February 10, 2008
GoogleDocs - Collect Spreadsheet Data via Email
I find this new enhancement to GoogleDocs VERY intriguing. According to CYBERCity's Weblog, you can now create an email form, email it to whomever, and when they email the completed form back, the data will automatically populate in a GoogleDocs spreadsheet. This is something you can't do with plain vanilla Excel.
The respondents don't even have to sign in, which is quite an advantage if you're collecting data from people who aren't GoogleDocs users...or, heavens, don't even know about GoogleDocs.
This has definite possibilities...okay, I don't have an application for this yet, but I will...and I suspect you will, too.
For more information, see:
Stop sharing spreadsheets, start collecting information (Google Docs Blog)
Not familiar with Google Docs? See Google Marks Microsoft's Territory - Google Docs and More.
October 14, 2007
Screen Capture - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
If you provide any kind of remote support, the ability to to take a picture of your screen is essential. It's typically not easy to explain an online task over the phone or email without visuals to go with it. Think of it as an important way to deliver "just in time" training. Live remote support, by connecting to a user's PC, is preferable, but if that's not an option, you need a good screen capture utility.
As I've mentioned before, my favorite such program is SnagIt. You can use SnagIt to capture an entire window or just a section of the screen. You can even record videos, a capability that can be tremendously helpful it you've trying to explain a process. Just attach the video and send.
The nice people at TechSmith, makers of Snagit and Camtasia, are also experimenting with what they call the Jing Project. I spotted an entry about Jing on Inter Alia, and decided to give it a whilrl.
Once you've installed Jing, a gold globe hovers rather unobtrusively at the top middle of you computer screen, just waiting for the moment you decide to do a screen capture or video. To start the process, click on the globe, select the capture icon, define the area of the screen you wish to capture, then choose image or video. You can even include audio in your video captures. For more details, watch the video tour on the Jing Project web site.
When you've completed your capture, you can save it or post it to Screencast.com. If you post to Screencast.com, you're provided a URL that you can share with others. Screencast.com normally requires a monthly fee, but Jing users are provided with free access for the time being. Free is unlikely to continue indefinitely, however.
Posting your images and/or videos to Screencast.com has several advantages . You don't have to email large attachments, which may or may not make it to the recipient, and if you want to send the same video to others at any time, it's easy to do so.
On the other hand, I wouldn't feel comfortable using Screencast to store anything related to firm resources, software or data. Security is a concern. For that reason, you may want to store the video to your hard drive instead.
Whether Jing suits your fancy or not, make sure that you have some kind of tool to quickly and easily grab screenshots and create short videos. Remote support is a requirement in this day and age, and you need to be able to deliver in the most effective way possible. And, after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
October 07, 2007
SnagIt Sticky Notes
SnagIt is my screen capture program of choice. Once you've used Snag-It, you can never go back to ALT-PRINTSCREEN again. I use it to grab a quick image of a screen, or region; it can even be used to create short videos. When providing support to people in the next office, or next state, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words.
Those busy people at TechSmith have been experimenting with a number of fun things SnagIt related. New SnagIt Outputs were announced just last week.
So far my favorite is SnagIt Notes which let's you easily create sticky notes from SnagIt screenshots, and place them on your desktop. This gives you a tidier option than the REAL sticky notes that populate many monitors and desks.
Other outputs offer ways to easily share screenshots on your blog or via Skype or Flickr. These outputs/accessories require the latest version of SnagIt (8.2.3) , which may give you a good reason to upgrade. Thankfully, new versions are quite reasonable.
Watch for a future entry on another TechSmith experiment, the Jing Project.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)April 18, 2007
CiteBite
You're heard of deep linking, which is one way of directing someone to a specific page in a web site. But often you want to point to a passage or quotation somewhere on that page. In that case, you need Cite Bite.
I've created a CiteBite link to show you an example of the end result. Click on this link - http://pages.citebite.com/e1i5f5c5s3yyr and you'll be taken directly to the passage I highlighted on CNN. There's no searching and reading the entire page to try to locate the specific section of interest.
It's very easy to create a Cite Bite page. You don't have to install anything. Just visit Cite Bite, and cut and paste the URL and quotation into the appropriate boxes; Cite Bite will create a link that you can send on to others. Like it? Then I'd recommend installing the bookmarklet or Firefox extension so that you can create a Cite Bite in just one click. (Don't forget to turn off your pop-up blocker.) Keep in mind that your Cite Bite will take 30 seconds or so to create; the response isn't instantaneous.
The concept is simple and useful. I would imagine that any researcher could use Cite Bite on a daily basis to make it a little easier to deliver just the necessary piece of information.
