Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

This morning's Tips & Tricks on Microsoft PowerPoint at Kaplan University proved to be well worth the time and $15 admission fee!.  Presented by John McAtee, it covered all of the basics as well as some things I considered more advanced.  Transition from slide to slide (and what cool effects the 2010 version has!), animation of the text on the slide, and creating a Master Slide so you don't have to format each slide individually, were just some of the tips I learned.  If anyone uses PowerPoint to create presentations for the public (or staff), this is a worthwhile class to take.

Marsha

HTTPS Everywhere

Another fine presentation by Maurice Coleman.  My take aways include using HTTPS Everywhere from the Electronic Frontier Foundation,  HTTPS Everywhere is a fee extension to create a private tunnel between your browser and the web site you are using, by forcing a https connection.    He also reiterated that Terms of Service really work to the advantage of the information provider so they can further their business, not as much to protect the end user.  Good Review of stuff everyone should be doing on their computers and devices.

Protecting Your Online Presence

I attended the workshop 'Protecting Your Online Presence' given by Maurice Coleman. I signed up for this workshop because I teach computer classes at the library, and I like to get as much information as I can. I learned that one can never be too careful while out there on the Internet. People should be aware that anything that is put on the Internet on public websites like Facebook can be viewed by anyone, even potential employers. There are ways to protect one's online activities through privacy settings, firewalls and virus scans. Vigilance is the key! Mr. Coleman is a great presenter. He uses humor to highlight his vast knowledge of his subject. I enjoyed this workshop, and will use the information I learned to help my students here at South Cumberland Library.

Talk to the Hand -a chance to learn to work with all types

In many ways Talk to the Hand: A Guide to Dealing with conflict in the Workplace brought back memories of other workshops in the past, like: Leading from Any Position (many years ago), the Shortcuts to Greatness, and Staying Safe in a Changing Work Environment. In a way, taking this workshop was a chance to help myself not forget what I had learned before and to see more of the whole of libray-staff-to-library-staff and libray-staff-to-patron relationships from another viewpoint. I like workshops that build upon each other, especially when trying to learn that we need all types of people in this world, on our staff, and as our patrons. Visualizing them as diffeent animals really brings that point home, since which of those animals wouldn't we want to exist? Thanks for another great learning opportunity.