It's true: size does matter. At least when talking about the byte size of e-mail messages and attachments.

Because Winnefox e-mail accounts run on the same computer server as the bibliographic database and the WALS circulation system, it's important to be conscientious about the files you send as attachments. The more we practice being "bandwidth hogs," the slower response time will be for patrons and staff at service desks.

Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, sound files, and photographs are typically large files which require more bandwidth (the information-carrying capacity of a network connection) to send than regular text messages.

Note: It's one thing if you're sending an Excel spreadsheet of your library's budget to a colleague, but another thing entirely if you're using your Winnefox account to e-mail a photo to friends and family. If you still receive non-business e-mail at your Winnefox e-mail address, please switch your recreational e-mail to your home e-mail address or register for a free e-mail account with a provider such as Hotmail or Yahoo!Mail (even more are listed at the "How to Get a Free E-mail Account" page.)

And just say "No" to forwarding chain letters!!

If you use Pine as your e-mail software, you already know how large any e-mail message is because it's right there on your screen in the fourth column of a folder's index. In this snapshot you can see that the text message is only 933 bytes, while a message with an attachment is over 31,000 bytes.

However, for those of you using Netscape Communicator 4.x for e-mail, the default view of your e-mail folders doesn't show the byte size of messages. So here's how to find out!

1. Open your Mailbox in Netscape Communicator
2. Below Communicator's button bar is a bar with column headings of Subject, Sender, and Date.
3. To the far right of this bar is a set of two arrows. Click on the arrow pointing to the left. This will show you additional columns of information about each message in the folder.
4. Keep clicking the left arrow until the column heading Size appears. Now you can see the size of each message in your folder.

If the columns are now scrunched too close together you may adjust the width of the columns to suit your needs:

1. Position your mouse cursor over the column border.
2. When the mouse pointer turns into a doubled-headed arrow, press the left mouse button and drag the double-headed arrow to enlarge or shrink the column.

You can even sort messages in order of size by clicking on the column header Size. This is handy to know so you can delete the largest message before backing up your e-mail, as detailed in this past issue of Ides.

If there's a Web page that you visit often, you can add a button to the Netscape 4.x Personal Toolbar, to make it easier to re-visit your most used Web sites. Many versions of Netscape 4.x have a Personal Toolbar pre-set with buttons for "Welcome to Netscape," "New&Cool," and "Lookup." You can keep these buttons, or replace them with buttons that are more useful to you.

Consider creating buttons for Wiscat, your favorite search engine, or The Laughing Librarian. Adding a customized set of buttons is easy -- just follow these steps:

1. In Netscape go to the Web page you want to create a button for.
2. Locate the small green flag on a yellow square
located to the left of the Location field on the Location toolbar.
3. Use your mouse to click and drag the icon to the Personal toolbar, which is just below the Location toolbar.
4. That's all there is to it!

When you have multiple applications open (like SmarTerm, a Web browser, MSWord, and your e-mail), and you need to get back to the Windows desktop quickly, instead of tediously minimizing each application here's a shortcut:

1. Choose any open space on the Windows Taskbar, and click on it with the right mouse button.
This will open a small menu.
2. Just click on
Minimize All Windows and your desktop will clear, and your applications will remain open and accessible on the Taskbar.

At the recent WLA Support Staff Section workshop "Betting on a Better Future", one of the programs focused on health issues for the library worker. The Web sites the presenter recommended are worth passing along to you:

• Ergonomics Guidelines: Workstation Health Information for General Libraries Staff
• Ergonomics Task Force Webpage
• Deskercises (consider doing the Funky Chicken only when unobserved)

In addition to these links, there's a new set of notes at the PLA 2000 Conference Program Reports from John Nichols.

Take a rest, sit a spell, and read the animated poem, Miss Charlotte Brown, Librarian, Goes Mad.

is New England Toll House Muffins.

This issue of The Ides was written on June 15, 2000
Copyright 2000, Winnefox Library System

The Ides is written by Joy Schwarz.
Please direct any questions, comments or recipes to schwarz@winnefox.org

URL: http://www.winnefox.org/ides/idesjun00.html