Snipping Tool (Windows 7) - how to use it to screencapture dropdown menus and other tips

Recently, I had to screencapture some Windows 7 screens for training materials. Frustratingly enough, the screencapture tool, Snipping Tool, didn't seem to capture the dropdowns but it does, it is just a matter of knowing the trick!

To Find the Snipping Tool (and pin it to your menu for ease of access)

Click on the Windows menu button
(In the box 'Search programs and files' begin typing Snipping Tool - I only had to type Sni, before it came up, but if you have a lot of programs, you may need to type out the whole thing)

When you see it come up in the list, right click on Snipping Tool.

 

 Click on Pin to Taskbar.  

Capturing dropdowns or other objects (and putting it in hold)

When Snipping Tool opens it is already to screencapture. The problem is you may not be ready to screencapture OR you may want to capture a menu or other object.

Click on the Cancel button.  

At this point, you've put the Snipping Tool into a holding pattern. You may want to decide on your options for capturing. You can do a whole page, a rectangle, or free form. (see below to set the style of capture)

Now,  go to the menu you want to screencapture and then press,  Ctrl (control)  + Print Screen 
You will see the screen area become sort of translucent/slightly opaque and your cursor will change and you can draw around the object to be captured. Depending upon your settings, you will see your cursor turn into +.

 Setting Snipping Tool capture type and options

 Click on New>

• Free-form Snip.  Draw any shape around an object with your finger, mouse, or tablet pen.
• Rectangular Snip. Drag the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
• Window Snip.  Choose a window—like a browser window or a dialog box.
• Full-screen Snip.  Capture the entire screen.

 Options>Snipping Tool Options

 Snipping Tools FAQs from Microsoft

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/snipping-tool-faq#1TC=windows-7

 

Meebo retirement date July 11! Hurry!

Meebo users: Meebo rides off into the sunset on July 11.
-----------------------------
As a past Messenger user, we wanted you to know that until July 11 you can download your archived Messenger chat logs. Log into your account on Meebo Messenger for a download link. Please act soon — after July 11, chat archives will be deleted.

You may remember meebo was purchased by google...  Kind of like what happened with picnik but at least picmonkey (former picnikers have taken up the charge...)

Logi Insight for Libraries with Voyager ILS (Webinar)

Logi Insight for Libraries with Voyager ILS
Featuring Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College

Date & Time: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST

Duration: 45 minutes

Presenters: Kevin Kidd, Manager of Libraries, Boston College
Matt Hoffman, Director of Library Solutions, LogiXML

Who Should Attend: Deans, Systems Librarians, Electronic Resources Librarians, etc.

Join us for a webinar on our new reporting solution for academic libraries using the Voyager ILS. Boston College, Texas Tech, and NYU have partnered with us to develop this solution that enables librarians to instantly evaluate and understand resource utilization to support data-driven decision-making.

Learn about becoming a charter partner and see a live demo of our new Dean's Dashboard!

* Budget Status Gauge
* Circulation Trend Chart
* Cataloging Productivity
* And much more!


Live Webinar: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 1pm EST

Personal Knowledge Management (Free webinar!)

Personal Knowledge Management: A Framework for Librarians
( http://georgialibraries.org/events/wed-web-series/personal-knowledge-management-framework-librarians )Presented by Elisabeth Shields

Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 11:15am - 12:15pm Eastern Time
Separate registration is required for each hour-long session (free & open to all)

Searching is the easy part. But what do you do with all the material youve collected? What happens when you find an article that reminds you of something someone said in a meeting two weeks ago (or was it three)? What do you do to share your own thoughts, insights from articles and blogs, and what your manager said at the last staff meeting with the team charged with developing a strategic plan?

Tools for knowledge management are usually meant for institutions and are correspondingly expensive. But there are many tools for personal knowledge management that are very affordable. Discuss personal management needs with Elisabeth Shields; hear about the types of tools available with examples of each type.

