One option for printing DNA matches

DNA matches - Print to PDF

Keeping track of notes added, most common recent ancestors and other useful information added to one's DNA matches across a variety of sites can cause the odd frustration.

Ancestry has no easy solution for printing a list of chosen matches such as those to whom one has added notes. For example, when choosing the matches where notes have been added, the printout from a computer will show the matches but not the notes added.

Why a printed list you ask?  A list printed to PDF that can be stored on one's own computer provides an essential backup. 

I have some siblings who have tested with Ancestry and while they have no desire to log in to look at the matches, they are interested in who the cousins are and how we are related. This provides a means for me to share that information with them via a PDF. 

Here's a method to generate such a list using an iPad. 

Log in to Ancestry via a browser not a mobile app. This method works with both Chrome and Safari.

Choose DNA matches - Notes

Choose to Print

Once the resulting file shows up in the side panel, pinch out on one of those pages in the side panel to convert it to PDF.

Now use the Share menu to choose where you want to save the file.

Now you have the list with all notes attached.

Unfortunately this method is less successful with MyHeritage, as notes do not display unless one selects an individual match. However when DNA matches are sorted by label e.g. a Most Common Recent Ancestor Couple (MCRAC) a list can be generated to print. 

At the bottom of the My Heritage matches page, set Results per page to 50. 

This should ensure that you catch the DNA matches that you have identified for any couple.

Now choose Filter by Label to generate the desired list.

Choose to Print as above.

Pinch out to generate the PDF.

Use the Share menu again to choose where to save the file.

By the way, this method works with any web page. If you have Shortcuts enabled on more recent iPads there is a shortcut for Print to PDF.

 

This post first appeared on https://carmelgalvin.info

Find your guide

Manuals for tablets and phones

User Guides or Manuals have vital information about the operation of your phone or tablet. Unlike the quick guide that was in the box with your phone or tablet, these user guides provide in depth information. They can usually be found on the manufacturer's site under Support. There are interactive guides, PDF manuals, static web pages and in some cases ebooks.

It is a good idea to download a user guide to your device to have quick access to the information while you learn to use your device to its full potential. Bookmark the page in your web browser where the interactive guides are located for future reference.

Many guides/manuals on manufacturers' websites are often PDFs, so make sure you have a PDF reader on your device. On some tablets and phones, the manual will download to My Files or Downloads, on others you will be asked which app you want to use to read the manual.

Telstra mobile support provides interactive guides for a wide range of phones and tablets.
Optus also provide specific device help with screenshots showing exactly where to find a range of functions. You do not need to be a Telstra or Optus customer to view these support pages.

Android phones and tablets

To identify your device, go to Settings and scroll right to the bottom where you will find About Phone/Tablet. In some brands you will be able to locate this information under Settings, Device.
The Android Quick Start Guide is free on Google Books.

ACER

ACER has a mix of Android and Windows tablets and phones. Guides are found under Drivers and Manuals Search by product name or scroll through list. Select product then click on the Documents tab to locate the User Manual

Alcatel

The Alcatel Support site offers a wide range of answers to questions but no User Guides or manuals are apparent.

HTC

For HTC phones select Support then type in the name of your phone and press enter. Scroll down below Accessories to find the User Manual.

HTC Desire 610

HTC Desire 310

HTC One

HTC One M8 

Huawei

Huawei manuals for both phone and tablets are available from the Support site. Be sure to choose the User Guide rather than the Quick Start guide which was packaged with your product.

LG (LGE) phones

LG Manuals are all together and easy to locate by following the on screen prompts.

Choose Category Group >Mobile > Mobile phones.

A long series of model numbers is then revealed and the User Manual for each model is listed immediately below it under the heading Manuals and Documents.

*****************************

Motorola

Motorola certainly wins the prize here for making it easy to locate your product. They have excellent support pages with manuals for all their phones. If you do not know the name or model of your phone there is a guide to help you get to the right phone or tablet and its manual. here are some quick link to well known products.
Moto X
Moto G
Moto E
Motorola Xoom tablet

Samsung

Samsung guides can be confusing to locate as there are such a wide range of models available. .
On the Samsung support (Australia) site:
Choose Help > How to Guides > Mobile phone (even if you have a tablet)
Next choose Smart Phone or Tablet.
Now you will be directed to make a model choice.
The screen that delivers your model has a wide range of help topics but scroll down to the bottom of the screen to find the correct User Manual.

