Many of us have had a patron ask, "Can you find that book about cars with the green cover my neighbor had?" Well, it may be tough finding the green book your patron is looking for, but at least you can make your Outlook mailbox easier to use by grouping messages by color.

If you want to make sure messages stand out when they're from your boss (or just electronic notices that let you know that the library item you reserved is now on hold for you), try this trick:

1. Highlight a message from the person you want to colorize.
   
   
2. Click the Organize button.
   
   
3. Click the "Using Colors" tab in the "Ways to Organize Inbox" window.
   
   
   
4. Use the dropdown menus in the "Color messages ____ _____ in ____ " area to choose the color you want.
   
   
5. Click the Apply Color button.
   
   
6. Close the Organizer, and you're done! It'll be hard to miss those important messages now...

You can buy yourself more screen real estate by shrinking the buttons on Internet Explorer web browser. Here's how:

1. Right-click anywhere on an empty space on the Internet Explorer Button Bar. This will bring up a small menu; click on Customize.
   
   
   
2. At the Customize Toolbar window you can switch to small icons, add toolbar buttons you'll find handy, and delete buttons you never use. When you remove a button, it just swaps over to the Available Toolbar Buttons collection, so it's not gone forever if you want to restore it in the future.
   
   
   You can go from
   to !
   
   
3. When you're finished, click the Customize Toolbar window's Close button.

If you're using Windows NT and find that one of your programs has frozen up so badly that it's slowing down your PC, or you're unable to continue or to close it (neither typing nor mouse clicking has any affect on the program), there is a way to cancel it without rebooting. The next time this happens, follow the steps below and you may be able to find the program causing the problem and close it. (Note: this might require first disabling security software on public workstations.)

1. Right-click on any open space on the Windows Taskbar.
   
   
2. This should open a small menu; click on Task Manager.
   
   
   
3. Click the Applications tab.
   
   
4. You should see all the programs you're running listed in the Task list. If something shows a status of "Not Responding", click on the misbehaving application once to select it.
   



5. Now click the End Task button and the misbehaving program should close. Note: unfortunately, any data you didn't save before the program started malfunctioning will be lost.
   
   
6. Lastly, close the Windows NT Task Manager window.
   
   
7. Try re-starting the software to see if the temporary problem has resolved itself.

National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is now making their database searchable -- at no charge -- and you can get free delivery of reports (under 20 pages) from 1997 to the present. You can search across or within subject categories (one of which is library and information science).

Alternate Useful URL O' The Month:
Okay, okay, so maybe this URL isn't so valuable, but it sure is fun! Kartoo is a meta search engine that displays results on a map in the form of a ball. As you move your mouse pointer over each result, each web site's description is revealed. Give it a spin!

If you're over 40 or a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000's "shorts" you'll appreciate this 1947 vocational guidance film "Your Life Work Series: The Librarian". Gems like, "How do you feel about books? Do they mean something to you? Are they your friends?" make the film a hoot.

The Internet Archive Movie Collection offers the film in different formats to suit different Internet connection speeds. (When you get to their web page scroll down to "Librarian, The".) They suggest you save the movie to your PC's local drive by right-clicking on the movie's link -- only those on a T-1 line or cable modem will be able to "stream" the film.

Alternate Fun URL O' The Month if you don't have a fast enough Internet connection to enjoy the film:
The first chapter of a new Harry Potter Parody.

"Mary Kay is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian. They control information. Don't ever piss one off."
   -- Spider Robinson in The Callahan Touch

If you've got zucchini in your garden, try using them up with Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

This issue of The Ides was written on August 15, 2002
Copyright 2001, Winnefox Library System

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

URL: http://www.winnefox.org/ides/idesaug02.html