PDF "text tool"

A student today came in with a dilemma: he needed to fill out an online application. He wanted to type it because his handwriting is "atrocious," but had been unable to figure out how to do so.

In case a similar question comes your way on a future desk watch, you can "unlock" the PDF by a couple of quick steps. First, download the PDF. Then reopen the document. The Adobe menu will display. Look under "Tools" for the "Typewriter" option and you can edit away!

It used to be that Lamont had two aging but still serviceable typewriters for public use in the Viewing Room on Level A. No more, however. They've been removed for other kinds of equipment (and probably because we no longer can get parts for them).

Technology Showcase: a place to direct students

Earlier this week, a patron came to the desk with a question about where she might go to scan some slides. The Fine Arts Library was my first thought -- but when I checked the HCL equipment page, I could find no mention of slide-reproduction facilities. Mary Clare confirmed that Fine Arts does not offer this service.

The Technology Showcase does, however. The Showcase is actually a small multimedia facility, located on the 2nd floor of the Science Center (Room 209), overseen by FAS, and run by User Assistants for limited weekday hours. [Spring 2008 hours are M-Th 12-6 p.m. and F 12-5 p.m.] Walk-in use is possible; so is after-hours keycard access for users who have "sponsored" projects.

The room features 5 G5 Dual 2 gig processor Macs, 2 single processor Macs and 4 high end PCs running XP. A variety of special software is loaded on these machines in addition to the standard HASCS fare.

Among the common uses of the lab: scanning of photos, slides and negatives; burning of DVDs or CD-ROMs; editing of video; conversion of analog to digital formats; and scanning of documents with text recognition. Software for webpage design and editing of audio is also popular.

For appointments with UAs or for equipment demos, users should email showcase@fas.harvard.edu.

All Public Phones Working

In case you haven't noticed, or missed the announcement (if there was one), the campus phone and pay phone at the foot of the central stairs are installed and working. The wheelchair accessible phone on the first level west end by the Government Documents reading room side door is also working.

Public Phones in Lamont

The pay phone on the east side of level 1 (the one which was moved there for the summer construction) is out of order. But there is still a working pay phone at the bottom of the west stairway, just outside Government Documents. There's also a campus telephone at the bottom of the central stairwell, which is also out of order.

How Many Librarians Does it Take to Change . . .

I've had a couple of complaints from patrons about burned-out lightbulbs in study carrels. Lynn S. checked with Joe Lourenco, who said that the maintenance staff is having a harder time keeping bulbs changed, because the carrels, and the library in general, are so full most of the time. They can't even check the bulbs when the carrels are occupied because it would be intrusive. If a patron complains about a light not working, ask them where the light is or ask them to show you, so that Lynn can know the specific location to alert maintenance about.