[Spotted on Steven Cohen "Library Stuff Revisited" column, Information Today, Feb. 2007]
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)February 19, 2007
How to Best Use Page Monitors For Online Research
Sometimes you just want to know when a web page gets updated content. For example, I use TrackEngine to monitor the "Seminars" page for one of my favorite dog agility instructors, so I know when she'll be in California. This kind of monitoring can be done with web services or software that you install on your computer. Tara Calishain reviews the best options, both free and fee, including TrackEngine, WatchThatPage, InfoMinder, and more.
You may not have needed to monitor web pages in the past, you may not need to now, but mark my words, one of these days, you'll need a page monitoring tool. You'd best bookmark this article now! You'll thank me later.
January 03, 2007
Save Some Trees - Try GreenPrint
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to tread a bit more lightly on our planet, you could start by painlessly saving some trees using a plug-in reviewed in the Wall Street Journal Personal Technology Column by Walter Mossberg (Dec. 7, 2006) called GreenPrint.
The basic idea behind the product is this; when you print a web page, you'll get the information you need, but typically you also end up with a page with some unnecessary stuff such as, say, the copyright notice. ( Okay, maybe the copyright owner doesn't think it's unnecessary, but the rest of the world could live without it.) GreenPrint is dedicated to reducing the number of wasted pages printed from a web browser by analyzing your print jobs, and offering to eliminate things such as the last page with just a URL, banner ad, logo, or legal jargon.
Greenprint isn't free, but it is cheap; a mere $35 will help you feel like you're doing your part for the environment.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)August 21, 2006
Library Toolbar Revisited
I STILL think that it would be fun to create and distribute a customized, branded, browser toolbar. So does Bill Drew. He's been experimenting with one at the Morrisville College Library using a free online toolbar creator at Effective Brand. Does that give you any ideas?
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)July 04, 2006
Sending Large Files - YouSendIt
We all have our limitations. There are few organizations, webmail services, or internet service providers that don't put some kind of limit on the size of attachments that can be received and/or sent. For example, my home ISP limits my mailbox to 10 meg, so large video attachments or photos sent to me by friends will most likely get blocked. At work, we also have limits on file attachments including size and type of file. Even Gmail, generous though they may be with storage space, limits email size to 10 meg. The problem is, files are getting bigger and bigger all the time, and sometimes you really need to send/receive a large zip file or PDF.
There are web services for just about everything these days, and luckily there are free web sites that let you upload a file, then distribute the URL to friends, families and/or co-workers. I've been meaning to try one out for some time, and since this weekend I needed to send a 4 meg scanned document, I decided now was as good enough time as any. Of course, I couldn't seem to locate the information I've saved on such services, (Where did I put that? Is it in Bloglines? Email? FURL?) but luckily, the July issue of PC World includes an article, Store it on the Web, that reviews web storage, including file download services which can be found in the section, Share the Web Way. The article also includes information about online backup and collaboration services, just in case you're interested.
I tried out the recommended choice in this category, YouSendIt. It's straightforward, easy to use, and free free free. Register, upload the file, enter the email address or addresses of the people you want to send it to, and you're set.
There are couple of things to keep in mind when using these services. If someone sends you a link to a file, realize that there's certainly potential for contracting a virus by downloading an infected file, just as there is with email attachments, so make sure your anti-virus software scans it and pronounces it safe. If you have sensitive information in the file, consider encrypting it. Even then, I probably wouldn't use this service for anything confidential, especially if it was work-related, just because I'm paranoid.
As always, keep in mind that just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you SHOULD. But if you can't resist sending around that cute video of the dancing dog to 100 of your closest friends, at least this way you won't be forcing people to receive something they may not want to see.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)April 09, 2006
45 Sites in 45 Minutes (More or Less) - Capturing Web Pages
Jenny Kanji, a veteran of the " ___Sites in ___ Minutes" presentation genre, and I, a newcomer to the format, had the pleasure of presenting 45 Sites in 45 Minutes at the recent California Joint Institute. The emphasis is on California regulation and politics, but you'll find a bit of an eclectic mix ranging from a podcast search engine to a dancing Bush.
I would never depend upon a live Internet connection for this kind of presentation. You could easily end up spending half of a precious minute loading the page! That's assuming that nothing goes wrong with the connection or the web site, in which case you're left with.....nothing. So some experimentation was in order. In the end, I spent a good part of my precious preparation time trying to figure out the best way to save and retrieve web pages.
Jenny uses CatchtheWeb, so I figured whatever is good enough for Jenny is good enough for me, and it worked great for Jenny. However, it's no longer available for download or support.