Please contact a member of the Wednesday Webinar planning team with questions or ideas:
Sarah Steiner, Georgia Library Association, PACE Chair, ssteiner@gsu.edu
Buffy Hamilton, Wednesday Webinars Steering Committee, buffy.hamilton@gmail.com
Pat Carterette, Georgia Public Library Service, pcarterette@georgialibraries.org
-------------------------
The Georgia Library Association and Georgia Public Library Service are pleased to announce the January 2011 sessions of the Wednesday Webinar series (WWS) ( http://georgialibraries.org/events/webinars ), which highlights trends, innovation, and best practices in Georgia Libraries. The webinars feature Georgia speakers, but registration is open to anyone, anywhere. Topics are chosen to be of interest to employees of all library types, and each session is approved for one Georgia Continuing Education (CE) contact hour. The sessions will be recorded and available on the WWS archives ( http://georgialibraries.org/events/wednesday_webinars_archives )site for later viewing.

Getting through organizational layers to get social media started

How do you get through multiple layers (organizational levels) to get social media started?

• Personnel policy -- clearly let staff know what they can do and can't
• Address security issues upfront (IT related)
• Talk about the value of social media
  
• Talk about productivity impact
  
• Look to peer organizations -- i.e., positive peer pressure
• Leadership from top -- leadership should support and model appropriate social media use
• Archiving -- if your content falls under open records make sure to consider archiving of social media if your content is not already posted elsewhere on an archived site (e.g., your domain)
• Just get started -- somehow
  
• Start small! Pilot projects
• Education/training -- help staff learn how to use social media and education yourself on issues in sm
  
• Staff time/job priority -- if no dedicated sm participants then make it part of staff responsibilities
• Cultivate resistors; make team players
• Form organizational task form with resotors and all levels

These are the ideas my group up from to address the issue of getting buyin.

10weeks to a Web2.0 You Social Media Training Program

Well, it's official. The 10Weeks to a Web2.0 You Social Media Training Program kicks off today. Right now, this is just for library staff, but we are collecting up all of the training tools, presentations, etc. to create a website which anyone can use. I'm co-teaching blogging and then image editing (the fun stuff, right?) I thought about switching out blogging for moviemaking, too, but geez, I have enough going on, you know? ;-) For those of you attending the kickoff, there is food!

Join S.T.E.P. and WAG for the launch party of a new training series:

10 WEEKS TO A 2.0 YOU: SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB 2.0 SKILLS TRAINING COURSE

On Wednesday, April 7, at 3:00 in the Administration conference room,
you can enjoy refreshments, get an overview of the program, and meet the instructors.

You've heard about Web 2.0 - you may even be using some of these applications in your personal computing time. But do you know...

...how to use Web 2.0 applications to increase your productivity and efficiency at work?

...how the UGA Libraries are already using some of this technology and you can get involved?

It is becoming increasingly important to know how to use these applications effectively and creatively in the work environment. To help you become more proficient, WAG and S.T.E.P. are offering a 10-session course about several of the most prominent uses of Web 2.0.

You can come to as many or as few of the sessions as you wish. However, participants who complete eight of the ten workshops will receive a certificate of completion of the program and will be entered in a prize drawing.

The sessions by week, are:

1. Be Productive with Google Documents
2. Sharing Your Message Online: Blogging & Tweeting
3. Get Updated with RSS
4. Flash, Bam, Alakazam!: Photos in a 2.0 World
5. You Oughta Be in Pictures: Digital film-making
6. The Web for Bookworms
7. Get Organized with 2.0 Tools
8. Where Did I See That Again?: Bookmarking tools
9. Don't Let That Wiki Be Tricky: Editing wikis
10. Podcasting: Discovering and Creating Podcasts

This training course will help you develop techniques for becoming a more productive and technology-savvy employee, so talk to your supervisor today about becoming a new, improved 2.0 You.

