April 19, 2010

Shift of Fairchild books/journals scheduled for May
Leisure reading in Linderman and Fairchild Libraries
"Power to the People" upgrades in Fairchild Library
Earthweek in LTS: The Problem with Printing
LTS receives oral history digitization grant
Library exam hours

SHIFT OF FAIRCHILD BOOKS/JOURNALS SCHEDULED FOR MAY
Immediately after exams end in May, a major shift of books and journals will take place on the three upper floors of Fairchild. The purpose of the shift is to compress the journal collections on 2 North and 3 South while expanding shelving for books. Temporary stacks will be erected on 2 South, near government documents, during the move to aid with the new sequencing of the business books (650s) into proper call number order with the rest of the collection. Signage and personal assistance will be available to help users locate materials during the move which is expected to be complete by late June or early July. Collections will be accessible during the move and if you cannot find the materials you need, please ask at the circulation desk for assistance. For more information, contact Sharon Wiles Young, LTS Director for Library Access Services, at ext. 83046 or slw0@lehigh.edu.



LEISURE READING NOW IN LINDERMAN & FAIRCHILD LIBRARIES
Part of the popular Leisure Reading Collection has now been moved to a new location in Linderman. Attractive new wooden shelves especially designed and built for Linderman's Lucy's Cafe will now be home for both the Leisure Reading fiction books and the Rodale Books which are donated to us through the generosity of Heather Rodale. Non-fiction books and biographies will remain in Fairchild-Martindale. Records in the ASA catalog will indicate the library in which a particular book is located. New titles are being added regularly so please browse both locations for an interesting book to read!



“POWER TO THE PEOPLE” UPGRADES IN FAIRCHILD LIBRARY
New tables with convenient power outlets have been added to the north wing of the main floor of the Fairchild Library and the carrels have been removed. This area now makes a great space to use your wireless laptop. All the seating on that floor has recently been replaced with new contemporary style chairs as well.



EARTHWEEK IN LTS: THE PROBLEM WITH PRINTING
Take a look at this video which was produced by LTS staff and students in an environmental studies class (Politics of the Environment)! The subject is printing and paper consumption... http://www.lehigh.edu/print



LTS RECEIVES ORAL HISTORY DIGITIZATION GRANT
The LTS Digital Library team has been awarded a Library and Technology Services Act grant by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Libraries for the digitization, transcription, and publication on the Beyond Steel site of over 100 oral histories. These interviews are the result of the efforts of history professor Roger Simon and his students in 1975 and represent steelworkers, shopkeepers, and homemakers -- many of whom were born before the turn of the 20th century. Work will begin this summer, with an anticipated web publication date of May 2011.



LIBRARY EXAM HOURS
Starting Monday, May 3, Fairchild-Martindale will be open continuously (24 hours) until Wednesday, May 12 when it closes at 10PM.

Linderman:
Monday, May 3 through Friday, May 7 - 8AM - 2AM
Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 - 9AM - 2AM
Monday, May 10 and Tuesday, May 11 - 8AM - 2AM
Wednesday, May 12 - 8AM - 10PM

March 2, 2010

CONTENTS:

POWER TO THE PEOPLE IN FAIRCHILD LIBRARY
WINDOWS 7 AVAILABLE IN BOOKSTORE
HELP LTS TEST LANGUAGE LEARNING TOOLS
PAPERCUT: HOW MUCH DO YOU PRINT?
LEHIGH GOOGLE CALENDAR TIP: QUICK ADD AN EVENT!
LIBRARY HOURS – SPRING BREAK


POWER TO THE PEOPLE IN FAIRCHILD LIBRARY
"Power to the People" who use the north wing of the main entry floor of Fairchild Library. In preparation for new tables arriving later in the semester, electrical outlets have been added so that students can easily plug in laptop computers. The outlets, which are flush with the carpet, are operational now. Just slide back the cover to insert your plug. The outlets are located between the shelving near the existing tables. There are many other electrical outlets easily available throughout Fairchild Library that can be used safely. Please use these outlets (often along the carrels against the walls) rather than stretching cords across walkways.



WINDOWS 7 AVAILABLE IN BOOKSTORE
As of Tuesday, February 23, Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate edition is available for sale ($15) at the Lehigh University Bookstore. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are available (sold separately). There is a limit of one Windows 7 DVD per person (LU student, faculty, staff with ID). Before deciding whether to upgrade to Windows 7 and which version to choose (32-bit or 64-bit), a visit to Lehigh’s Windows 7 web page is highly recommended: http://www.lehigh.edu/wired/win7.

