CMRLS Regional 911

Managing list overload

2009-11-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Email discussion lists are an essential part of our jobs, enabling us to keep in touch with the world outside our own libraries. In addition to the MBLC-hosted general-interest list, cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us), CMRLS also maintains several lists of more limited scope (e.g., public library directors, school librarians, etc.). Similarly, C/W MARS offers the CWINFO list (cwinfo@cwmars.org) as a means of communicating and discussing issues specifically related to their library automation functions. Beyond these local lists, you may subscribe to any number of similar lists, forums and newsletters from professional organizations, special interest groups or even vendors.

While all this information is useful, it can easily overwhelm an inbox, making it difficult to discern daily high-priority communications from those that do not need immediate attention. The solution is two-part: create folders to contain categorized messages, and rules (or filters) that will automatically move email to the appropriate folders. The procedures to accomplish this vary among email clients, but virtually all email programs, whether local or online, have some capacity to create filtering rules.

When filtering list messages, the simplest arrangement might be to create a single folder to receive all list messages.

Once the folder is created, you can construct a rule based on who (or what) is sending the message. Again, the exact method may vary, but basically your rule might say, "If the message was sent to cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us, then move it to the List folder." In this "all lists" example you may be able to include multiple senders in the same list ("…cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us OR cwinfo.cwmars.org OR slg@cmrls.org...), or you can create a rule for each list, sending them all to same folder.

Of course, you can also create separate folders for each list, and a corresponding rule for each,

e.g.:

"If the message was sent to cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us, then move it to the List\CMRLS folder."

"If the message was sent to cwinfo@cwmars.org, then move it to the List\CWINFO folder."

The "To:" field is only one of several criteria available for sorting messages. The "Subject:" fields allows for even more flexible filtering. Many lists include the list name in the subject, allowing for easy identification, e.g., "If the subject contains [CMRLS], then move it to the List\CMRLS folder." Similarly,

even finer granularity can be achieved using multiple criteria, or multiple conditions for a single criterion. For example, a common problem with a general list like cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us is that some types of messages - giveaways or job postings, perhaps - have no relevance for a particular user. A rule can be created that states, "If the subject contains [CMRLS] AND the subject contains [freebie], then move it to the List\CMRLS\freebies folder." Alternatively, if there is no desire at all to even see those freebie posts, the "then" piece of the statement may instead delete the message, or perhaps forward it to an interested colleague who is not subscribed to the list.

The success of some of these rules will depend to a large degree on senders consistently using keywords that will match the rules' criteria. To this end, try using these keywords in the subject line of your messages when appropriate. Here are a few suggestions:

Giveaway items: [freebie]
Job postings: [job]
Performer inquiries or recommendations: [performer]
Book club requests: [book club]

Use of the square brackets will serve to distinguish these keywords from normally-occurring text. Can you think of others types of messages that would benefit from such "tagging?" Feel free to post any suggestions to the list.

As mentioned, different email clients use different procedures to create rules, filters and folders. Many allow you to select a message and create a rule based on its specific content; others may require some exploration of menu options to accomplish the same thing. In any case, it's well worth the effort to spend some time creating some basic filters, time that will be recovered many times over by your streamlined email system.

Protect you patrons' privacy with IE8's InPrivate Browsing

2009-04-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) has been released, and while it is unlikely to attract many converts from competing browsers, it is a compelling upgrade for current users of IE7. In addition to much-improved security and compatibility, IE8 has many new features to recommend it for staff use. Among my personal favorites:
- Accelerators which can perform a variety of tasks upon text that you highlight: search, map, translate, etc.
- Web slices, sort of mini-RSS feeds for view dynamic pages without visiting the actual sites (e.g., tracking an eBay auction)
- Color-coded tabs to better keep track of which sites tabs were opened from.
A full description of all the new features, as well as the IE8 installer download, can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx.

Among all these personalized, customized options, however, is one feature that actually benefits the anonymous public computer user: InPrivate Browsing. InPrivate mode removes all traces of the user's online activity when the browser session has ended:

- New cookies are not stored
- New history entries are not recorded
- New temporary Internet files are deleted
- Form data is not saved
- Passwords are not saved
- Addresses typed into the address bar are not stored
- Queries entered into the search box are not stored
- Visited links are not stored

To more fully protect patrons' privacy, public access computers would ideally run Internet Explorer with this privacy feature always turned on, but there is no way (short of multiple registry hacks) to make InPrivate the default startup mode. The next best thing is to replace your standard browser shortcuts with ones that will launch InPrivate sessions.

