LC Easy 4.0 is an application that students and staff can use to learn how to understand the LC Classification system. It is designed in a game format and is readily available to here:
This does not require a download nor any kind of installation on a local machine. But if you launch the program and you get denied access, please submit an INFORM. What that means is the user attempting to run LC Easy has not been added to the group authorized for access. Currently all student workers should have access as well as most Fulfillment staff.
Often Library personnel will contact members of the LTAS staff directly for assistance. As members in this service profession, we are not going to turn you down, but we will often ask you to submit an INFORM or create a ticket for you. You may wonder, “Why do we do this?”
First and foremost, LTAS staff often are in the middle of tasks or meetings, conferences or even on vacation. So if you want to get your issue seen, always submit an INFORM. But then if there has been no movement within 72 hours, contact one of us and we will see what is going on.
Second, LTAS is staffed by multiple personnel who can assist – you should not rely upon one individual. Please make use of INFORM so the work can be distributed as needed.
Third, we really would like for you, the user, to submit the INFORM since only you can describe what you are experiencing. Having someone else submit the ticket for you often causes confusion and/or a back-and-forth exchange as we try to get more information. When submitting tickets, please provide as much details as possible so we do not have to approach you again with clarification. Otherwise, this will delay in resolving your issue.
And finally, we need to be able to objectively state we have been able to serve our users and one of the best ways we can do that is through INFORM. By providing this essential data, we are able to track issues and our responsiveness to resolving those issues. We can also track the volume and any possible patterns. For instance, the start of the semester we normally see an uptick in tickets so we need to plan for this accordingly.
So to address the question, “Why do we do this?” – it’s for your benefit, the user, in the long run. Work with us and help us make Vanderbilt Libraries the best place to work at Vanderbilt!
There are times when you need to access a network share, but you don’t need to have it mounted as a drive. There is an easy way to do this and here are the steps.
First, go to File Explorer. This is the folder at the bottom of your task bar in Windows 11:
You’ll get something that looks similar to this:
At the top, where it shows “Home”, you will want to put the address of the network share you want to access:
If you have been granted access, once you hit return, it should populate File Explorer with the folders in that share. Then, once you are finished with what you are doing and you close out File Explorer, that share will not be mounted as a drive. This is just a quick way to access a network share. If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Adding a Shared Exchange Mailbox to Outlook 365 is a little different from previous versions of Outlook. Here is a little step-by-step guide on accomplishing this task.
Start Outlook 365 and next to your name, click the button with the 3 dots:
2. Click on the “Add shared folder or mailbox” option:
3. Enter the email address of the shared mailbox:
4. If Outlook recognizes the email address, it will pop up. Just click the one that you want and then select Add:
5. Now back in Outlook 365, in your list of folders, look for “Shared with me” folder:
6. Expand that folder:
And this is where your Shared Exchange Mailboxes are located.
Yesterday, I attended the Choice webinar, “A LibrarianÔÇÖs Guide to Cybercrime Mitigation” and it was one of the more rewarding webinars I have attended. It reminded me of why we do the things we do when it comes to security. I would encourage any and all Library staff to watch the recording, found here:
They provided several tools that can help you yourself protect your digital footprint. From checking how secure your password might be to seeing if a website is malicious or not. Here are a few of the tools mentioned:
Please, secure your passwords; use a password manager; donÔÇÖt re-use passwords; and above all else, donÔÇÖt leave passwords laying around on sticky note! ƒÿè
VUIT has recently implemented a policy that will expire/delete your Microsoft Team if it has zero activity for a full year. Never fear, all owners of the team are notified well in advance of the expiration and are given the chance to renew the team and keep it active. If this happens to a library team that you have ownership of (as a chair, group leader, director, etc.), LTDS will reach out and help you determine if the team is still needed, and where to go from there. If you have any questions, reach out via Inform!
Sometimes our browsers get clogged and cause issues, especially when trying to access sites that are behind protective layers. Then we have to tell users to go clear their browserÔÇÖs history and cache. There is a way that this can be done automatically, though, when a user closes their browser. Please see below for how to do this based upon your preferred browser:
Click on the 3 dots on the top-right and select “Settings”
Click on “Privacy, search, and service”
Click on “Choose what to clear every time you close the browser”
Turn on at a minimum “Browsing history”, “Cookies and other site data”, “Cached images and files”
After this, you are done. ThereÔÇÖs nothing else you need to change for Edge (and there is no “Save” button). You can now start using your browser as normal and when you close it, it will automatically clear your history & cache for you.