The web page provides information about the Windows 7 upgrade process as well as a link to Microsoft’s Windows Upgrade Advisor tool. If the Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor tool determines that a computer can be upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit, Library and Technology Services (LTS) recommends that students upgrade to that version. The low cost of DVDs for Windows 7 is possible because of the Library and Technology Services Microsoft Campus Agreement program.



HELP LTS TEST LANGUAGE LEARNING TOOLS
During March the library will be conducting trials of 2 web-based language learning tools, Mango and Powerspeak. Both of these products offer methods for learning a variety of languages, anywhere, anytime. LTS is reviewing whether there is a need for such a product and how this type of product might support the “Global Lehigh” initiative. We can imagine tools of this nature complementing formal academic language study, serving as a crash course for Study-abroad, Global Citizenship or Martindale scholars, helping refresh language skills and in some cases assisting ESL students. We are recruiting students, faculty and staff to take advantage of the trial month and give us feedback on their experiences with the products and their need for independent language learning programs. To volunteer please sign up at: http://bit.ly/LULibLangTrial. We will send you a link to the trial when you fill out the form. Thanks so much and have fun.

To learn a bit more about the products visit: http://www.mangolanguages.com/ and Gale Powerspeak http://www.gale.cengage.com/powerspeak/. For more information contact Roseann Bowerman, Social Sciences Librarian at rb04@lehigh.edu.



PAPERCUT: HOW MUCH DO YOU PRINT?
LTS continues to be “hawkish” about paper waste and excessive printing at public site printers. The PaperCut software purchased by LTS is monitoring public printer use and individual printing amounts at these printing sites. This software also allows users to view and monitor their own printing behaviors. LTS is loading a PaperCut “gadget” on Windows 7 public computers so students can see their printing impact on the environment.

LTS will be loading this gadget with the Windows 7 upgrade to the public computers. In the meantime, LTS continues several educational efforts and will produce a video about printing and paper use for Earth Week. To find out more information about printing and how the individual user can make a difference see some printing hints on the LTS web page: http://www.lehigh.edu/print/.

Also this semester, LTS will be contacting users to discuss their printing needs in an effort to find solutions to excessive printing. LTS would like to thank the Brown and White for their coverage of printing issues on campus and if students, faculty and staff have any suggestions about changing printing behaviors please contact Sharon Wiles-Young: slw0@lehigh.edu.



LEHIGH GOOGLE CALENDAR TIP: QUICK ADD AN EVENT!
Adding events in Google Calendar is easy, but the Quick Add feature can save you even more time when adding events to your schedule. For information about how to use Quick Add, see this short video tutorial http://screencast.com/t/MTAxYTBhND.



LIBRARY HOURS – SPRING BREAK
Both Libraries:
Spring Break: March 5 – March 13
Friday 3/5: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday 3/6: Noon - 5:00 pm
Sunday 3/7: Noon - 5:00 pm
Monday 3/8 - Thursday 3/11: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday 3/12: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday 3/13: Noon - 5:00 pm
Sunday 3/14: Noon - 2:00 am

Easter Weekend: Regular library hours

January 29, 2010

New Book Scanner in Linderman Library
Windows 7 installed in some public sites
The Fraudulent email virus: video tutorial
Tips for email security
E-books: Are we there yet?
Mew Linderman Exhibit

NEW BOOK SCANNER IN LINDERMAN STACKS SCANNING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS - LITERALLY!
Over the holiday break, Lehigh LTS installed a new iVina workstation and book-edge scanner in Linderman library, which is available to all students, faculty and staff. This turnkey system is simple to use, and is completely touch-screen driven. No login is required. Simply walk up to the station and begin your scanning session. Since this is a stand-alone unit, it does not have access to network drive space, so users are required to have a USB flash drive to receive their scans. If you don't have a USB flash drive, one can be checked out at the Linderman Library circulation desk.

A book-edge scanner was selected so the larger art books housed in Linderman could be scanned without damaging the bindings. It is also equipped with a sheet-feeder for scanning short stacks of single-sided sheets. The scanner has many options for users, and is a breeze to use. After accepting a reminder about copyright laws, users simply select what format they would like their final output to be in: PDF, Searchable PDF, Word, TIFF, JPG, or HTML. Users then have the choice to select color and resolution options depending on their requirements. One more click and the scanning begins. The scanning software also allows users to zoom, crop, and rotate images after scanning, allowing users to take away only what they want from the scan.

The workstation and book-edge scanner is located on the L0-Lower floor of Linderman, just outside of Lucy's Cafe and down a short flight of stairs. It complements two other flatbed scanners connected to workstations located on L0-Upper, directly above the new book scanner. LTS also provides standard flatbed scanners in the E. W. Fairchild-Martindale library behind the Help Desk, in the EWFM Media Center, and the Digital Media Studio.