To modify an existing IE8 shortcut for basic InPrivate browsing, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and append "-private" to the "Target" command. Typically, that command would then look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private
A minor problem with this syntax is that the browser will start with an internal "splash" page that notifies the user of InPrivate mode. While this is useful for a single user, it's not really necessary - and might be confusing - to PAC user. So to bypass this screen, just add the URL of your home page to the command line when you modify the shortcut(s), e.g.:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -private http://www.cmrls.org

Be aware that Windows' built-in icon for Internet Explorer is not a shortcut, but rather a system object. (You can tell because it lacks the tell-tale arrow.) As such, it cannot be modified, so you will want to remove it from the Desktop:

Windows XP: Control Panel Display Desktop Customize desktop
Windows Vista: Control Panel Personalization Change desktop icons
In both cases, simple remove the check next to the Internet Explorer icon.

URL for Issues and Controversies changes on December 1

2008-11-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

Effective December 1, you will need to make a change to the URL that you use to access the Issues and Controversies database.

The Account ID that is part of that URL must be changed to match the Account ID that is currently used as part of your Science Online URL.

The only change required is to replace the ID in your Issues and Controversies URL with the ID that appears in your Science Online URL.

In the example below, the "ID=00000" in the Issues and Controversies URLs is changed to "ID=11111" as found in the Science Online URL:

Current Science Online URL:
http://www.fofweb.com/Direct2.asp?ID=11111&ItemID=WE40

Current Issues and Controversies URL:
http://www.2facts.com/Direct2.asp?ID=00000&ItemID=WE57

NEW Issues and Controversies URL:
http://www.2facts.com/Direct2.asp?ID=11111&ItemID=WE57

If you have any questions concerning this change, or need help implementing it, please contact me any time (rlevine@cmrls.org, 508.757.4110 x308).

(Note: If your database page is "hosted" on the CMRLS server, it will be updated on the morning of December 1. No action on your part is required.)

Vista security: lighten up!

2008-11-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

Of the many (and mostly ill-deserved) knocks against Windows Vista, the User Account Control (UAC) feature is perhaps the most commonly cited. Under UAC, all users - even administrators - operate under a tightened set of security restrictions intended to prevent malicious programs from running and unwanted changes from being made. When a suspect event occurs, user approval is required before execution is allowed to continue. For a "standard" user, this means entering an administrator's username and password. Administrators need only to approve the action, but the prompts are frequent enough that they can quickly become a major annoyance.

If you are the sole user of the computer and find UAC unecessarily intrusive, it's easy enough to disable the feature altogether:
- Go to Control Panel
- Double-click User Accounts
- Click Turn User Account Control on or off

However, UAC does provide a high level of security against malicious attacks and the misadventures of hapless users, so if you share your computer with others, turning off UAC altogether may be unwise. An alternative is to allow UAC to run, but disable its warnings for administrators:
- Go to Control Panel
- Double-click Administrative Tools
- Double-click Local Security Policy
- In the left pane, click the "spinner" (triangle) next to Local Policies
- Click Security Options
- In the right pane, scroll to near the bottom and double-click User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
- Change from Prompt for consent to Elevate without prompting.

Of course, the above procedure effectively disables UAC altogether for any administrator login, so you are unprotected from certain malicious attacks, however rare they may be. A compromise is to disable "secure desktop." Secure desktop essentially freezes the computer (though programs continue to run) at a UAC prompt to prevent other processes or applications from providing the required permissions or consent. With secure desktop disabled, the simple prompt for permission to continue is far less disruptive:

- Go to Control Panel
- Double-click Administrative Tools
- Double-click Local Security Policy
- In the left pane, click the "spinner" (triangle) next to Local Policies
- Click Security Options
- In the right pane, scroll to near the bottom and double-click User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation
- Change from Enabled to Disabled

Should computers be shut off during a thunderstorm?

