts.)

If the number of pages is unexpectedly large, check with the Library staff.  It may be that the print job has a bug that will cause a misprint, so you may want to find a way to send it in order to avoid that.

At this time, printing on campus is priced lower than the Fort Smith Public Library and many other places.

Jobs not printed will be deleted automatically after 2 hours, or after the Library closes each day.

If you have any problems with printing, please talk to Library staff.

Anyone not registered can buy a generic card and put money on it for printing only at the payment station in the Library.

NEW LAB! MORE COMPUTERS!

You asked for it, we’ve been working on it, and now it’s here starting Fall 2009!

Room 201 in the Boreham Library is now our brand new computer lab, with 12 additional computers.

The lab has its own printer so you can use the campus printing system there.

Log on!

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.)

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.