Of course, I considered saving screenshots in PowerPoint, but I wanted to be able to display and scroll down the entire page, not just the part that would fit on a PowerPoint slide. I played around with Adobe Acrobat, and thought that it might work in full-screen mode, but it didn't seem an elegant solution. I thought working within the browser, as CatchTheWeb does, would better simulate a real browsing experience.
So I did some more research, checking on various tools that I've seen recommended for this purpose and decided to try Net Snippets, a popular favorite. It was easy to use, and seemed to work in a very similar manner to CatchtheWeb. An additional advantage is the ability to upload your snippets to the Esnips web site.
This method wasn't without it's drawbacks. There were a couple of pages that simply couldn't be captured exactly as they appear on the web, either in Net Snippets or Adobe Acrobat, including the NPR Podcast Page, and the EPA's Window to My Environment, so the live connection did come in handy. But otherwise, it proved to be an ideal solution.
Many of the tools in this category are not strictly intended as presentation tools, but rather as ways to compile, save and present your research. After using Net Snippets, I'm still not convinced that it's a better way to go than Adobe Acrobat for collecting research results, but I'm going to continue to experiment with it. I'm a bit handicapped because I'm using the free version, and from what I hear, the professional version's ability to create a report with all your snippets, complete with a table of contents, is worth the price of admission. For more information see:
- Organization Redux: Net Snippets (Searcher, Jan. 2005)
- Net Snippets Professional Edition 3.1.1 (Law Office Computing, Oct. 2004) (This article can be accessed from the Net Snippets Press Coverage page.)
I'd be very interested in hearing what tools you use for web presentations and/or the compilation and reporting of research!
September 05, 2005
Password Generator
Creating unique passwords for the many different sites that require registration can quickly become an unmanageable proposition. But using the same password at every site is a security hazard. Roboform will keep track of the various passwords I use, and even generate an unique one if I like, but it doesn't help me when I'm away from my computer.
Holly Riccio sent me a link to another option for generating passwords that you might find helpful called the Password Generator. You can use this web page to create a unique password for every site you visit. It's available to you at whatever computer you're using and if you're afraid the page may disappear some day leaving you high and dry, you can even save the page to your hard drive. The passwords are assigned based on your master password and the URL for the site you want to log onto. The passwords are not stored anywhere, making this a very secure option.
If you'd like to see how this works, take a look at a flash demo created by Jon Udell. For more information, also see his blog on this topic.
Thanks Holly!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)July 10, 2005
How Does Your Web Site Rank and What Can You Do About It?
You may want to share this web page with your business development people. It provides a quick way to see how your organization's web site ranks in the major search engines for particular keywords. All you do is type in the keywords you're interested in, then the URL for the web site you want to see ranked, and there you go. So if your firm specializes in a particular area of law, type in keywords related to that area, and see where your firm's web site stands.
[Via LibrarianInBlack]
By the way, one of the big advantages of law firm blogs is that they increase search engine ranking in a significant way. A good blog is more likely to show up highly in search engine results than a typical, fairly static, web page, according to Dennis Kennedy.
"I was shocked by the impact a blog has on search engine placement. Not only does your ranking improve, but the speed your pages get added to a search engine like Google is astonishing."
A Continuing Discussion of Law Firm Marketing on the Internet: What are Blogs and Why is Everyone So Excited About Them?, LLRX.com, July 21, 2003.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)June 25, 2005
Pharm Relief - RoboForm
I've been a fan of RoboForm for some time now. It saves my many passwords, and retrieves them when needed. What I didn't realize is that it also helps protect against phishing and pharming, according to Bob Williamson in a letter to PC Magazine published in the June 7th issue. (I'd like to give you a link to the original letter, but I can't find it, or much of anything else, on the PC Magazine site. Why, or why, do the technology publications have such bad search engines. Sorry, I digress.)
According to Williamson, RoboForm will not offer to enter the saved name and password for a site if the underlying URL does not match with the one it has stored. So if you link through from a fake URL in an email, Roboform "would simply not fill in the fake form."
Pharming, a technique which redirects traffic from a legitimate web site to a fake one, can also be stymied by Roboform as "the falsified Web site would have to have the exact underlying URL/code for RoboForm to function."
There's no guarantee of safety, of course, if you choose to enter the user name and password yourself.
That settles it. If I can't get to it via RoboForm, I just don't even want to go there!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)May 21, 2005
Another Free Remote Access Service
Free web services makes me feel like it's the late 90's again. And there actually are a few popping up here and there. For example, if you're looking for a way to access a computer in a remote location, such as your home computer while you're away, you'll be interested to know there are several free options available. While we all like free, these services are especially appealing to those of us who only need very occassional access to a remote computer, making a monthly fee seem too burdensome.