2008-08-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

Just shutting down your computers offers little protection from a lightning-induced power surge. As in most modern electronic devices, power is supplied to the circuitry of a PC as long as it is plugged in, so an electrical surge of sufficient intensity can still run through the machine even when it appears to be off. Some PCs do have a mechanical on/off switch on the power supply (in the back, near where the power cord plugs in) and this would in fact break the circuit. Even so, if lightning were to actually strike your power lines (as opposed to inducing a surge) the current would easily jump that small mechanical gap and electrify the PC.

Lightning can also strike and travel through your phone wiring, which is why you are warned to stay off the phone during a storm. The danger is somewhat mitigated in a non-residential setting, where the switching equipment may be equipped with a suppression device, or otherwise act as a very expensive circuit breaker between the outside line and the phones. Even so, it's a good idea to stay off the phone during a storm. (It is safe to use a cordless phone. A spike may travel into the base unit, but it can't "jump" to the phone without a physical connection.)

Do you need more to worry about? Even a distant lightning strike can produce an electromagnetic pulse sufficient to induce a significant current in your phone or network wiring. While not a safety concern, such a surge can "fry" components such as network cards, routers, switches, and modems (i.e., fax machines).

So, to absolutely protect your equipment, you would not only have to shut down all your electronic devices, but unplug every power, network and phone cable going into them. This is clearly impractical, if

The best protection against these threats is to install surge suppression on all potentially affected devices. An all-purpose suppressor will accommodate your phone and network connections as well as the power circuit. Realize too that not all suppressors are created equal. Among other things, better quality (i.e., more expensive) units react to spikes and surges more quickly in situations where just a few milliseconds can make a difference. Also, these suppressors have higher-end components that tend not to degrade over time as do the "supermarket" variety power strips.

With high-quality surge suppression as a standard feature, uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) provide additional protection for some equipment. A power outage can be as damaging as a surge, especially to computer hard drives. If power is lost while the hard drive is writing data to disk, not only is unsaved data lost, but open system files can be damaged, and in some cases the entire file system can be permanently corrupted, rendering the system unbootable. This sort of damage can occur merely with a sufficient drop in voltage as well as a total power loss. When any such voltage fluctuation occurs, a UPS will instantly switch to battery power to keep the equipment running.
Providing a UPS for every device in your library may not be economically feasible. For printers, fax machines, copiers, and even public access computers, surge suppressors should be sufficient protection. UPSs are advisable on staff PCs and network switches (hubs). During an outage, the UPSs will keep the PCs running and connected to the network long enough to save work, close programs, and perform "proper" shutdowns. Many UPSs now have "smart" USB connections to the computer; using either the manufacturer's utility or Windows' built-in UPS service, the UPS can "talk" to the computer, and initiate an automatic shut down after some pre-specified time, or at some percentage of remaining battery life.

Wake up and go to sleep!

2008-05-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

.
At a recent CMRLS Techie Roundtable, Sal Genovese, Director at the Marlborough Public Library, demonstrated his implementation of Wake-on-LAN in his library. Wake-on-LAN (WOL or WoL) is an Ethernet computer networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on remotely by a network message. In Marlborough, staff arrives each morning to find all their PCs started up and ready to go, sparing them daily trek to every corner of the building to press all those on/off buttons. Using the Magic Packets WoL utility, all the computers receive a "wake up" command from a single PC, on a schedule that accommodates for the varying hours and days that the library is open. To find out more about setting up WoL in your library, see Sal's presentation at http://www.cmrls.org/pdf_documents/ce_materials/Wake-on-LAN.pdf, and download Magic Packets from http://www.cmrls.org/downloads/wol/magic_pkt.zip.