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Sony

The Sony support site has excellent interactive guides and PDF manuals for both phones and tablets.

iPhones and iPads

The best method to obtain the Apple user guide for your device is through the free iBooks app. If you do not have iBooks on your device, visit the App store and download it.

• Open iBooks
• Search Store
• Search iPad or (iPhone) User Guide
• Tap Free then Get Book

There are also plenty of other free tips and tricks guides in the iBooks store.

Windows phones

Nokia

Nokia phones are now using the Windows interface. The Nokia Support page lists the phone models. choose your model and most User Guides will be listed immediately underneath the picture of the phone. The Windows Phone support site is available where no manual is provided.


This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2014/10/find-your-guide.html

Where's that degree sign?

Tutorials and tips for iPad and iPhone

Here's a choice from the wide range of sites offering help for iPad and iPhone users. These articles and tutorials range from those suitable for beginners to more advanced tips for users who may have missed one of dozens of hidden features built into iOS and its apps.

It is now four years since I first owned an iPad, but even as recently as three weeks ago I had not found the degree sign hiding above the zero on the keyboard. I hope you will have fun learning something new from one of the sites listed below.

1. iOS guides Dozens of tutorials for iPhones and iPads very clearly presented.
2. iPad basics A series of free tutorials for beginners.
3. Navigating around your iPad Covers a range of gestures, swipes and button presses as well as detailing how to search your iPad.
4. 8 tips and tricks for browsing with Safari All of Safari's useful features, this article includes clear screenshots.
5. Every iOS trick you will need Lots of iOS tips and features often missed by beginners and seasoned users too.
6. Tips poster Visual tips for highlighting text, saving images and other common functions.
7. 101 iPad tips and tricks Divided into easy sections for you to learn a variety of functions to make better use of your iPad.

Quick and easy ebooks via Readlists

Readlists

The Readlists site provides a quick and easy method for preparing an ebook from web articles for offline reading.

• Login to Readlists and simply add the URL of each of the articles you wish to compile into an ebook. 
• Add a title and description and you are ready to download the ebook directly to your device or embed on your website or blog.
• The Readlists can also be publicly shared enabling multiple editors to add to or amend any individual list. 
• The range of export options makes this a very useful tool for all platforms.

Kindle

Simple online instructions guide the user through the Send to Kindle option.The contents page displays the title of each article allowing the user to move quickly to the desired reading. Individual articles which incorporate images are reproduced in full. The normal Kindle functions of increasing text size, creating notes, finding definitions and following links are all enabled.

ePub

The ePub version presents in full colour and with full functionality but disturbingly displays the Readlist compiler at the top of each page as if they were the author. Full links are still provided to the individual articles but individual authors are not listed as they appear in the original Readlist.

Readlists are a great method for sharing a range of links for reading on any device.

Related articles:
Readlist creates ebooks from URLs
Create ebooks with Readlists

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2016 Readlists closed in July 2016

Libraries empowering customers

Travelling light

Our local library like so many other libraries has many identities and roles. Excellent services are provided to the housebound by a group of dedicated volunteers and library staff provide a variety of training for a range of technology tools, to name but two of the myriad of services provided.

The local area has many retirees with time to travel and the library has graciously provided the venue for me to present a session on Tech for Travel. The session  will cover a wide  range of tools available to the traveller in planning their journey, mobile apps to use while on the road and preservation of holiday memories.

Here is a short screencast on how to make an ebook from Wikivoyage.

Next up, preparing a Readlist book for travel purposes.
Which other web tools are you using for making ebooks?
What are your favourite travel apps?

Keeping the school community informed

This is a brief overview of the world of ebooks published as the Academic Focus article in our Head Master's Bulletin, a weekly newsletter.

What's happening to books?
This question concerns many as they see the gradual closure of bookstores and the reduction in the numbers of print titles on library shelves across the country. Be reassured, books are alive and flourishing in many different formats in our school.