The history of online video

Very interesting overview of the rise of online video, especially as relates to journalism.

2004:

Coinciding with the election of 2004 was the prevalence of broadband speeds, and with half of American homes reaching better than dial-up transfer rates, along with all the noise created by the blogs and pundits of the internet, an audience was born, capable and accustomed to online payments (i.e. market potential) and finally able to watch video, on demand by the masses.

..and now we can watch tv online, both episodes from network television as well as original programming.

Game dynamics in the real world

I read this post about game dynamics in "real life" (aka not a game), which started a thought chain... In a nutshell, game dynamics in social media and in IRL (in real life, whatever that really means, I live mostly online... lol) appear in:

• Rewards and points to play, such as frequent flyer programs and Las Vegas casinos/resorts
  
• Facebook is a game because of its immediacy and real time updating
  
• Multilevel & local marketing on facebook and elsewhere
  
• Time management & productivity tools (facebook, lifehacker, etc.)
  

I would add:

• Networking/building alliances (linkedin, facebook, twitter, also, IRL, etc.)
  
• Task oriented duties / completion of a task (I see this as different from a tangible reward, because sometimes the reward is just a completed profile or a thank you)
• Learning
  
• Chance and probability (I know the Google "I'm feeling lucky" is not completely random, nor is the suggested friends on facebook)
  
• Exploration/Creative play

..and if I think long enough, I will come up with some more, I am sure.

Google docs add templates

Didn't know that there were more templates beyond what is listed in google docs (and didn't notice that 'search templates' link in google docs?) Well, now you do. You can also get 'em here.... and here is how to create your own (well, sort of).

Presentation secrets from steve jobs

In short a good presentation should have:
1. A headline
2. A villain
3. A simple slide
4. A demo
5. A holy smokes moment...

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2009/sb2009106_706829.htm

visual tweet

Okay, I haven't quite figured out how useful this, but whoa, is it nifty, cool and kind of addictive.
Friendbrowser

e-Publishing? Isuuu?

Has anyone used Issuu to epublish? If so, what do you think?
I've been considering switching platforms for the arts magazine. I like PacerCMS, but I don't have much time for development these days. I chose PacerCMS because it created a nice issue and did everything I wanted out of the box (and it pretty much does, once I created my CSS templates). So, I don't HAVE to switch to anything... but whoa, does Issuu look good. However, the free version is ad based. ;-(

Is there anything opensource like Issuu? I'd rather run something on my own server, but I understand these can be embedded into a website.

The politics of collaboration

Very interesting article on the political nature of collaboration tech/IT projects, such as web2.0 technologies:

The three most common objections raised to any new collaboration technology (including Web 2.0 ) are security (access control, compliance and governance); cost (initial price and TCO); and productivity (which processes the technology supports and what is the expected cut in cycle times if everything goes well). In working with clients on these objections we find that they often become political. Selection of the collaboration technology is political, who uses it and how can become political. Any resources dedicated to a collaboration project often become political. Changes in compensation to support collaborative behaviors become political. In essence, anything to do with collaboration can become political very quickly!

Do you need help with that presentation?

Slideshare the cool site that allows easy sharing of powerpoint slides via the web AND converts powerpoint into a more web friendly format for embedding, emailing, etc. has now started a great series on slide tips. Do you think they got tired of all of the really bad powerpoint presentations being loaded at their site? :-)

Everyday, by some estimates, people deliver roughly 30 million PowerPoint presentations. And 95 percent of them suck. Then people blame PowerPoint, as if the car caused the accident. It’s a shame, really, because PowerPoint can be a great visual aid for a presentation. But it’s not the presentation itself. You are.

indeed.

• my writings (& tips) on presentations
• tips & tricks for powerpoint (presentations that rock!) a 2 part lesson which includes:
• basics of a good presentation
• custom colors & backgrounds
• duplicating slides & the master slide (making a presentation more quickly!)
• background graphics
• layering graphics
• music & movies
• hyperlinks
• embedding youtube
• navigation & action buttons
• embedding live web pages
• ...and lots more.
  