Firefox (Version 99.0 (64-bit))
At the top of the Firefox window, click the menu button on the right and then select Settings
Click on Privacy & Security
Look for the “Cookies and Site Data” section click the check box next to “Delete cookies and site data when FireFox is closed”
Scroll down to “History” section and change the drop down next to “Firefox will” from “Remember history” to “Use custom settings for history”. Then click the check box next to “Clear history when Firefox closes”
ThatÔÇÖs it. Like Edge, there is no “OK” or “Save” button ÔÇô it automatically saves your changes/updates so you can now use your browser as normal. And the next time you close it, it will automatically clear your history and cache for you.
Zoom Meeting vs. Zoom Webinar — how do you choose which platform is the best fit for your virtual gathering? Here are some questions to consider:
How many attendees are you expecting? Webinar can have up to 1000 attendees; meetings are capped at 300.
How much attendee interaction do you want? Webinars are more appropriate for one-way broadcasting to a large group. Attendees can’t un-mute and speak unless explicitly given permission individually by a host. Attendees also can’t see who else is there, i.e. there is no participant list visible to them. There are options on whether to enable chat or the Q&A feature for attendee interaction.
Do you need breakout rooms? Webinars can’t do breakout rooms — only meetings can.
Zoom provides a meeting and webinar comparison which might further help with your decision. LTDS is also available to talk you through each option. Submit an Inform to get in touch and/or if you decide to utilize the webinar option.
If you are anything like me, you’ve probably amassed quite the collection of cords for your various electronics over the years. What are they? What do they do? Let’s untangle this mess. Here’s a short guide.
HDMI: Audio and video signal, best for TV to PC connections.
DVI: Video only, perfect for older systems or for 144Hz at 1080p.
DisplayPort (DP) and Mini DisplayPort: The best connector for an audio and video signal, and can transmit 144Hz up to 4K.
VGA: Old, legacy video connector. Only to be used when nothing else available.
USB Type-A: The most standard connector for audio, video, data and power; but increasingly being replaced with USB Type-C.
USB Type-B: An older, very rarely used connector. There were two different versions.
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USB Type-C: Newest audio, video, data and power connector. The best connection for laptops and mobile devices.
Micro USB: A miniaturized version of the USB interface developed for connecting older compact and mobile devices such as smartphones, Mp3 players, GPS devices, photo printers and digital cameras.
Mini USB: Another mostly outdated miniaturized version of the USB interface for compact and mobile devices.
Lightning: Used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, and iPods to host computers, external monitors, cameras, USB battery chargers, and other peripherals.
And here’s where it’s gets a little more tricky… Thunderbolt: Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort, whereas Thunderbolt 3 and 4 reuse the USB-C connector from USB. The main difference is there’s a thunderbolt on the head of the connector and the port, and in many cases, they can do everything Mini DisplayPort and USB-C can, except much faster.
Bonus content! One last cord you should be familiar with.
Ethernet: This cable connects wired devices together to the local network for file sharing and/or Internet access.
And there you have it! A quick rundown of the big ball of cords under your desk.
Please feel free to contact LTDS if we can be of any additional assistance or would like some help with cord management.
There are times where you need to map a network drive, either because you have lost access somehow or you have been granted access to a network drive. To do this, please follow the below instructions (to do this, you either need to be on campus or on the VPN):
Click on the File Explorer icon in the toolbar:
If you do not have the File Explorer icon, in the box “Type here to search”, click inside the box and enter “File Explorer”. If you do not have either the File Explorer icon or the search box, you can search the Start Menu for File Explorer.
Then in the window that pops up, click on “This PC”. It may also be labeled “My Computer”:
Then, in the top menu options, click the “Map network drives” button:
In the pop up windows that displays, change the Drive letter to whatever you want. For your personal drive, that will be N:. For the shared folders, that would be G:
In the folder text box, enter the information you have received from LTDS. For the N: drive, that would be \\libshare.library.vanderbilt.edu\VUL\users\yourVUNetID and for the G: drive, that would be \\libshare.library.vanderbilt.edu\VUL\Workgroups. Any other network share would need to come from LTDS for the exact path.
Make sure the “Reconnect at sign-in” box is checked. This way you won’t have to remember to do this – it will automatically reconnect to the network share upon relogin.
Click “Finish”. If you are authorized to access that network folder, it will automatically pop up with the folders/files. If you have any trouble or issues with this, please submit an INFORM.
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