In our library we have an excellent mix of good quality reading material for curriculum purposes and for recreational reading. Some of these books and magazines are in traditional paper format but increasingly many are electronic files, ebooks and audio books across the range of fiction and non-fiction.

A wide variety of ebook formats are available on the market. With the ubiquitous spread of mobile platforms, many students are now able to access books on their portable device. The blend of text, interactive games, animation and learning software enhances many books. Ebook formats allow the reader to highlight information, look up unknown vocabulary, add notes to the text and navigate quickly to any part of the book. Text size can be manipulated and accompanying audio is often available.

Some formats can be used on computers only; others are suitable and available for downloading to a wide range of portable devices. These include smart phones, Android or Apple, along with a plethora of other devices, ereaders of many varieties and idevices such as iTouch and iPad. The almost universal access students have to MP3 devices widens the possibility for book access through audio. Access to books on mobile platforms is provided through apps, some examples of which are provided here. One does not need to have bought a Kindle to read with the Kindle app as it is available across operating systems. This comparison chart guides you to the file formats suitable for use on your device.

Many other academic texts are available through databases accessible from the Library Home Page. The number of other etextbooks, both paid and free increases daily. A compilation of these sites and others providing access to ebooks, is located here for your perusal. Many titles located through the listed sites, can be downloaded to the platform of your preference.

During this last week the newest form of digital book has been promoted to be read on iPad and iPhone. The TED talk entitled A Next-Generation Digital Book by Mike Matas runs for 4m 35s and is well worth viewing. In this talk you will see the new book from Al Gore, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. This book uses the newest technology available, enabling the reader to manipulate the book and its contents in a surprising range of ways. It is indicative of the directions in which books are heading. This book is available for reading on library iPads.

Self-publishing sites have opened the ebook world to many previously unpublished authors and to those who wish to have more control over their own material. The results of their efforts can be seen at this range of sites. If you have a budding author in your family these sites provide a starting point for publishing an ebook.

With such a wide range of publishing options available and such easy access to ebooks, what is the library’s role?
Just as we continue to select the best in print books, so too, we concentrate on selecting the best from the ebook market for students. The library now has some Kindles for loan and students may request titles for adding to the Kindles. The iPads are available for in-house reading and other ebooks and etextbooks are housed on the library website. Audio books too are available for borrowing along with our range of printed books and the ever popular graphic novels.

Suggestions for students - Download some reading apps and add some titles. Use your device for more than music and games. Catch up with all those great classics you’ve not had the chance to read; they are free and often available as text and/or audio. Borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library, the Overdrive app brings remote borrowing to your device.

The world of books is being revitalised in previously unimaginable ways. Enjoy this renaissance of reading.

In and Out, digital roundabout

photo © 2010 Priit Tammets | more info (via: Wylio)
IPad and Kindle loans

Starting this week, we will be lending iPads for use in the library during out of class hours. The library is open from 8am -6pm daily so there are before school timeslots, lunch times and after school. With our intial 2 WiFi only iPads, this provides the opportunity for up to 30 students in Years 7-11, per week to have access. Year 12 all have individual, school issued iPads. The iPads have filtered internet access, there is no mail client configured and in app purchases are not possible due to password restrictions.

The iPads have been added to our library management system so easy tracking of student use is enabled. Depending on demand we may implement an advance booking system, but regular library users will be the first to see the in library signs.

To what use will these iPads be put? We have loaded a wide range of free apps from drawing and art to chemical reactions and calculators. Loan conditions are minimal but encourage responsibility
1. Enjoy the experience
2. Return the iPad exactly as loaned to you, all apps closed, all apps in place, no changes
to settings or wallpapers
3. Requests for further apps may be made on return of iPad. Request does not guarantee subsequent app acquisition.

Our two WiFi Kindles will also be available for student borrowing from this week. They have been loaded with seven popular titles that are always in demand. The loan conditions are similar to those for the iPads except for loan period and the fact that the Kindles will be taken home.

