ASSOCIATES (vol. 3, no. 3, March 1997) - associates.ucr.edu
Editorial As one of the founding editors of Associates, I am proud of our publication dedicated to the advancement of library paraprofessionals. Our Chief Editor, Kendall Simmons, asked me to write the editorial for this issue. The topic that comes to my mind is technology in the library, particularly the computer that we are sitting at all day long. Can computers be fun in the library? I am sitting here trying to ignore the pain in my wrist and elbow, adjusting my wrist and mouse pads, and following the guidelines for ergonomic exercises. I check my email, sorting through all this stuff, when I find one subject that is "re: re: re: fwd." Anything forwarded this much must be worth looking at. The message says: Spock: Why did the chicken cross the road, Captain? Kirk: So she could go where no chicken has gone before. The Captain's correct, Mr. Spock. Everybody should feel like that chicken and be excited about exploring the computer. We've all heard about stress, strain, and monotony of computers, so let's look at the fun side. 1. Spell check. It's fun to make typos these days with word processors that have spell check. Misspell "that" as "taht" and the spell check recommends replacing it with "tart." You get "amble" for "email." And, what a hoot to spell check ordinary library abbreviations: ALA = ala (a winglike structure or part, such as an earlobe) CLA = clabber (sour, curdled milk) OCLC = Occult (hmmm?) For kicks, I checked my own name: Wendee = Wended (proceeded, or gone) Eyler = Alar (having wings) Reminds me of that chicken crossing the road. 2. Computer sound effects. Why have the mild, pleasant Windows chimes and dings when you can have anything? If you go into your Program Manager, and click on Control Panel, you may be lucky to have an ala, I mean an ear, icon for Sounds. If you play around with it (come on, explore strange, new worlds), you can switch sounds around. Even better than that, you can use sound effects from other programs or download sounds from the Internet. My computer laughs when Windows opens, and Homer Simpson says, "Where's my burrito!" when my printer paper tray is empty. My co-workers tolerate these sounds pretty well, but they just couldn't stomach the dog yelp that I replaced for the ding. Especially the day it got stuck and yelped about 2000 times until I had to reboot my computer. They called out to me in annoyance, "Wendee, what ARE you doing to that poor dog?" 3. Screen savers. Most computers come with some kind of screen saver. We're flexible around here, and staff can purchase and load their own. One person has a saver that displays a famous art work, then fades into another. Beautiful. We have several Star Trek savers; Mr. Data giving cha-cha lessons is my favorite. Some people simply change the Program Manager, Control Panel, Desktop screen saver to "Marquee." You can have a rather long, free-text message, because one of ours says "This computer will self-destruct in 5 minutes ..." 4. New users of Windows can have lots of fun. We were required, yes required, to play Solitaire, the game that comes with Windows. This gave us skill in mouse techniques, such as clicking, double clicking, and dragging. Of course, too much mousing can lead to actual injury, so I recommend using some of the Windows key options. Here's an example. Close down or minimize everything in Windows without exiting. Then open something, such as OCLC's Passport for Windows, and minimize it (go ahead and click it to minimize). Next, open another Windows application, such as WordPerfect or Microsoft Works. Now, hold down ALT and press TAB. You should jump right back into Passport. Just for fun (and experimentation only), open Solitaire or Hearts. You can jump into (or out of) these programs as quickly as you can hear footsteps coming up behind you. 5. Email. Oh, those lists! And lists! Come on, aren't they fun? How quickly one feels inundated with all those mailings. Actually, the fun part is trying to remove your name from the list. We've all seen the message sent in error to the list rather than the server that snowballs from "Unsubscribe" to "Please take my name off this list" to the final "Get me off this **** list NOW!" This is only a sampling of the fun you can have with your computer, right there in your library, at no cost. A new market of computer gadgets is out there: frames for computer screens, Beanie Baby toys that can be arranged attractively on the top of the monitor, and whatever else you can imagine. Is having fun important? You can be the judge of that when the stress, strain, and monotony of the job creep up on you. Wendee Eyler Editor, Associates Library Assistant Rivera Library University of California, Riverside rivwe@citrus.ucr.edu