The ensuing roundtable discussion quickly turned to the obvious question: If I can automatically turn on my computers in the morning, can I also make them shut down at the end of the day? Indeed, this can be accomplished using Windows Task Scheduler and the shutdown.exe command. Here's how:

First, experiment at the command prompt (Start > Run > cmd) to determine the appropriate "arguments" for shutdown. The relevant parameters are

-s Shutdown the computer
-t xx Set timeout for shutdown to xx seconds
-c "comment" Shutdown comment (maximum of 127 characters)
-f Forces running applications to close without warning

A typical shutdown command might look like this:

shutdown -s -t 300 -c "The library closes at 5:00 PM." -f

The resultant shutdown window will display a message warning the user to save any work, a countdown timer showing time remaining before shutdown, and your own message (comment). When the specified time has elapsed, Windows will close any running programs (whether or not work has been saved) and initiate the shutdown process. NOTE: Since you don't want to actually shut the computer down during this testing, be sure to leave the command prompt window open; at any time during the countdown, type shutdown -a to cancel the operation.

Once you're satisfied with the command line you have fashioned, incorporate it into a batch file:
- Start Windows Notepad (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad).
- Type the command exactly as you had at the command prompt.
- Save the file with a .bat extension. Important: Notepad normally saves files as text (.txt). To override this behavior, enclose the full file name and extension in double quotes when saving, e.g, "shutdown.bat" .
- Test the batch file by double-clicking it. Don't forget to have the command prompt window open to cancel the shutdown.)

With your working batch file saved to disk, use the Task Scheduler to run it at the appropriate time(s):
- Go to Control Panel
- Double-click Scheduled Tasks
- Double-click Add Scheduled Task
- Step through the Wizard to point to your batch file and select the days and times as required.
You can create multiple tasks to account for varying library hours. For example, one task may be set to run at 4:50 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, another at 6:50 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Alternatively, you can create multiple schedules within the same task: Double-click the task for editing; on the Schedule tab, click "Show multiple schedules," then click "New."

Important: When you create a task, you will be prompted for a user account under which the task will run. This account must be a member of the Administrators group, and it must not have a blank password. The Scheduler will warn you if the user is not an administrator; however, it will accept a blank password, but it just won't run.

Note too that unlike the wakeup feature, your shutdown schedule will have to be set up separately on each computer in the library. While the shutdown utility does allow for one computer to issue the shutdown command to multiple PCs, configuring your network to allow such an operation is quite time consuming, not to mention fraught with unrelated perils.

Questions? Need help? Contact Rick Levine at CMRLS (rlevine@cmrls.org, x308)

Stale cookies: Accessing Issues and Controversies

2008-03-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Last Fall, Facts on File News Service (Issues and Controversies) was acquired by Facts on File (Science Online, et. al.). As a result, the Issues and Controversies "platform" was redesigned to conform to Facts On File's standards and conventions. This included a change in the URL used to access the site.

A few libraries have reported problems with "cookie" access to the new URL: in-library users are prompted for username and password every time the site is accessed. This is apparently caused by a mismatch between existing cookie data and the new URL. The problem can be corrected by forcing the existing cookies to be re-written with the proper information. To do so, go to http://www.2facts.com/default.asp?BID=7. Enter your username and password, and new cookies will be set. Subsequent access via the normal Issue and Controversies link should not prompt for any authentication.

Customize InfoTrac

2007-12-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Did you know that InfoTrac's main PowerSearch menu can be customized to suit your library's specific needs? By default, all available databases are displayed, and the user must select which ones to search. Alternatively, you may choose to display only certain databases, or to have some of the databases "pre-selected" for a default search.

Additionally, Gale has made available "eCollections" which can be added to the PowerSearch menu. The eCollections are subsets of all the available databases, organized into subject-based groups. Available eCollections are:

Environmental Issues & Policy
Garden, Landscape & Horticulture
GLBT Life and Issues
General Science
Small Business
Hospitality & Tourism Reference
Vocation & Careers
Educators
War & Terrorism
Information Science & Technology
Insurance & Liability
Military and Intelligence Database
Pop Culture
Psychology
Religion & Philosophy
Diversity Studies
Communication & Media
Criminal Justice

In additional to adding or removing menu items, you may also specify multiple "Back to the library" links on various InfoTrac pages. Many libraries already have a single link that points back to their home page (if one has not been specified, the "back to" link defaults to the MBLC). In addition to this primary link, you may specify up to four URLs that will be available on the PowerSearch page as well as some individual database pages. For example, you may want to display separate links for your library's database page, your library's home page, and your town or institution's home page.

If you would like to implement any of these customizations, contact Rick Levine at CMRLS (rlevine@cmrls.org, x308).