12 New Rules of Working you should Embrace

From Zen Habits, with my thoughts in brackets.

1. Online applications and the cloud beat the desktop and hard drive
2. Collaborate on documentation [online], don't email [Don't collaborate on paper, either. If needed, make screenshots of prototypes to share with the group. ]
3. Collaboration is the new productivity [not necessarily true, if you've ever been on a dysfunctional committee or project group that can't get anything done, sometimes the one person who takes charge saves the day; however, groups can be highly productive, see #6)
4. People don't have to be in the office [hear, hear! I am very productive working offsite and I think most people are. I know there are some companies and institutions that truly support telecommuting, but it seems like a lot of places use telecommuting as a way of shoring up sick leave; i.e., staff are allowed to telecommute when they are too sick to physically come to work.]
5. Archive, don't file. [I would also add collaboratively archive! If all of the important documentation is stuck on one person's harddrive and it fails, it may be nearly impossible to retrieve it.]
6. Small teams are better than large teams.
7. Communication is a stream. [F}ind what interests you, search for what you need, and pick and choose the things that matter most to you. Can you answer every email? No — so answer the important ones, and archive the rest. Can you know everything going on in your field or industry? No — so monitor what interests you, and when things really matter you’ll find out from your network of friends or blogs you read.
8. Fewer tasks are better than many.
9. Meetings (usually) suck. [My advice: THINK BEFORE YOU SCHEDULE THAT MEETING. Meetings serve a lot of different purposes which have little to do with the task or goal at hand. For collaborative, visual or auditory learners (workers), they get some of the reinforcement, feedback, and interaction, they need. Meetings also play into the institutional or corporate social culture. They present networking and team building opportunities and provide a human face to the project. Good meetings are invaluable; bad meetings are a huge waste of time and energy.]
10. Opensource is better than closed source. [I know many of the arguments against opensource, but I'm still a huge advocate of opensource.]
11. Rest is as important as work.
12. Focus don't crank [multi-tasking isn't all it's cracked up to be]

Jpgs, Gifs, Pngs - what is best for screenshots?

Uh-oh, I sometimes take the easy way out (i.e., use whatever format is supported by the software I have in front of me)...

Text & Clipart -- GIF or PNG format
Screenshots from Window -- PNG format
Video & Photographs screenshots -- JPG format

The article explains it more and also includes images comparing quality.

http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/best-file-format-for-screenshot-images/3917/

Sticky notes go high tech

So, you thought those yellow paper sticky notes were useful as they are, hmm? What if you could transfer your sticky notes to your computer? I don't mean stick them to the frame of your monitor, either ;-D

And it would be better than my PDA if it would somehow manage all of the sticky notes that people leave me. Now, if I could get those transferred to my calendar/todo list, I'd love that. ;-D

It does look as if the "pen" writes ink as well as electronically, which is a plus because I'd need both. ;-D

So, how do I find these, so I can try them?

Need a virtual signup sheet?

If you need a virtual signup sheet, give writeboard a whirl.

Converting apple keynote to powerpoint (4:3 ratio to 16:9)

This is a much abbreviated version from an email:

Convert 4:3 powerpoint presentations to 16:9 (wide-screen)
Keynote (apple) can resolve this problem.

1) Open the original presentation in Apple keynote.
2) Open the inspector, choose document >slide size Choose the new size
3) Export the new presentation from Keynote to Powerpoint.

Workaround from Microsoft:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA011420901033.aspx

convert your life: handy online tools

Convert:

• your calendar: If you are exporting a cvs file and need to change it to ical
• your files (need a different file format?)
  
• to pdf
• html to php
  
• your numbers, measurements, & more
• favorite image to an icon
  
• hex to rgb > rgb to hex (colors!)

just a few useful things....