LifeHacks (at the Library)

It's Reading Period at Hopkins, and that means studying. A lot of it. Yes the weather outside is frightful, and with 24/7 quiet hours now in effect in the undergraduate dorms, staying in to work can actually be tempting. But should you venture out into the snow to visit the MSE Library or Brody, here are a few helpful tips to streamline your whole experience. Oh, and get some coffee before you start.

That ought to do it.
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If you like peace and quiet when you study, or need space for your study group, reserving a room is the first thing you should learn how to do. Start by going to https://rooms.library.jhu.edu/reservations/ctrlpnl.php and signing in with your usual JHED and password. You may have to register if it's your first time; just follow the on-screen instructions. Once registration is complete, click on "Reservations" on the left, under Quick Links. You can check availability in the BLC or MSEL by choosing them under "View schedule". Filled slots are orange, white ones are available. You can reserve rooms for as long as 4 hours, up to 24 hrs in advance. Once you've found a slot you want, click on its box and adjust the start/end times if you want. To finalize reservation, click "save", and then you're done!

Oh, boy! All these books, just for me!
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Another thing EVERYONE should know how to do is send print jobs to the MSEL printers straight from your laptop. This will help you save time not only during reading period, but also anytime you need to print something for the rest of your Hopkins career. First, follow this link, and download the appropriate software for your operating system (OS). Unzip the files and run the one called "EditHosts.exe". If necessary, run as administrator and/or accept changes to your computer. Then, double-click the MSELPrinters file, which will look slightly different depending on your OS. Follow the on-screen directions and finish installation of the printers. Once that's done, go to printer properties for MSEPrint on AIR. On the Device Settings tab, check "2-sided Printing". Next, go to printer properties for MSE Color A Level on AIR. On the Device Settings tab, change “Device Type” to "Color [A4]" and (once again) check "2-sided Printing". Now you can print from your laptop just like you do at the print station computers! Never again will you have to deal with the lines that congregate between classes.

Studies show that lines suck the joy out of your day. Science.
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Lastly, if you find yourself writing long papers, chances are you're going to have to make a bibliography for it. There's a variety of standards, from APA to MLA or even CSE, but thankfully the Sheridan Libraries Website has a tool for keeping your citations straight. Introducing RefWorks:

No one said research was sexy.

If it's your first time using RefWorks, select the appropriate box and then then follow the on-screen directions. Otherwise, click on "Your individual account", which will prompt you to enter your JHED and password if you haven't seen the Portal in a while. To add references manually, click the "New Reference" button, and choose the style you need. The form will automatically adapt to the style, so fill as many fields as you can and then click "save". To add references from a database, click on the "Online catalog or database" link under the "Search" tab. Select a database from the drop-down menu, and then enter your search terms. From the list of results, check as many as you want to add to your bibliography and then click "Import". When you have saved all the sources you need, click "Create bibliography". Then choose output style and file format in the pop-up window, and click "Create bibliography". If your bibliography doesn't appear at first, click the link that pops up in the bottom-right corner.

That's it for now. Keep an eye out for future installments of LifeHacks, and go study efficiently!

Happy Cyber Monday!

Today is Cyber Monday, not nearly as famous as the warm embrace of Thanksgiving, nor as infamous as Black Friday. (On that note, we at STS hope that everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving and enjoyable weekend!) So what is Cyber Monday, where did it come from, and what does it mean?

As you might guess, Cyber Monday is a relatively new pseudo-holiday that has been around in concept for a while. Many people will spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on Black Friday searching for deals on electronics, toys, clothing, cars...basically anything anyone could ever ask for as a Christmas gift. But Cyber Monday is a special day for all the people who are not able to shop around for gifts on Black Friday in person, whether it's from lack of transportation, health reasons, or you just don't want to deal with the crazy people at the stores. It was first used in a press release from Shop.org on November 28, 2005. The title was "Cyber Monday Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year." How right that was! It's now the #1 single day of online shopping during the year.

Cyber Monday is a special day for anyone who has ever shopped online. Sales have steadily been increasing by 16-22% each year since 2006, excepting the year 2009 (sales then increased only by 5%, most likely a result of the recession from the year before). In 2012, the sales from Cyber Monday alone were almost $1.5 billion! Online retailers like Amazon have taken advantage of the cyber trend, and now offer special Cyber Monday deals to tempt even more shoppers to their webpages instead of the physical stores. As much as I love to window shop and find the perfect gift, it's a lot less effort, time, and money to look it up online.

Of course these numbers are not without consequence. Since Cyber Monday is the Monday after a long Thanksgiving weekend, the idea is that workers come back to a high-speed internet at their workplaces and buy what they like, usually for cheaper. In 2009, more than half of the dollars spent online originated from work computers. This is becoming more and more dangerous for the average employee to do, however. 22% of employers asked said that they had terminated an employee for using the internet for non-work related activities (though the activities in question were not specified, and could have been Facebook), 7% had fired an employee for holiday shopping, and 54% of employers were blocking certain websites. Talk about buyer beware!

Cyber Monday is not just for Americans anymore either; Canada adopted its own Cyber Monday in 2008, mostly to discourage Canadian money from being spent on US retailers. Other countries that participate in Cyber Monday (origin year) include the United Kingdom (2012), Germany (2010), Portugal (2009), France (2008), Chile (2011), New Zealand (2010), Colombia (2012), Australia (2012), Japan (2012), and India (2012). Not all these countries call it Cyber Monday, but the intent is the same: buy items online, save money, have a good holiday season.

That just about wraps up not only this blog post, but the Fall 2013 semester at Hopkins as well. This is the last week of classes, and soon Reading Period and Finals will start. This may not be the last post before break, but just in case:

JHU Student Technology Services student employees and staff wish all of our readers a very happy holiday season and a special, bright new year in 2014! Thank you for reading our blog.