WINDOWS 7 INSTALLED IN SOME PUBLIC SITES
Windows 7 has been installed in the following public site locations:

• E.W. Fairchild-Martindale Library, the 400 level, north end of the building (all PCs)
  
• Rauch Business Center Room 60 (about 1/2 of the PCs)
  
• EWFM Computing Center 100 level ("pit area") adjacent to the WIRED help office (most of the PCs are now running Windows 7).

Autocad is not yet available on Windows 7 PCs, and selected other applications that run on Windows XP will not run on Windows 7. Go to http://www.lehigh.edu/win7 for more information.



THE FRAUDULENT UPS E-MAIL VIRUS: A DEBRIEFING AND TUTORIAL
Last week a number of Lehigh staff, faculty, and students downloaded an attachment from an e-mail message purporting to be from UPS.com -- this e-mail contained a virus. If you'd like to learn more about this hoax/virus and how to avoid similar threats in the future, view this video tutorial.


TIPS FOR E-MAIL SECURITY

1. Never open an attachment from someone you don't know.
   
   
2. Be cautious when opening attachments with the file extensions of: .exe, .vbs, .bat, and even .zip. All of these types of files can contain malicious software. If you receive a file from someone you know, but were not expecting the file, contact the person and verify that they intentionally sent it. Many different kinds of viruses are spread this way.
   
   
3. Never follow links in an e-mail that request that you update or verify your account information. This includes requests to update or verify your security questions. Many of these types of e-mails come from people trying to get access to your Bank, Brokerage, Ebay, or PayPal account. If you receive one of those e-mails, open your browser and manually type in the web address of the company that supposedly sent the e-mail (e.g. www.ebay.com) and log in that way. If there is anything that needs to be updated in your account, you will see that information when you log in.
   
   
4. Most companies (including Microsoft and Mozilla) do not send patches or updates to you via your e-mail account.
   
   
5. If you receive an e-mail that looks like it might not be legitimate, you can check to see if it’s a known hoax here: http://www.snopes.com

E-BOOKS: ARE WE THERE YET?
Hardly a day passes without another article about e-books in the national media! Did you know that the Lehigh University Libraries has a growing number of e-books? And more to come. At 12 noon on Thursday, February 4th Lehigh librarians Jean Johnson and Heather Simoneau will present an overview of the devices, the platforms, the business plans, and the categories (from textbooks to university presses to trade books). The program takes place in Linderman Library’s Scheler Family Humanities Forum (Room 200) and refreshments will be served – bag lunches are welcome.



NEW LINDERMAN EXHIBIT: THE ROYAL SOCIETY & THE ORIGINS OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION
On this, the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society [of London], this exhibit will examine publications inspired by the Society's Philosophical Transactions, the journal of the Society, first published in 1665. The exhibit illustrates how scientific communication changed in the subsequent centuries, looking at scholarly and experimental communications throughout Europe and America. The exhibit opens on January 22nd and ends May 26th and is located throughout the Library, including in the ground level cases opposite Lucy’s café.

November 17, 2009

LTS DIGEST November 17, 2009
Lehigh University Library and Technology Services

CONTENTS:

Special Thanksgiving Library Hours
Sending a big file? It's no longer a big problem!
LTS to transition to Windows 7
Fritz Digital Library unveiled
Beyond Steel upgrades mapping feature
Computer tips


SPECIAL THANKSGIVING LIBRARY HOURS
On Friday, November 27th, both the Fairchild-Martindale Library and Computing Center will be CLOSED due to a scheduled electrical outage. Linderman Library will be OPEN from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Both Libraries:
Wednesday, November 25th: 8 am - 10 pm
Thursday, November 26th: CLOSED
Friday, November 27th: Fairchild Martindale: CLOSED (due to scheduled electrical outage) - Linderman: OPEN 8 am - 5 pm
Saturday, November 28th: Noon to 5 pm
Sunday, November 29th: Noon to 2 am
Monday, November 30th: Resume regular hours



SENDING A BIG FILE? IT’S NO LONGER A BIG PROBLEM!
The Lehigh e-mail server (and most e-mail servers) limits the size of e-mail attachments -- usually you can't send an e-mail attachment larger than 20 MB. Why? Large attachments can bog down both e-mail servers and the recipients' computers.

This problem has been solved with the Lehigh Dropbox Service (dropbox.lehigh.edu). The drop-box is a temporary storage location where you can upload a file or files up to 800 MB in size. The Lehigh dropbox stores the files and sends an e-mail notice to recipients. Recipients then click on a link to retrieve the file(s). Files must be retrieved within 3 days of being uploaded.