The recently introduced MyWebex offers a basic, free service. But it's LogMeInBasic that gets a PC Magazine Editor's Choice in the remote access category. I've been using it happily for the last month or so, and am favorably impressed.
For more information on remote access services see:
Remote Access Software - MyWebExPC.com
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 01:26 PM | Comments (1)Internet Utilities - Toolbars, Browser Add-ons and More
There's always room for improvement, and that's certainly true for web browsers. For example, I'm quite attached, as are many others, to the Google Toolbar, a PC Magazine Editor's choice in their recent Internet Utilities article. The article also includes a variety of tools in each category including browser toolbars, add-ons, trace removers and instant-messaging aggregators.
I was recently looking for a utility to do a scheduled download of a couple of web sites. Judging from the description of Copernic Tracker 1.1, included in the browser add-ons category, it would pretty much fit the bill.
Considering all the passwords we inevitably must have these days, a password manager and form filler is an excellent browser addition. (Though you might be interested to know that Firefox offers one built right into the browser.) Editor's Choice in this category went to my favorite, Roboform.
We spend enough time browsing the web (does anyone surf the web anymore?), we might as well enhance the experience!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)March 16, 2005
Furl, Furled, Furling
The implementation of bookmarks in Internet Explorer leaves a lot to be desired. But when Microsoft leaves an opening, there's always someone ready to jump right in and give people what they want and/or need. Enter Furl, one of several "social" bookmarking tools available on the web.
First, let's discuss the bookmarking part of the equation. Once you set up a free account with Furl, and install one of several Furl buttons for your browser, you're set. Instead of adding a site to your IE favorites, you can now add web sites to your Furl account at the click of a button, categorizing and annotating as you go. But there's more. Furl grabs a copy of the web page itself giving you your very own archive of web pages for searching or viewing. Since your bookmarks and archive are stored on the web, they're available to you wherever you are, home, work or on the road.
The social part comes in when you share your bookmarks, and view the bookmarks of others with similar interests. (You have the option to make your bookmarks public or private.) If you find a true bookmark soul mate, you can even subscribe to their links via RSS.
For more information on Furl, see:
Furl Furled Furling: Social On-Line Book Marking for the Masses, by Jim Wenzloff
Tip of the Month: The Wave of New Bookmarks, by Mary Ellen Bates (Feb. 2005)
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)February 06, 2005
Remote Access Software - MyWebExPC.com
These days it seems like the Internet is connecting everything to everything else. So it follows that you should be able to connect to your home computer whether you're home or not. And so you can. Gotomypc.com has been the gold standard for remote access software for some time now. But there's a new challenger out there, MyWebEx.com.
The Webex people are known for creating a web conferencing service, which connects any number of computers together for training, presentations, sales meetings, collaboration, etc. Since they do a good job of web meetings, it follows that it should be a piece of cake to use that same technology to allow you to connect to one computer with another.
I've been a GoToMyPC.com fan for some time. Unfortunately, my firm's web filter now blocks access. But they haven't found MyWebEx.com yet. (Shhhhsh...don't tell.) MyWebEx.com works just like GoToMyPC, but there's one big difference...it's free. At least for now.
MyWebEx.com isn't all goodness and light, at least not for me. The plug-in seems to be crashing my computer upon shutdown. But that's a small price to pay for free remote access.
For more information see: WebEx Readies Remote Access App.
[Spotted on TVC Alert.]
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 03:30 PM | Comments (1)January 03, 2005
Erase that Hard Drive
Regardless of how you dispose of an old computer, whether you give it to a friend, or take it to a local drop-off center, you need to make sure that the information on your hard drive isn't used for nefarious purposes, such as identity theft. The last time I got rid of a computer, I removed the hard drive, and still have the silly thing in my closet. Luckily, it doesn't take up much space
There are better ways. According to PC Magazine (Pipeline, Dec. 28, 2004), EraseYourHardDrive uses "the same technology employed by the Department of Defense to remove all data from a hard drive."
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 01:58 PM | Comments (1)November 30, 2004
Internet Librarian - Research Tools: Turning Search into Research
Just so you know, the Internet Librarian PowerPoints have started to appear on the InfoToday site. If I spot presentations for any of the programs I've covered, (I haven't yet), I'll go back and link to them.
It's time to start winding up my coverage of Internet Librarian 2004. We're almost there! But I can't fail to mention "Research Tools: Turning Search into Research." Speakers Marydee Ojala, Darlene Fichter and Sebastian Gard discussed a variety of different tools available to help you manage all that useful information you find out there on the web. Just a few tidbits.....
