Tech Tip: OneLook Dictionary Search
OneLook Dictionary search helps you find the exact word or phrase that you’re looking for.
Author Archives: Chase Masters, University Library
Tech Tip: Toby
Toby’s drag-and-drop interface enables you to close tabs that you are not currently using, reducing memory usage on your computer.
Tech Tip: Visualping
This month’s tip is an online tool to help you monitor changes on websites. Maybe you are waiting for an article to be updated, a paper to be published, a news item to refresh, or simply for an out-of-stock product to be available again. Visualping will send you an email or other notification when it detects changes in… Read More »
Tech Tip: Etherpad
For this month’s tip, I am sharing an open source Google Docs alternative: Etherpad. You can install your own instance of it, or can use one of the many free available online options listed below. If you would like to collaborate with someone who does not have a Google account, only need a temporary collaborative document, or would… Read More »
Tech Tip: Beautiful.ai
While we continue to work remotely, many of us continue to build and present information visually using PowerPoint or Google Slides via Zoom screen sharing. Beautiful.ai is a quick, automated way to create visually-appealing presentations with features like automatic alignment, instant color palettes, well-designed templates, and a huge image library. To present, you may simply screen share and… Read More »
Tech Tip: f.lux
This month, I’m sharing an app that I’ve used for many years, but runs so seamlessly in the background that I didn’t think of sharing it until recently: f.lux. F.lux “makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.” Years ago, an app like this… Read More »
Tech Tip: Mockuuups Studio
This month’s recommendation is a service that you may have seen referenced in a few of my previous Tech Tips: Mockuuups Studio. The software takes any selected image and inserts it onto the screen of a computer, tablet, or phone within a visually pleasing scene (see examples above). The resulting image is high-resolution, and can be used in… Read More »
Tech Tip: Feedly
This month, I’m sharing a service that I have used off and on for quite a few years to stay up-to-date on my favorite topics: Feedly. It enables you to “Organize and read all your trusted publications and blogs in one place.” I like to use it to keep track of my RSS feeds, but you can also… Read More »
Tech Tip: Fancy Unicode Text Converter
I was recently asked how to add formatting to some of the text fields within the Google Forms editor. The fields do not include a visual editor nor do they accept HTML. How can you bold, italicize, or underline the text? Fortunately, there’s a workaround available. This tool is only one of many, but I like its simplicity.… Read More »
Tech Tip: Private search engines
This month, I am sharing a few internet search services that focus on privacy. Yes, Google is a great way to find information on the internet. However, there are quite a few alternatives available that may produce similar/better results, do not store user data, provide identical results for all users (not personalized), and do not track you as… Read More »
Tech Tip: Temporary software upgrades
This month, I am sharing information on some providers that have extended their services and are offering free upgrades to help users being impacted by COVID-19. As you know, each day is different and companies are doing their best to keep up with demand. This list only covers some services that I am currently aware of, so keep… Read More »
Tech Tip: LanguageTool
This month’s tip is a tool that I am using right now as I type this paragraph. It is LanguageTool, which I have installed as a browser extension, but it is also available for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Android, as a desktop application, and more. The service is open source and can be used offline (the desktop app)… Read More »
The secret to creating a successful hybrid course? Iterative improvement.
Beginning in 2013, the Taubman Health Sciences Library (THL) has offered a Systematic Reviews: Opportunities for Librarians hybrid course for librarians that includes both online and in-person content delivery. What started as a pilot in Google Sites has since exploded into a highly popular program with a long waiting list that has trained over 270 librarians. A large… Read More »
Tech Tip: Project Naptha
Project Naptha is a useful Chrome extension that enables users to select, copy, edit, and even translate text that is included within an image. In my experience it works surprisingly well, especially since this kind of tool typically requires special software and conversions. Upon installing, the extension works in the background. If an image with text is displayed… Read More »
Tech Tip: Office Timeline
For a number of years, I have been looking for a good timeline creator. Unfortunately, most of the options I found were either outdated or looked rather bland. I recently discovered Office Timeline and so far it is quite promising. Full of features like online collaboration and Excel support, Office Timeline looks great and is easy-to-use. They offer… Read More »
Tech Tip: Take a Five
Take a Five is a tool that I recently found (Although, it’s been around for a few years.) to help stay productive. As a fellow human, I occasionally need a break. However, it can also be easy to lose track of time while going down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles, YouTube videos, or social media feeds. This… Read More »
Tech Tip: Designing for accessibility
This month’s Tech Tip is a little different than my previous tips. Rather than sharing a specific tool, I wanted to share some resources created by Karwai Pun on the topic of designing for accessibility. These easy-to-read posters cover designing for many different users: those with low vision, who are hard of hearing, experience dyslexia, and more. In… Read More »
Tech Tip: Coolors
For this month’s Tech Tip, I am sharing a design tool that can come in handy while developing a presentation, designing a newsletter, creating graphics for a project, or making a visualization chart that displays your favorite data. Colors can be tricky and tools like Coolors make it much easier to know that they complement one another. You… Read More »
Tech Tip: FutureMe
This month’s tip is a free, online service that enables you to schedule emails to yourself or others. FutureMe can remind you to do something, provide you with a quick confidence boost before a big presentation, be used as a diary, to make predictions on what the next iPhone is going to be named, or even to schedule… Read More »
Tech Tip: CloudConvert for easy file conversion
CloudConvert is an easy-to-use online file conversion tool that has saved me time, frustration, and has eliminated the need to install more software on my computer. Sometimes you have a file that needs to be converted to another format. Perhaps it is an .mp3 audio file that you need in .wav format for video editing. Or maybe it… Read More »