The dropbox can be used in one of two ways:

• A Lehigh user can create a drop-off to be delivered to any e-mail user (Lehigh or non-Lehigh)
• A non-Lehigh user is allowed to drop-off a file to (*a Lehigh user only*)

For questions about the dropbox service, contact the LTS Help Desk at 610-758-4357.



LTS TO TRANSITION TO WINDOWS 7
Library and Technology Services (LTS) has been testing Windows 7 (Microsoft's new operating system) for the past several months in anticipation of its scheduled release which occurred on October 22, 2009. LTS plans to upgrade all public computing sites from Windows XP to the 64-bit version of Windows 7 after the spring 2010 semester.

For public testing, LTS has configured some computers at the EWFM 180 and EWFM library public sites with Windows 7 64-bit. As with any operating system upgrade, there may be applications that will not function properly in the new environment. Faculty who use software for courses should test their applications as soon as possible and provide feedback to windows@lehigh.edu. For a list of applications found to be incompatible, general Windows 7 information and a link to provide feedback, visit http://www.lehigh.edu/win7.

Students, faculty, and staff will be eligible to purchase a Windows 7 installation disk (for use on personally-owned PCs) through the Lehigh Bookstore some time in the spring 2010 semester.



FRITZ DIGITAL LIBRARY UNVEILED
On the occasion of Fritz Lab's 100th Anniversary, a new collaboration between LTS, the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, and Printing and Mailing Services has resulted in the digitization of approximately 150 technical publications. The newly established Lehigh Civil and Environmental Engineering Digital Library encompasses selected publications of the department, including Fritz Laboratory Reports, IHL (Imbt Hydraulics Lab) Reports and ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Reports. The complete bibliography contains over 3,000 reports, which may be accessed via: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/fritz/.

The Fritz Engineering Laboratory Research reports are comprised of research findings from department projects funded by various governmental agencies, industry and professional societies between roughly 1921 and 1989. The research reports include the civil engineering fields of structural (both concrete and steel) engineering, hydraulics, geotechnical, environmental/sanitary and fatigue/fracture engineering. A number of the Fritz Lab research project reports represent theses, dissertations and publications.



BEYOND STEEL UPGRADES MAPPING FEATURE
The Beyond Steel: An Archive of Lehigh Valley Industry and Culture project has upgraded and improved the functionality of its Geographic Information System mapping feature (http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/beyondsteel/gis/). Comprised of early twentieth-century Sanborn fire insurance maps, Sholes' Directory of the Bethlehems, 1900-1901, 1900-1902 Bethlehem Steel employee lists, a contemporary database of streets, and selected information from the 1900 Census report, the initial mapping interface was launched in 2008. The result is a geospatial presentation of turn of the century Bethlehem population and a context for more specialized visualization of workers in the steel industry. With the new, improved functionality afforded by the acquisition earlier this year of GIS servers and an Oracle license, we have been able to considerably decrease download times and increase functionality. We also added new data to include the ability to locate Bethlehem grocers, butchers, iron, metal, and textile manufacturers, newspapers, churches, government buildings, schools, leisure and recreation locations, and trolley lines.

Our efforts were recently applauded by the University of Wisconsin’s Scout Project which reports on projects that provide better tools for delivery of information online. The Beyond Steel project was generally deemed a “fascinating online exhibit and archive” with particular praise given to the GIS component as useful for urban studies.



COMPUTER TIPS
Have you ever been working on your PC and all of a sudden everything disappeared? Don't worry, you don't have to reboot to get it all back!

1. Just launch your Task Manager (by either hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete and clicking on Task Manager or by just hitting Crtl-Shift-Esc)
2. In Task Manager, click on the File menu
3. Click on New Task (Run...)
4. Type in "explorer" without the quotes
5. Click OK, and in a few seconds you should start to see your desktop reappear!

Is your monitor "shaky"? If you glance at your monitor from the corner of your eye, does it appear to be moving? If so, you need to change your refresh rate!

1. Right click on your Desktop
2. Click on Properties
3. Click on the Settings Tab
4. Click on the Advanced Button
5. Click on the Monitor Tab
6. Change the Screen Refresh Rate to a different Hertz
7. Click OK
8. Click OK again, and you are all set.

Is your monitor at the right height and distance?Many monitors are set too high and too far away for people when they are working at their desks. Your monitor should be approximately arm's length away from you when you are sitting properly in your chair. Also, your monitor should be set at a height where you eyes are at the same height as the Title Bar in your active window.