"Post-processing" tools that will help you store, organize and present your research are very popular right now. Among the software discussed by Marydee Ojala was:
Onfolio
AskSam's Surfsaver
Catchtheweb
ContentSaver
HTTrack
Keepoint
Netsnippets
Darlene covered "social bookmarking" web tools such as:
FURL
Frassle
Del.icio.us
Spurl
These sites help you organize your bookmarks by category, search them, and also view sites saved by others with similar interests. Because they're web based, you can access your saved bookmarks from any computer. FURL has been my particular favorite of late, and probably deserves a more detailed entry at some future date.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)November 20, 2004
Yahoo-OCLC Toolbar
Not to worry, I'll get back to Internet Librarian again, but in the meantime the new Yahoo-OCLC Toolbar was announced, and I thought you should know.
Remember that OCLC has offered the complete Worldcat database to Google and Yahoo so that searchers can find books and the libraries that own them. All the information isn't there yet, there's only 2 million of the 57 million records available in the full WorldCat, but more is coming.
This new joint toolbar let's you search for a book by simply popping your search terms in the search box, and selecting "libraries" from the search drop-down:
The toolbar also includes a "libraries" button (click on the OCLC logo) with the following options:
Okay, that's enough for me! My Google toolbar has been hidden from view, replaced with the new Yahoo-OCLC toolbar, which, by the way, includes some other interesting features such as a guard against spyware (I haven't read any reviews of this yet, so I'm not sure how effective it is), and, of course, the requisite pop-up blocker. But woa is me, it's doesn't work with Firefox.
By the way, if your library uses OCLC, and you don't want your holdings to appear in Google and/or Yahoo, and most private firms probably wouldn't, fill out the form on the OCLC Open Worldcat page. According to OCLC, "Only libraries with ownership information (holdings) in WorldCat will see their holdings displayed in the Open WorldCat interface. Libraries that have declined previously, or that decline via the update form, will not see their holdings displayed."
For more information, see the Infotoday Newsbreak by Barbara Quint, OCLC and Yahoo! Offer Joint Toolbar and the Web4Lib discussion on the topic.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)November 17, 2004
Internet Librarian - AIIP Awards
The AIIP Technology Awards were announced at Tuesday's Keynote....the envelope please......and it goes to Netsnippets! Netsnippets is a product designed for organizing, compiling and presentation of web research.
Runner ups were Dialog 4 and Microsoft's Onenote. By the way, Onenote has very recently become one of my favorite programs.
The speaker for the keynote presentation, Patricia Martin, was amazing. Her topic, essentially advice to nonprofit libraries on how to find and manage sponsorship opportunities was pretty much irrelevant to my interests, but I found it fascinating nonetheless.
She had several book recommendations, one of which, Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology, sounded like it had some interesting insight into the tech guy psyche. And after all, wouldn't we all like to better understand the tech guys in our lives?
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)November 09, 2004
Find Files Fast
If the new Google Desktop search isn't right for you, that's okay, there are several other tools out there to help you locate your data in a hurry, including emails, Word files, text documents and more. Though unlike the Google product, most of them will cost you. PC World reviews the major contenders in desktop search, giving editors picks to DtSearch Desktop With Spider and Lookout Software.
Note what they have to say about DtSearch: "I could easily see this program serving a reference librarian." So there you go...
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)October 31, 2004
Portable Roboform
I don't stress over the number of passwords that I have to keep track of because I use Roboform. The only downside is that the data it collects resides on your computer, and is therefore unavailable to you when you're out and about. That problem has been solved with the new Portable Roboform. Portable Roboform allows you to save your passwords and a stand-alone version of Roboform to a USB flash drive so you can take it all with you and use it on any computer. You can browse the web in a secure manner, without leaving a trace.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)October 17, 2004
Google Desktop Search
The rumor floating around for the past several months is true. Google has introduced a search engine for your hard drive.
This is like, SO cool. (Thanks for letting me get that out of my system.) I've been considering trying one of the many alternatives out there for searching email and other files that hide on my hard drive, but procrastination is sometimes the best policy. I didn't procrastinate in installing Google Desktop Search.
As to be expected, it takes time for Google Desktop Search to index all your stuff. My only complaint is that there was no indication as to the status of the indexing process. I thought something had gone awry when I couldn't pull up any of my emails in a search. But when I tried again later, up they came! Yippee!
Google DS searches Outlook email, AOL Messenger, viewed web pages (IE only, not Firefox), Word, Excel, PowerPoint and text files. PDF files are definitely on my wish list for future development.
