LiberKey---Portable Applications

A complete application platform for local or portable (put on flash drive) use.
It allows you to manage your applications quickly.

LiberKey is a complete application platform that allows you to quickly launch and manage
your applications. Install an application from LiberKey catalog is done with 2 clicks but
you can easily add any other application.

Here are some key features of "LiberKey":

· A menu with advanced features which allows you to organize and manage your
 applications.  (categories creation, shortcuts, tabs/menus, smart search,
drag-n-drop, and more). floatting menus for quick access from your desktop

· Portable files associations : You can open files and protocols
(http, ftp, mailto, etc) with the application of your choice

· Portable desktop shorcuts : shortcuts to your applications are placed on the desktop
and removed when your exit LiberKey

· Automatic online updates (LiberKey platform and applications of the catalog)
which allows you to be always and easily up to date

· Synchronization with the online catalog

http://www.liberkey.com

The Big 6 in eBooks

A Facebook page devoted to highlighting that "Six major publishers are making it difficult, if not impossible, for libraries to purchase eBooks." It lists bestsellers, and indicated whether or not they're available to libraries - and why. 

https://www.facebook.com/thebig6ebooks

A Quick Guide to Private Browsing

Re-posted. Originally written by Ellyssa Kroski

On April 22, 2013, Google was hit with a fine of $190,000 in Germany for illegally collecting personal data, emails, passwords, and photos from unprotected wifi networks via its Google Street View cars. Coincidentally, Microsoft launched an Online Privacy Awareness Campaign yesterday which will help people learn how to better protect their online privacy. Two of the major ways discussed are actually quite easy to implement – turning on private browsing mode and enabling the Do Not Track feature in your browser.

Private Browsing

By enabling the private browsing setting, you are keeping everything you do in the browser from being saved and stored. None of your download lists, browser history, passwords, cookies, caches, or temporary files will be stored. This will keep anyone who has access to your computer from viewing your online activity. It will also allow you to be signed into the same social network such as Facebook or Twitter with different logins at the same time.

How-To:

Internet Explorer 10
In IE, private browsing is called InPrivate. To initiate InPrivate browsing press Ctrl+Shift+P.

Firefox 20
To start private browsing in Firefox press Ctrl+Shift+P.

Chrome
In Chrome, private browsing is called Incognito and can be initiated by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N.

Safari
For private browsing in Safari, click on “Safari” in the menu bar and select “Private Browsing”.

Do Not Track

Many major websites, search engines, and online tracking companies track visitor behavior such as searches, purchases, locations, likes, dislikes, etc. in order to sell or simply provide that information to third parties such as advertisers. However, most browsers now have a Do-not-track feature that can be turned on which tells every website you visit (as well as their advertisers and other content providers) that you don’t want your browsing behavior tracked. Honoring this setting is voluntary.

How-To:

Internet Explorer 10

1. Click or tap the Tools button, point to Safety, and then click or tap Tracking Protection.
2. Click or tap Your Personalized List, and then tap or click Enable.

Firefox 20

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Tools menu and then select Options
2. Select the Privacy panel.
3. Check Tell websites I do not want to be tracked.
4. Click OK to close the Options window

Chrome

1. You’ll need to install the Do Not Track browser extension.
2. On the menu bar at the top of the screen, click on Window.
3. Click on Extensions.
4. Chrome will display all of the extensions you have installed.
5. If you don’t have any extension installed, click the Browse the gallery. If you have extensions installed click the Get more extensions link at the bottom of the screen.
6. Search for the Do Not Track extension written by Jonathan Mayer
7. Click “Add to Chrome.”
8. In the drop down menu click “Add.”

Safari

1. Click on Preferences
2. Select the Advanced preferences panel
3. Check the box at the bottom of the menu labeled “Show Develop menu in menu bar.”
4. On the menu bar at the top, click on Develop
5. Click on “Send Do Not Track HTTP Header.”

Print Friendly

Click Here to Go to Print Friendly

Print Friendly is specifically designed to make printing web pages easier especially ones with frames. You can copy/paste in the URL of the page you want to print, it grabs the content, and then you have full control over which parts of the page actually print - it lets you remove anything you don't want.

PrintFriendly makes it so easy to remove all the junk (just click on whatever you want to delete). This means the good content fills the page.

It isn't perfect on some sites such as Zap2it.com listings.  It's prints better the regular way of just pressing Print in the browser.

A few more neat features: once you render a page to print in PrintFriendly, it gives you the option to print, create a PDF, or email it. Very handy.

Safe Public Computer Tips

Did you know that keyboards can carry germs? In the midst of Cold and Flu season, it can be important to make sure you keep yourself germ-free on our public access terminals!

Use Hand Sanitizer
Using hand sanitizer before and after using one of our public computers will reduce the chance of harmful germs being transferred.  Hand sanitizer is located at the front desk.

Do not touch your face while using the computer
While using hand sanitizer will kill the germs before and after you use the computer, during computer use, any germs that may be on the keyboard will be transferred to your hands. According to research, this increases the chance of catching a cold/virus.

Wipe the keyboard
If you're worried about germs on the keyboard, you can wipe down the keyboard with an antimicrobial wipe. Wipes will soon be available at the library during the cold and flu season.

Don't forget - these tips aren't just for keyboards! You can also find out more about cold and flu prevention by reading FOX's "Tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season"

Sharing Link Bundles with Students

If you have ever tried to get all of your students to the same set of websites at the same time, you know that just a couple of mistyped characters can create a frustrating experience. One solution is to post all of the links on your course blog. Another solution is to use a link bundling service that will group all of your links together into one package. Then instead of sending out a bunch of individual links you can just send one link that will open all of the bundled links for your students. 

Bundlenut is a simple service for organizing a set of links and sharing them with others. To use the service just visit Bundlenut and start entering the links that you want to include in your bundle. You can include comments about each of the links. When you have added all of links that you want to include in your bundle, Bundlenut will assign a unique url to your bundle. Anyone with access to that url will be able to see all of your links and comments about those links. You can use the service with or without registering. The advantage of registration is that you can go back and modify your bundle whenever you would like to.

LinkBunch is a free service that you can use to quickly send a group of links to your friends, colleagues, and students. To use the service just visit LinkBunch, enter the links that you want to share, and click "Bunch." When you click on "Bunch" you will be given a URL to share with anyone you want to see the links in your bunch. When someone clicks on the URL for your Bunch he or she will be able to open the links you bunched together. 

Bitly is one URL shortener that I have been using for years. It's simple to use, especially if you use the bookmarklet, allows you to customize URLs, and it offers good statistics about the use of your links. Bitly offers an option for bundling bookmarks into one package that you can share with just one link. Bitly bundles can be created collaboratively if you invite other Bitly users to bundle links with you.