Statewide Database Training Sessions for CMRLS Members

2007-09-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Proquest Statewide Newspaper Training

A two-hour lecture style workshop presented by a Proquest Training Specialist for regional member library staff. Training will cover the access and use of the 12 full-text Massachusetts newspapers available to all Massachusetts residents through their local libraries and home Internet connections. The trainer will also discuss how to understand and use the statistical usage reports your library receives.

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 2-4PM Worcester Public Library (Saxe Room)

Gale Powersearch Infotrac Update / EBSCO’s Literary Reference Center Training

A two-hour lecture style workshop presented by Thomson Gale Training Specialist Stacey Knibloe for regional member library staff and a one-hour lecture style workshop presented by an EBSCO Training Specialist (three hour total workshop time).

Friday, December 14, 2007 9:30-12:30 PM Worcester Public Library (Saxe Room) (Gale and EBSCO)

To register e-mail Jackie Belisle at jbelisle@cmrls.org

Literary Reference Center now available

2007-09-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Member libraries and their patrons now have access to EBSCO’s Literary Reference Center (LRC), provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

LRC provides a broad spectrum of full-text information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. It includes 27,000 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, 140,500 author biographies, 350 literary journals, 54,000 poems, 14,500 short stories, 8400 classic texts, 4000 author interviews and more.

In-library access to LRC is achieved with a single URL:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,cookie,uid&profile=lrc
If you library is authenticated by static IP address(es), this link will bring you directly to the LRC main page. Otherwise, you will be prompted for credentials; once entered, a cookie will be set and subsequent access will be unprompted. Contact CMRLS if you have not received your username/password via email or USPS.

If your library already subscribes to another EBSCO database, you may now see an additional LRC icon when you access that site. If so, you may modify the above LRC URL to create a separate link to that (or any other) EBSCO database by substituting "profile=lrc" with another EBSCO "profile ID." For example, to bypass the list of databases and go directly to NoveList, use http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,cookie,uid&profile=novelist. For a complete list of EBSCO profile IDs, see http://support.ebscohost.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=863&t=h.

Home and office users accessing the databases from the the MBLC's database page will now see LRC listed under "Arts & Humanities." If you provide direct remote access links on your web site, the URL is http://mblc.state.ma.us/cgi-bin/remote.pl?db=EBSCO_LRC.

And as always, if you have and problems or questions regarding access to or use of any of the CMRLS/MBLC databases, feel free to contact me (rlevine@cmrls.org, x308) or Dodie Gaudet (dgaudet@cmrls.org, x307) any time.

Linking to the ProQuest newspapers

2007-08-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

As of July 1, Newsbank has been replaced with ProQuest's "Massachusetts Newsstand." This database includes 12 newspapers from across the state:

Berkshire Eagle
Boston Globe
Boston Herald
BusinessWest (Chicopee)
North Adams Transcript
Patriot Ledger (Quincy)
Plymouth County Business Review
Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg)
Sun, The (Lowell)
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester)
Gazette (Haverhill) 12/31/92 to 8/9/97 only
Standard Times (New Bedford) 1/4/92 to 8/19/97 only

Your library's links to the entire Massachusetts Newsstand collection, as well as to the individual papers, can be found at http://mblc.state.ma.us/grants/licenses/proquest.php. Alternatively, the links are included with those for all the CMRLS/MBLC databases in the 'link generator" spreadsheet, downloadable from http://www.cmrls.org/databases/help/link_generator.htm.

ProQuest links can be further "customized" to pre-select a subset of newspapers to search. For example, you could provide separate links to "Boston Newspapers" (Globe and Herald), and "Central MA Newspapers" (T&G, Sentinel).

Additionally, ProQuest lets you control whether users view a "search page" or the "databases page" when they log in to ProQuest. Currently the search page is set as the default for all libraries, and the databases page is viewable from the "Databases selected" link. With the database page as default, users are first presented with a list of newspapers to be search and the option to modify that list or go directly to any paper.

If you would like to implement any of these customizations to the ProQuest databases, or for questions about any of the online databases contact Rick Levine (rlevine@cmrls.org, x308) or Dodie Gaudet (dgaudet@cmrls.org, x307) at CMRLS.