But the BEST thing about Google Desktop Search is that when I run a regular Google web search from the desktop search page, I get search results from my own hard drive right there at the top. I'd like to turn that on for my Google toolbar as well.
For those concerned about privacy, you'll be happy to know that no data is stored on the Google servers. Google doesn't monitor any personal data, or peep into your hard drive. This tool would not be suitable for public computers, however, as it could allow users to view emails received by previous users.
Darn. Why didn't I buy Google stock. (I guess I'm still traumatized by my homegrocer.com stock debacle. )
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)September 29, 2004
OCLC/Google Bookmarklet
Let's say you're browsing Amazon and find a book you'd like to read. But why not borrow instead of buy? After all, maybe your local library has it. There's a way to quickly find out if they do without going to the library's web site and running a search. Instead, install this handy bookmarklet, click whenever you're on a page that includes a ISBN number, and it will search your library's catalog automatically and let you know if they own it, assuming they are using one of the supported online catalogs. But there's more.
The original version, called LibraryLookup, is designed to work with specific library catalogs. I wanted to use it with the Los Angeles Public Library catalog, which isn't one that's available. As the creator, John Udell says, I could write my own, but I'm just not THAT motivated.
But this week, in an act of online collaboration, several librarians worked together to product one that searches Worldcat records available on Google. Michael Fagan, at the suggestion of Steve Cohen, added the final fix.
Very cool! If it finds the title, you can pop in your zip code and get a list of local libraries who own it. Just be aware that the Worldcat records available on Google are limited and don't represent everything available in Worldcat.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)September 06, 2004
More On Desktop Search
Another desktop search tool joins the fray. Gary Price reviews Copernic Desktop Search this week in Search Engine Watch.
[Spotted on the Virtual Chase]
August 17, 2004
Keeping Track of Passwords
These days I think long and hard before spending money on new software. There's so many different utilities that promise to make your computing experience a better one, a person could go broke buying them all! But I DID spring for the professional version of Roboform. And rarely does a day go by when I don't use it.
Roboform is an Internet Explorer add-on that watches for web sites that require you to log in. When you enter your user name and password, RoboForm records the information, and the next time it automatically logs you in without any effort on your part.
In order to keep your passwords secure, you can assign ONE password that is required before Roboform will log you in, or before displaying your complete list of passwords. Now there's a list you wouldn't want to lose!
You can also store your name, address, and/or credit card information, and when you're shopping, Roboform will enter this information in the web form for you upon request. You can spend a lot of money very quickly this way. Trust me, I know.
If you'd prefer to keep all these passwords in your head, you'll probably need some help, so take a look at "Cracking Password Usability... Exploiting human memory to create secure and memorable passwords" to help you create safe passwords, and then remember them all!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 06:32 PM | Comments (2)August 15, 2004
Mission Organization
If I can search the vast resources of the web in seconds, why can't I find an email or file on my own computer? Microsoft is promising more advanced searching capability in the new version of Windows code-named Longhorn, but it isn't expected to ship until 2006. There are rumors that Google is planning a desktop search utility, but mum's the word until after the IPO. So what to do until then? In his most recent column, Steve Bass discusses the IdeaLab's X1, which "indexes the data on your hard drive and searches in four categories: files, e-mail, e-mail attachments, and Outlook contacts." In Econtent, Onfolio, a utility for downloading, organizing and publishing web content is reviewed, as is the Lycos HotBot Desktop, a search bar that allows searching of the web AND your hard drive. I guess there's just no excuse for disorganization anymore.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 03:58 PM | Comments (1)May 10, 2004
Recovering Costs on Pacer/ECF Systems
The availability of docket information from court web sites via Pacer is a tremendous boon for legal researchers. But administering a Pacer account for a large law firm can be a pain in the neck. Why? Because Pacer allows only one user name/password per account. As a result, a law librarian has two choices. Create one account with a shared password, and then deal with the inevitable difficulties of tracking down wayward client charges with no hint as to who might have done the research; or create an account for each user, with separate invoices for each account/user resulting in an avalanche of paper at billing time. Obviously, neither choice is ideal.
As a response to this problem, Erik Adams, Electronic Services Librarian at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton in Los Angeles, has created a web application that resides on their LawPort portal. The app captures the user and client information which is then passed to Pacer as a client-matter number, and then appears on the invoice. With this system, there is one Pacer password needed for the entire firm.
Eric explains how this application work, and provides links to the actual code. Thanks, Eric!
