Teton County Library Technology Blog

It’s going to be “mud session” soon in Jackson Hole. It’s that time between winter and summer that some people call spring. In Jackson Hole, that’s when the snow melts and turns our world to mud! All of us that that took seasonal jobs for the winter will be looking for summer work. Do you need to write and e-mail out your resume?

If you have questions or need help, check with the staff at the desk. Also check with them about our Microsoft Word and other classes.

Good luck with your job searches!

Mark - Teton County Library Information Technology Manager

We have patrons come to the Computer and Information Center (CIC) all of the time fresh off the slopes, trails or returning from a road trip through the parks. They have pictures they want to e-mail from their cameras to their friends and family. I don’t know why, it just makes their friends and family mad that they are not here too! All of our adult Internet 1-hour computers and our YS Internet computers are set up so you can plug the USB cable from your digital camera in. As long as your camera is recognized by our computers as a disk drive (Like it would if you put you USB thumb drive in), you can view your pictures and attach them to e-mails. The large majority of digital cameras will work this way.

The newer digital cameras are very high resolution and make huge picture files. The higher the “Mega Pixels”, the bigger the file. I was just looking at photos from my 8 mega pixel camera and the file sizes are from 1.6 all the way up to 6 megabytes. 1.6 isn’t too bad, but be careful about sending too many 6 megabyte pictures as e-mail attachments. Your recipients could have trouble opening them because of a slow Internet connection or slow computer and you could fill up their e-mail inbox. We have programs on our computer that make it quick and easy to reduce the size of your pictures before sending. Our staff can help you if you need it.

On our adult 1-hour Internet computers, you can use Adobe Photoshop Elements, Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Picasa2. On our adult express and Youth Services Internet computers (For our youth patrons only), you can use Quick Time Picture Viewer.

We have one of our adult word processors equipped with Adobe Photoshop Elements, Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Picasa2, but this is strictly for editing your pictures due to our word processors not having Internet connections.

Adobe Photoshop Elements is also a powerful photo editing program with many features and we have started offered classes to the public on it.

Keep taking those pictures!

Mark - Teton County Library Information Technology Manager

The new Computer and Information Center (CIC) is in place! We have more Internet computers for you to use than before in their new location. The move also created some great quieter spots near where the Computer Center used to be. Check those out too! Have you been using the new CIC? What do you think so far?

Mark - Teton County Library Information Technology Manager

When you come into the library after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, you will find our adult Computer Center has moved to directly behind the Information Desk. Please see our press release on our library web site for details . Moving these computers and consolidating the Information and Computer Center desks will give us a better space and opportunity to serve your needs better with even more trained staff there to help you with both your information/reference and public computer questions and requests.

If you are accustomed to sitting at those big tables behind our Information Desk, check out the space where the adult Computer Center used to be for a seat. If you use our reference databases computers to print out Topo maps, those programs have been moved to the sit-down book search computer directly in front of the Information Desk. Always feel free to ask a librarian if you need help.

I will be on vacation for a couple of weeks and will respond to any comments when I return. I promise!

Mark - Teton County Library Information Technology Manager

The web browsers on our adult Internet computers at the Teton County Library automatically clear the Internet  “cache” when you are done using them. This includes those pesky “cookies”. An example of a cookie would be when you go to check your e-mail on a site such as Hotmail and it remembers your account ID. It does that by saving cookies on the computer that you are using. If you see options on account access web pages that give you the choice to remember you or your password, it is always a good idea to decline those options on public computers. There are usually check boxes to select those options or not.
Try to use sites that are “secure” when personal information is being sent or viewed over the Internet. Some sites such as bank account access sites are secure. This means that the data that is sent back and forth between the computer you are using and the website host is encrypted. So if you are looking at your checking account statement, the data is scrambled by the host and then unscrambled by your web browser so that you can ready it. Conversely, if you enter your credit card number on a secure site, it is scrambled by your web browser and then unscrambled  at the host’s end. Different web browsers tell you that they are on secure websites in different ways. Some use a padlock symbol on the screen. Look for the website address in the address bar on the top of the browser window. If the site is secure, the address of the site will start with https as opposed to just http. For example; Google would be https://www.google.com if it were secure and http://www.google.com if it were not secure.

