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Set Outlook to Automatically Empty Deleted Items Folder

wastepaper canBack in October, Pete sent out an email message asking folks to periodically empty their Outlook "Deleted Items" folder.  He and Jody had noticed that some mailboxes have "enormous amounts" of email stored in their Deleted Items or Spam folders.

All of the email is backed up every day. It would save a lot of time and space on the server if we only needed to worry about preserving necessary items.

If you didn't take advantage of Pete's offer to help you set up Outlook to automatically empty the Deleted Items folder, now you have  another chance by following these simple steps:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.

     
  3. Select the Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting check box.

     
  4. Click the Apply button.
  5. Click the OK button.

How to NOT Search for a Word

Sometimes a simple search in Google brings up too many results that aren't relevant to what you want.  For example, if you're searching for info on the wild cat breed of jaguars, you don't want to wade through search results about Jaguar automobiles too.

Here's the trick for how to NOT search for a word:

Put a minus sign (hyphen) immediately before a word to tell Google you don't want any search results to contain that word. So in our example, you could enter jaguar -car as your search query.  You can even "stack" synonyms, like jaguar -car -auto to refine your search even more.

The minus sign should appear immediately before the word and should be preceded with a space.

For more tips & tricks for finding what you need, read More Google search tips.

Make Short Work of Common Tasks: Use Excel's Paste Special Command

paste special command in ExcelIn Excel, when you want to copy information into a new column, the column’s width doesn’t automatically adjust to accommodate the new data. But if you use Excel's "Paste Special" option, you can copy the source column’s width to the target column.

In Excel 2007 and 2010, Paste Special is in the Clipboard group on the Home tab. In Excel 2003, Paste Special is on the Edit menu.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Select the data you want to copy, and press the Ctrl+C keys to copy the selected values to the Windows Clipboard.
  2. Click on a cell in the destination column.
  3. On the Home tab, click the Paste option in the Clipboard group and choose Keep Source Column Widths.
    Note: This option requires an extra step in 2007: Choose Paste Special from the Paste drop-down, click the Column Widths option in the Paste section, and click OK.

Excel will copy the data and the source column’s width to the target cells.

Get 9 more Excel copy & paste tips at 10 Powerful Ways to Use Excel's Paste Features.

Books, Computers, and the Ability to Travel Through Time & Space

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette political cartoonist Rob Rogers created this cartoon that's been springing up on library bulletin boards across the counrty:

library card cartoon by Rob Rogers

source: Rob Rogers' cartoons http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/opinion/rob-rogers-cartoons/30863-library-card

Build a Free Desk Statistics Tracker Using Google Docs

If you need to collect and report reference transactions at your library — like for board reports or the Public Library Annual Report — and would like a better way than hashmarks on paper that get transferred to a spreadsheet, take a look at this article...

In the October 2011 issue of Computers in Libraries (available full text for free) Sunshine Carter and Thomas Ambrosi wrote an article titled "How to Build a Desk Statistics Tracker in Less Than an Hour Using Forms in Google Docs."

The authors state, "In less than an hour, using Forms in Google Docs, we were able to build a workable system after years of delay. Forms created an “aha!” moment for us: nothing to install, nothing to purchase, accessible from any service point, no server space to negotiate, statistics automatically compiled, and easy to analyze... Other institutions, when ready, will find that Forms in Google Docs provides an easy and workable solution for a custom-made desk statistics tracking tool."

The article provides the 7 simple steps (6 if you already have a Google account) for setting up your own customized statistics tracker.

Use Zamzar to Convert Files

Here's a handy tool to keep in your toolbox: Zamzar free online file conversion.  It can help out in situations like these...

Need a PDF turned into a GIF so you can use that poster for an image on your website? Did someone send a XLSX document to you, but you don't have Office 2007 to open it? Found a piece of clipart in Word but need to convert it from WMF to JPG for your blog?

Here's a tiny sampling of the kinds of file formats and conversions Zamzar can handle:

See a full list at their Conversion Types page.