Recovering Costs on Pacer/ECF Systems
By Erik Adams, Email: eadams at sheppardmullin.com
Erik Y. Adams is the Electronic Services Librarian at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton in Los Angeles, where he develops web applications and does the same sort of stuff law librarians everywhere do. He is a certified dot-com survivor, having spent 4 years bouncing from one unprofitable company to another. He received his MLIS from UCLA in 1995, back when the "blink" tag had just been invented.
Introduction
This article documents techniques for creating a simple web application that will populate the user name, password, and client id for a PACER or CM/ECF docketing system. At my firm we have derived several benefits from doing this:
- Secretaries can pull dockets for cases without having to have their own ID or know a shared id
- Our application requires users to enter a client ID, which has led to a significant increase in our recovery of costs of PACER charges
- Most of our PACER searches are being done on a single ID, which has greatly simplified billing
Parts of this article are somewhat technical in nature. I have assumed a basic knowledge of HTML and Internet terminology, and tried to explain everything else. If anything is incomprehensible please feel free to contact me and let me know.
It should be pointed out that this is not something that the courts support. I contacted them asking for an opinion, and was rebuked with a statement that they don't help law firms with their intranets. It is entirely possible that the courts will change something on their systems and the methods described here will stop working.
At the end of this article I include a link to sample programs that implement what this article describes. I offer these samples to help people create applications on their own intranet, but make no guarantees or warranties. They worked when I tested them, and didn't damage any systems I ran them on. Your mileage may vary.
Into the Breach
The most basic web application has two components: an HTML form for gathering data, and a program of some kind that processes the form data. After processing, the program may output an HTML document or may redirect the browser to another web page.
This is how the login screens for the PACER and CM/ECF web sites work:
- The user accesses a web page on the court's web site with fields for the user name, password, and client id.
- That form data is then submitted to a program, also on the court's web site, which checks that the user name and password are valid.
- If everything is ok, the browser is redirected to the system's main search screen.
The web application we have built takes the place of the PACER login screen. Our users access an web page on our intranet server, enter a client identifier, and select the court they want from a pop-up menu. That page submits its data to a program, also on our intranet, which validates the client number and then redirects the user to the appropriate PACER or CM/ECF system, passing along the login information and the validated client number.
To the end user, the process is completely transparent; a client number is entered, a court selected, and a moment later they are logged in and searching a PACER system.
There are two ways for an HTML form to submit data to a script: get and post. Data submitted via the get method appears in the URL, as in
http://intranet/pacer_script.cgi?username=jdoe&password=fnord&client=rroe
Data submitted via the post method is passed from the browser to the web server behind the scenes. There isn't much difference between the two methods, but both the PACER and CM/ECF systems require that login information be submitted via the post method. Which means that strictly speaking the program on our intranet doesn't perform a redirect; it outputs an HTML form that is basically a modified and condensed version of the form found on the PACER or CM/ECF web sites. The two main differences are that all of the form elements are both pre-populated and hidden, and the form contains a little bit of Javascript that causes the form to be submitted automatically to the court's web server.
These modified forms are tailored to each court's docketing system. As of this writing, there are three different systems in use: two versions of PACER and one version of CM/ECF. The only way to tell the difference between them
is to visit the court's login web page and view the HTML source. Look for the <input ... > tags and check the name elements, as in:
<input type="text" name="username">
Each system has slightly different names for user name, password, and client
identifier; also, the PACER systems have additional hidden elements. These differences are documented, in detail, below.
PACER, first kind
The first type of PACER system is the one used by the Southern District of California. The main login screen for this PACER system can be found at https://pacer.casd.uscourts.gov/dc/pacer150.html. On this page, the user name is called "loginid", the password is "passwd", and the client identifier is "client". There is also a hidden form element named "newloc", which always seems to have the same value, "/dc/cgi-bin/pacer250.pl". Our script outputs an HTML document that looks like this:
<html> <head></head> <body onload="document.forms[0].submit();"> <form method="post" action="https://pacer.casd.uscourts.gov/dc/cgi-bin/ChkPasswd.pl"> <input type="hidden" name="loginid" value="[ user name ]"> <input type="hidden" name="passwd" value="[ password ]"> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="[ client identifier ]"> <input type="hidden" name="newloc" value="/dc/cgi-bin/pacer250.pl"> </form> </body> </html>
The Javascript on this form has been tested and is known to work on Internet Explorer, Netscape (and its Mozilla brethren), and Safari (for all you Macintosh users out there.)