Our adult 1-hour Internet and word processing computers at our Computer Center now have the Microsoft Office 2007 suite of programs. This includes Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point. Office 2007 replaced Office 2003 last winter and has the same functions and features that were in the 2003 version and more. The look is a little different, but it’s not hard to learn the subtleties. Our library staff made the transition from the old 2003 version to 2007 last summer.

Why did we make the change? Once Microsoft started selling Office 2007, they stopped selling the 2003 version.  So if someone purchases a new computer with the Office suite on it, it will be the 2007 version. If you have a file that was created and saved in Office 2007, you might not be able to open it in older versions of Office.  We have configured our computers for you so that when you create and save your file, it saves them in a version that is compatible with the older versions of Office. At the same time, you can open and save all the latest Office 2007 formats if you choose. Even thought Office 2007 takes some getting used to because of the new look, we upgraded to best serve our library staff and our patrons.

When you are using one of our adult 1-hour Internet computers or word processors at our Computer Center, look for the Office 2007 Tutorial program that we created. It will give you a fun, informative and quick introduction to Office 2007. If you don’t see it on the computer, just ask a Computer Center Staff member.

Mark - Teton County Library Information Technology Manager

Our 1-hour adult Internet computers are now running the latest Microsoft Vista operating system and more will follow as computers are replaced.

What does this mean to our patrons? The computers have a new and easy to navigate look and feel. We can provide the same quality software, add new features and have the power to do even more in the future.

Take one for a 1-hour test drive!

 Hello, and welcome to the Teton County Library Technology Blog. The Information Technology (IT) Department is utilizing this blog as a new feature for handling basic computer services questions and keeping our patrons up to date regarding our library technology.

Our IT staff will be posting information related to our library technology for patrons of the Teton County Library. We will be offering information regarding our public computer and wireless Internet systems and services. Tune in to our new blog and stay on top of all the technology that is available for Teton County Library Patrons.

 The Teton County Library wireless network provides open wireless Internet access for owners of wireless ready laptop computers. If your laptop has a compatible, working, correctly configured internal or external wireless card, you can access the Internet from the Library’s network.

If your laptop does not already have wireless capabilities, you can check out and install a wireless card and software. You will need to check out and install the wireless card software the first time you use it. On subsequent visits, you will need only to check out and insert the card. The network card uses the 802.11b wireless standard. These packages can be checked out at the Library’s Front Desk.

To access the Internet using the Library’s open wireless access point, you need:
A wireless ready laptop computer.
Your wireless network card configured to obtain IP address automatically and obtain DNS address automatically. New laptops are pre-configured to work this way and will work with the Library’s network with no changes. See Trouble Shooting Guide for tips.
Your computer needs to find and associate with the wireless network. This usually happens automatically. The Teton County Library wireless network is called TCL and does not require passwords or user information. See Trouble Shooting Guide for tips.

Library staff cannot assist you with your computer. The staff can test and confirm that our wireless network is up and running.

There is no provision for printing from the wireless network. You may save your work to a floppy disk, CD or USB thumb drive and reserve computer time at the Library’s Computer Center to print documents.

You maintain all responsibility for your laptop. The Library does not provide any virus protection. For your security, you may wish to turn off any shared files you have while you are connected to the Internet.

The Library’s wireless network provides you with Internet access; however, the performance of specific Internet web sites depends on many factors which are beyond the Library’s control.

Your use of the Library’s wireless network must adhere to all existing Library policies, including behavior and computer policies. Disruptive or illegal use of your computer, its programs or the Library’s network may result in suspension of library privileges and potential prosecution.