Lancaster library's directory

• TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a Tiny URL - Probably the most useful thing on the whole internet! When we gather information from the internet, we usually have to quote our sources or refer to a website. This can often be done by using Hyperlinks in documents and e-mails. But not always, particularly if you need to commit details to paper. Some web addresses (URLs) are very very long (as anyone who's researched documents on the LCC website will know!!!) and it is virtually impossible to record them accurately. But if you go to the TinyURL website and paste in that gargantuan URL it is magically reduced to a very few letters and digits, which you can use and share and will work for as long as the original website exists. On your own PC you can also add a 'button' to your Links/Bookmarks Toolbar to do this (saves having to visit the site each time). Note: Using 'tinyurls'is now accepted practise in internet literature.
• FastStone Screen Capture - The Best Screen Capture Software - When you're getting information from the internet AND especially when you're gathering evidence for something like...an ICTL diploma, being able just to grab and keep what you see before you on the screen is exceedingly useful. The 'Print Screen' facility (Prnt Scrn button) on PCs is useful but fiddly to use. FS Capture is a fiendishly clever piece of software that makes this process ever so easy. It enables you to grab the whole screen, the active window, select an area or (best of all) even capture an entire scrolling window! A free month's trial version is available or for a tenner you can use it for life! TIP: Download the PORTABLE version and put it on your USB Stick. You can then use it on ANY PC you're working on (including LCL staff PCs - its perfectly safe!).

Alphabetical

• Clipmarks - What are you finding on the web? - Instead of linking to entire web pages, Clipmarks lets you clip exactly what you want others to see. Our browser add-on lets you save and share what you're reading on the web with greater precision than is possible with links.
• FastStone Screen Capture - The Best Screen Capture Software - When you're getting information from the internet AND especially when you're gathering evidence for something like...an ICTL diploma, being able just to grab and keep what you see before you on the screen is exceedingly useful. The 'Print Screen' facility (Prnt Scrn button) on PCs is useful but fiddly to use. FS Capture is a fiendishly clever piece of software that makes this process ever so easy. It enables you to grab the whole screen, the active window, select an area or (best of all) even capture an entire scrolling window! A free month's trial version is available or for a tenner you can use it for life! TIP: Download the PORTABLE version and put it on your USB Stick. You can then use it on ANY PC you're working on (including LCL staff PCs - its perfectly safe!).
• Firefox - Choose a Better Browser - Oranges are not the only...No! I've already done that one! Internet Explorer is not the only way of accessing the internet! There's Netscape (the original web browser), Opera, Safari (used on Apple Macs), to name but a few, and there's Firefox. Firefox is an Open Source web browser with too many useful features to list, not the least of which is Tabbed Browsing (How we ever managed without this I'll never remember!). You can also add your own searches (incl. Amazon and Ebay!) without having to visit lots of websites and there are hundreds of handy 'add-ons' you can get (e.g. a downloader which with one click will instantly and automatically save every image on the page you're viewing to your PC!). Microsoft have recently released Internet Explorer 7 (with Windows Vista) to attempt to replicate SOME of its features, but Firefox is still the safest and best web browser. If you work on your own home PC, install it and give it a try! (alas, can't be done on LCL staff PCs!)
• Iterasi - iterasi is a simple browser-based tool for saving any web page with the click of a button. The content is saved immediately—frozen in that moment in time—in an accessible HTML format and stored to a secure personal account. With iterasi, any web page can be saved, searched and shared anytime, from anywhere, forever.
• PassKeeper - To work effectively and get the most from information on the internet requires signing up to lots of this on lots of websites. This inevitably means you're saddled with lots of Usernames, Passwords, etc. How do you remember them all? Don't! let someone or something do it for you! Passkeeper is a tiny password manager programme where you can safely store all your login(s) information secure behind a single password. The programme is free and portable, so you can keep it on your USB stick and use your passwords on ANY computer. It can also add to security. If you copy & paste your details from Passkeeper into the login boxes, this will protect you from 'key-logging'.
• TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a Tiny URL - Probably the most useful thing on the whole internet! When we gather information from the internet, we usually have to quote our sources or refer to a website. This can often be done by using Hyperlinks in documents and e-mails. But not always, particularly if you need to commit details to paper. Some web addresses (URLs) are very very long (as anyone who's researched documents on the LCC website will know!!!) and it is virtually impossible to record them accurately. But if you go to the TinyURL website and paste in that gargantuan URL it is magically reduced to a very few letters and digits, which you can use and share and will work for as long as the original website exists. On your own PC you can also add a 'button' to your Links/Bookmarks Toolbar to do this (saves having to visit the site each time). Note: Using 'tinyurls'is now accepted practise in internet literature.
• Webmaster Toolkit - Webmaster Tools and SEO Software Resources :: Webmaster Toolkit
• WinMHT - Webpage Saver - WinMHT is the ideal tool for doing Web research. You can browse the Web and whenever you find an interesting page(s) that you would like to keep for future reference, simply save it to your computer in the topic folder of your choice. The programme can be downloaded and used FREE for a TRIAL period. It will work on LCL Staff PCs.