Thursday, October 25, 2018

EBSCO databases, and schools that use them, under attack.

I must have had my head in a hole being this is the first I heard about this.  In February of 2017, challenges were brought to the Cherry Creek (Colorado) School concerning their use of EBSCO's databases. The challengers claim that EBSCO's databases contain pornography as well as other inappropriate material for young adults and that the school and their librarians were pushing it on students.  A number of organizations have jumped on the bandwagon and have forced schools to abandoned EBSCO's databases. My favorite statement from the following article is: "If middle or high school students are looking for sex on the internet, they do not start with library databases." 

For more about this, read James LaRue's article, "Education is not pornography". Mr LaRue is the Director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Does everything you print from your Mac comes out double sided? Time to have a few CUPS of Earl Grey.


Image result for earl grey

So excuse the pun. You have done everything:  page settings, gone into the printer/copier settings and changes everything to single sided...yet everything still prints DOUBLE SIDED??  WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?


I wish I knew what was up with that but I believe I can fix it.  You have change the default via CUPS, which is the core printing system of OS X.
Image result for copyright symbol

  • Open up your browser and go to http://localhost:631 . 
  • By default, access to the CUPS page is blocked. To enable it, open Terminal and type "sudo cupsctl WebInterface=yes" (without the quotation marks). Enter the admin password (the password you use to login to your Mac--if you are setup up as the Admin for the Mac, you'll find out if you are if it does not work) when prompted and then refresh the browser. 
  • With the CUPS web page open, select the Printers tab and then select the printer you want to modify. Then from the Administration drop menu, change to "Set Default Options". See the example below.
User uploaded file

  • This will show a new page with four menu headings (links); Options Installed, General, Banners and Policies. Select General.

  • Scroll down the list until you see the Print Style menu. Change it from 2 Sided to 1 Sided and then scroll down the page until you see the Set Default Options button.


User uploaded file
  • Click on this button to save the change. You will then be prompted to log back into CUPS, using the Admin (user name) and same password you used above.
  • Go to some document and web page and see if it will print single sided.






That All May Read; a National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. A Program from the Library of Congress.

Who says nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m.?  While I was watching the replay of the Patriots v. Colts game on the NFL network at 5 a.m. in the morning, I saw this PSA (public service announcement) about a program called That All May Read.  Please excuse the quality of the video I took it on my phone and it WAS 5 a.m. in the morning. :-)



National Library Service (NLS) is a free braille and talking book library service for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical disability that prevents them from reading or holding the printed page. Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS offers books the way you want them: in braille or audio, mailed to your door for free or instantly downloadable.

NLS works to ensure that all may read by providing eligible patrons access to reading material regardless of age, economic circumstances, or technical expertise. Share the gift of reading, and spread the word about NLS so that all may read.