August 14, 2006

Dear Sassy: I have some personal folders set up in my email ~ do those count against my allotted email space? And besides, how would I know how much space I am taking up except when I get the “over the limit” emails from Computer Services?
~ Running out of Space in Shreveport

Dear Running: These are some great questions! Personal folders help organize the plethora of emails that Sassy gets. In fact, most of Sassy’s email is routed to a personal folder of some sort. These do not count against my allotted space on the network. Personal folders are saved on each individual computer.

Now, want to know how to avoid those emails from Computer Services? Unless you have a lot of email, and I am talking about A LOT, you really shouldn’t be receiving those emails anymore. Back in January Computer Services doubled the amount of space we have allotted to our email to 100 MB. If you are curious to see how much space your email is taking up… Open up your Microsoft Outlook program and in your Folder list Right click on Outlook Today - [your last name, first name] and then Click on Properties. This will open a new screen with the General Tab selected Click on Folder size… at the top there should be a Total size listed as well as a break down of each folder size underneath. The total size of Sassy’s email is 37235 KB or 37.235 MB (1000 KB = 1 MB).


Dear Sassy: Sometimes after using a laptop or my regular desktop computer I Logoff versus Shutting Down. Does that matter, I mean what is the difference? They both log me off of the computer.
~ Logging off in the Library

Dear Logging: Ahh… Sassy is SO glad that you have submitted this question. Sassy has noticed that some of the laptops have lost their charge due to not being Shut Down. If you use a laptop please go ahead and choose Shut Down from the Start menu. This option will completely turn off the machine. If you should choose Logoff from the Start menu this will indeed log you off of the computer, but it is still on and functioning. And if you physically close the laptop it will go into Sleep mode… where the machine is not quite on but then not off either. Sleep mode will drain the battery of a laptop.

Now for your desktop station you can either Logoff or Shut Down. If this machine is publicly used like the Reference Desk or Circulation Desk machines, you probably will just log off so that the next user can just Log on to begin using the machine. However, if your machine is used solely by you, or you are the last user on a public machine, you can just Shut Down the machine when you leave for the day.