We look forward to our students' responses to these initiatives, their feedback will help determine our further directions with these devices.
Are your library management strategies for digital equipment working well? I would value hearing of your experiences.

iPad-a-Date

made at Spell with flickr

Make a date for staff support 
Education institutions issuing iPads to staff need to hold some general information update sessions to ensure that staff are keeping up to date, and have mastered some time saving shortcuts. It is also a good opportunity for staff to exchange information about apps used, effective teaching practices and organisational tips.

Some essential reminders:

1. Sync to a computer to back up the contents of your iPad to iTunes
2. Update the iOS for improved functionality, many apps have now been upgraded
3. Take the time to learn simple keyboard shortcuts and hidden keys
4. Download an iPad guide to increase your understanding.
5. Ask questions of your fellow learners, staff and students.

Keyboard - hidden characters

To access an extra range of keys, simply hold down a key and slide your finger to the required symbol, accented letter or suffix. Some of these are shown below.

Enhancing the iPad's Safari

Those of us lucky enough to have an iPad are able to wax lyrical about its functionality and the endless possibilities it affords to enhance learning. Sometimes we would do well to remember and share some basic adjustments that need to be made to improve some of the built in tools.

Safari Bookmarks Tool Bar

The bookmarks bar in Safari is not turned on when the iPad is first unpacked.
Turn it on in Settings, then add your favorite time saving tools in the form of bookmarklets. These are shortcuts to apps or to tools that perform a function you use regularly, such as bookmarking, sharing, posting, tagging, even shortening links.
Basically, one bookmarks a page and then edits the new bookmark by pasting in the javascript provided by the application or tool. Quite a fiddly process, but well worth the effort for ongoing convenience and efficiency.

The first one I found was in the app GoodReader.

Once this shortcut is installed on the Bookmarks bar, tapping on it saves the current page, document, picture, whatever is open in your Safari at the time, directly into GoodReader. This has proved to be an invaluable tool for staff and students at my school. We had posted many curriculum documents on our intranet that students needed for offline reading and annotation. With this quick method of downloading documents to individual iPads, GoodReader has become a mainstay in our suite of tools.
Students have their documents organised into subject folders along with some textbooks for which we have been able to obtain copyright permission.
We have:

• satisfied students
• reduced paper consumption
• enhanced library role in providing subject gateways for downloads
• the ability for staff to provide last minute documents to classes without photocopying

Diigo The Web Highlighter for iPad Safari is another of these bookmarklets. It provides the options to highlight, bookmark, add a sticky note or go to your Diigo library. The other tool provided by Diigo that resides on my Bookmarks Bar is the Find on Page utility, the equivalent of CTRL-F.

I have several more shortcuts added thanks to the comprehensive instructions and Javascript provided by Chris Bray here at Bookmarklets for the iPad  He has blogged about the process here.

The keyboard - When typing on the iPad's built in keyboard, it often creates unwanted capitals in an email address or any other word. It can be turned off by tapping the SHIFT key 3 times. If you have any other useful tips or tricks you have identified that are not listed in the latest manual, I would be delighted to have you share them.

Learning highlights in 2010

Learning from colleagues

During the last year I have had the privilege of learning from colleagues from all over the world through the power of Twitter. Closer to home my colleagues continue to provide support and the opportunity to discuss new developments. I’ve been privileged to have a practice teacher working with our library staff for the last 4 weeks and her fresh ideas have caused me to revisit this dormant blog as well as examine some library practices.

Points to revisit and emphasise for the new school year in January

• Student learning comes first - library tasks facilitate learning
• Model lessons with the emphasis on developing students’ thinking skills for other staff
• Prioritise tasks within the library
• Allocate tasks and meet regularly to review task completion

IPad project

During the last month my school has issued iPads to 198 Year 12 students and about 80 staff. The process of getting there has kept both the IT team and our steering committee very busy. Students have rapidly adopted their new tool into everyday classes. Some very enthusiastic staff have made the most of this opportunity with the boys, and collaborative learning between staff and students has improved.

Planning such an implementation requires much time and infrastructure. My brief outline of the process can be found at iPad: Idea to Implementation. 

The long summer break will provide time for staff to become as proficient as students in their use of this great new tool. I look forward to continuing to provide ongoing support for both staff and students when and where needed.