PACER, second type
The second type of PACER system can be found at the California Central District Bankruptcy Court, Los Angeles Division's web site at https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl?court_id=CACBLA. On this type of system, the user name, password, and client have the same names as the other kind of PACER system. However, there are two hidden input tags: "appurl", which is always blank, and "court_id", which will have a different value depending on the court. For the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Court, the value is "CACBLA". Our script outputs a form that looks like this:
<html> <head></head> <body onLoad="document.forms[0].submit();"> <FORM METHOD="post" ACTION="https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/check-pacer-passwd.pl" NAME="f_login"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="loginid" value="[ user name ]"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="passwd" value="[ password ]"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="client" value="[ client identifier ]"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="appurl" value=""> <INPUT type="hidden" name="court_id" value="CACBLA"> </FORM> </body> </html>
ECF Courts
The ECF courts are a little more complicated than the PACER courts. Such is the march of progress, I suppose.
The Northern District of California Bankruptcy Court is an ECF court, and its login page can be found at https://ecf.canb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The user name is called "login", the password is called "password", and the client identifier is called "clcode".
What makes the ECF courts more complicated is that embedded in the login page is an ID number that is generated each time the page is loaded. Before our script can generate a form to automatically log in a user, it has to get that ID and submit it along with the other login information. Fortunately, the ID number is always embedded in the "form" tag on the login page, and it's pretty easy to write a program that retrieves the login page and finds the ID. Once you've got the ID, you can output an HTML form like this one:
<html> <head></head> <body onLoad="document.forms[0].submit();"> <FORM METHOD="post" ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data" ACTION="https://ecf.casb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl?[ ID number ]" name="f_login"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="login" value="[ user id ]"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="key" value="[ password ]"> <INPUT type="hidden" name="clcode" value="[ client id ]"> </FORM> </body> </html>
Conclusion
In the best of all worlds, as Dr. Pangloss might say, the courts would support account management features that are common in the commercial world, including:
- multiple login IDs on one account, to simplify billing
- IP based authentication, to get rid of the ID problem altogether
- client ID masking, so not only could we require our users to enter a client identifier but also get it in the right format
But they don't. So, we have to add those features on our own and hope the courts don't do something that breaks them.
Samples
Code samples can be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~erik/pacer/. The files are:
- sample.html
- A simple HTML form that prompts a user for a client number and to select a court. Three real courts are listed, and each is example of the three kinds of court documented above.
- coldfusion.cfm
- A Cold Fusion script, suitable for use on Lawport.
- iis.asp
- A version in VBScript, suitable for use on a Microsoft server. This script requires a change in the configuration of Internet Information Server that has security implications. Comments in the script describe the changes.
- perl.cgi
- A version in Perl, suitable for use in a Unix environment. The Perl script requires a module that is not normally installed by default. It also may not be in the best Perl style - my skills in that language are a little rusty.
Pointers on style and corrections on technique are welcome.
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 10:07 AM | Comments (5)November 11, 2003
Spell Checker for Web Form Entry
I haven't forgotten that I promised more information on the Internet Librarian sessions. I'm waiting until the presentations are posted on the Infotoday site before going into much detail because I'd like to include links to the original powerpoints.
In the meantime, here's here's a tidbit from Darlene Fichter's session on Web Tools. One utility she mentioned was ieSpell, a spell checker for Internet Explorer.
This little program will spell check any text input boxes used for data entry on web forms. I tried it out, and it works fairly well. Just make sure that you set the suggestion mode to "Slow, but accurate." Before I made that change, ieSpell was missing some obvious misspellings. And it's free!
This is certainly useful if you're a blogger entering quite a bit of text. I can imagine it could also be handy for intranet applications as well, as many of those are getting fairly data entry intensive. I'm curious as to whether it could be built into an intranet application.
And yes, I did run spell check on this entry, and my spelling passed muster. At least this time. Too bad it couldn't check my html as well. I always forget to close that href tag!
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 09:22 PM | Comments (1)November 09, 2003
Google Pop-Up Blocker - Bypass Feature
In a previous entry I mention issues with the blocking of legitimate content when using Google's pop-up blocker. It turns out that the new version of the toolbar will let you make exceptions for specific URLs.
To turn off the toolbar for a particular site, simply click on the pop-up icon on the toolbar.
October 30, 2003
Pop-up Blockers & Westlaw's Find & Print
Genie Tyburski mentions problems with Google's pop-up blocker in Research News for 30 October 2003.
Another reason to be wary of pop-up blockers of all types relates to an issue with Westlaw's Find and Print.
That's because the window with the retrieved case is seen as a pop-up, and so is suppressed. So if you're having difficulties retrieving cases, turn off that pop-up blocker and see if that solves your problem.
I stopped using pop-up blockers some time ago, when I realized that they made some web pages unusable, such as the L.A. County Assessor's property search. I hate those pop-ups, but what can you do....
Posted by Cindy L. Chick at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)