You can even install the Zamzar Web Browser Button for your web browser's "Bookmarks Toolbar" to easily convert files at the click of a button. Click the button and Zamzar will auto-detect if any of the files on the page can be converted, highlight them, and you can then click a button to convert them. Watch a video of the button in action.

I learned about Zamzar and other great tools at the "IT Interested? Encouraging IT Experimentation in the Library" presentation by the IT Interest Group at the 2011 Wisconsin Library Association conference earlier this month.  Keep up on tech tools they share via their blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

Groan-Inducing Punny Book Titles

If you're in the mood for a laugh or a groan, take a look at The Canonical List of Punny Book Titles.  It includes such gems as...

  • Keeping Old Furniture Looking Good by Ann Teak
  • Suntanned Legs by Denise R. Brown
  • Lawn Care by Ray King

Did I mention?  I'm reading a book about anti-gravity; it's impossible to put down.

Who Are You? Use an Email Signature so People Don't Have to Guess

An important part of email etiquette is to include a signature in each message you send (both when you compose a message, or reply to a message.)  Similar to a signature in a letter, an e-mail signature is added to the end of your message.

Here's a template for creating a basic & effective email signature:

Marge Simpson
Springfield Public Library
742 Evergreen Terrace | Springfield, ZZ 80085
939-555-3223 | http://www.springfieldlibrary.org

Everything else — like your Twitter account or IM address — is gravy.

To ensure every email message you send has your signature automagically included, follow these steps in Outlook 2007 to set it up. (If you use Outlook 2003, view step-by-step instructions at Creating a Signature for Your Outlook E-Mail, and if you use Outlook 2010 view Add an E-mail Signature to Messages.)

  1. Open Outlook
  2. Click Tools, and in the menu click Options

     
  3. In the Options window, click the Mail Format tab
  4. Click the Signatures button

     
  5. In the Signatures and Stationery box, click the New button

     
  6. In the New Signature box, type a name (like Default) for the signature file, and click the OK button

     
  7. Type in your signature.  Make sure to set the default signature as Default for both New messages and Replies/forwards. Then click the OK button.

So, to use your new signature, simply start composing email messages — you'll see the signature in each new message you create.

If you want details on creating multiple signatures or creating fancy HTML signatures, watch Microsoft's Create Great-Looking Signatures for Your E-mail video tutorial.

Get Up to Speed on Windows 7

If you're used to using Windows XP but are now using Windows 7 and have questions about finding stuff and doing basic tasks, spend a little time at About.com's Quick Guide to the Windows 7 Desktop.

Here are some of the tips offered there:

  • Where's My XP Stuff?
  • Shutting down your computer, one of the most basic things you do, has become more complicated in Windows 7. Learn what the new shutdown options do.
  • What happened to XP's "'Quick Launch"'? It's gone, but has been replaced by something much better: the Windows 7 taskbar, which puts Quick Launch to shame.
  • Another commonly-used XP feature was "'Show Desktop"'. Its function hasn't changed, but its look and location has.
  • Pinning and unpinning programs into and out of the Windows 7 Taskbar.
  • Using the battery meter to help your laptop's battery last longer.
  • The new look of Windows 7 is called the "Aero" interface; here's how to use Aero Peek, Aero Snap, and Aero Shake.

The Secret to Reading the One-Page Version of Long Articles

printer-friendly versionEver read an article on a website but were annoyed it was spread out on multiple pages, so you had to keep clicking & clicking & clicking to read the next parts?  Some websites like the New York Times offer a "single page" icon, but if the website you're at doesn't offer that option, there's still a work-around to get the one-page version.  Here's the trick:

  1. Visit this article: "10 Banned Books That May Surprise You". Note that to read about all 10 book, you'd need to click the arrow arrow 9 times!
  2. Instead, notice the set of icons at the beginning of the article -- there's one that looks like a printer.
  3. Click the printer icon, and you'll see the printer-friendly version of the article (usually with illustrations and ads not included), and it's condensed into one page!

On some websites (the one in this example is one) the printer window will open. But if you just want to read the article on your monitor, you can click the Cancel button to read on.

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