Thanks to the generosity of our Friends, we have new game computers in the Children's Department.  There are two Early Literacy Stations from AWE (Advanced Workstations in Education), and two stations with specialized Internet browsers.

The Early Literacy Station (ELS) is a dynamic all-in-one digital learning solution for children ages 2-8. It is a self-contained unit requiring no Internet connection, so it is safe and secure. The educational titles are pre-loaded on the computer and are displayed using engaging graphics and intuitive menus.  But it's not just reading literacy that ELS promotes, but also proficiency in math, science & nature, social studies & geography, reading, phonics, and language arts, writing & computer skills, reference, and music & art.  Although, there are over 60 "games" loaded on the ELS computers, many of the games have more games within itself bringing the total up to 158.  Two ELS stations have replaced our old CD-ROM stations C & D.  The stations are first come, first serve.  They cannot be reserved.  Students may go on for up to an hour before being logged off.  No library card is required. Read more

Did you know the Library maintains a Facebook page? If you're a regular Facebook user, the Facebook page is where you can find information about library-related news, new services, upcoming events and service outages. It's also a place where you can interact with our library staff and fellow patrons. "Like" the library and keep in touch with what's happening at the Waterford Township Public Library

If you have used our public computers this past week, you may have noticed a change in the login screens on our public computers and the sign-in screen on the sign-up stations. These changes are part of an upgrade to the system that manages our public computers. SAM (Smart Access Manager) is the system that manages each person's time and printing on our public computers. It also allows you to reserve a computer from home or work and control the level of Internet access you have on our computers. In addition to the new login screens, a few of the new and improved features from the upgrade include:

• Faster printing - The slowness of the printing in the old system was a frustration for all of us. Printing happens much more quickly with the new system.
• Eliminating confirmation notice when using sign-in station - This "feature" of the old system was quite an annoyance! It's gone and the sign-in process at our Adult sign-in station is much easier to complete. 

If you didn't notice the changes, that's OK! Our goal was to complete the upgrade with as little inconvenience as possible to our users. 

If you have downloaded and installed NetLibrary's Media Center software on your computer for downloading titles from NetLibrary, please be aware that effective May 20, 2010, NetLibrary will no longer support Media Center Versions 1.2.52.3 and lower. If your version of Media Center is 1.2.52.3 or lower, you will need to uninstall the software and reinstall the most current version to continue accessing eAudiobooks.

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As a techie by trade, I get a lot of calls from friends and family about computers that start out with "Help!" Often the computer problem can be traced back to a virus or spyware that's managed to get itself installed on the computer. If you're asked to troubleshoot a computer and you think a virus or spyware might be installed on it, download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is a virus and spyware scanner that when installed on your computer can find and remove viruses and spyware that have infected the computer. 

While there are many programs out there that provide the same features as Malwarebytes, in my experience here at the library, none of them work as well as Malwarebytes. I've never met a virus or spyware that it couldn't wipe out. It sometimes takes more than one scan and reboot of the computer to completely clear out the offending files but Malwarebytes eventually does the job. Malwarebytes offers two versions of the program, a free version that provides on-demand scanning and a paid version that also provides real-time scanning. You can pay for the additional protection of real-time scanning but for me, the on-demand scanning is sufficient. 

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Read more