Did you know that the Capital Area District Library offers free computers classes on numerous computer related topics? The Downtown branch offers classes on Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. Additionally, we teach classes on setting up an email account, learning to use the Internet, blogging, downloading eBooks and eAudiobooks, photo editing, job searching, and online research.
Many of these classes are offered on a monthly basis. To find out more about the classes, registration, days and times, please visit our events calendar at www.cadl.org. The events calendar link can be found in the Events Calendar module on the right side of the page. Click on the link and you can view the calendar by age, event type or location. The best way to view the computer classes is by clicking on the “Tech Corner” link under “event type.” The calendar will list all of the computer classes offered by the Capital Area District Library. Use the menu on the left side to limit your choice to a specific branch. Currently, the computer class calendar shows classes through February. March, April and May classes will be added to the calendar in early February.
With the coming New Year, we would like to highlight several of our great classes. The Google class offered at the Downtown branch explores the things Google can do, other than a simple Internet search. You can convert currency, find movie reviews, get dictionary definitions and a lot more. However, there are many things Google won’t do. For that, we offer the Online Research class. This class will help you learn how to find articles and information from magazines, newspapers and journals that cover a wide variety of subjects such as health, automotive repair, test preparation, politics and history.
One of our most popular classes is Microsoft Word basics and its companion, Intermediate Word. Word Basics gives a person the chance to start learning Word from scratch. How do I enter and delete information? How do I save a document? What is the difference between copy and paste and cut and paste? You then build on those basic skills in Intermediate Word and learn to format a large piece of text. You will learn to change margins, add borders and shading, insert pictures, format pictures, etc.
If Word isn’t cutting it for your newsletter or flier, or if you’re just unable to arrange items on the page like you would like them, then check out our Microsoft Publisher Basics class in January. Publisher is a wonderful program for creating newsletters, signs, business cards, brochures, award certificates and other specific documents. Publisher allows you to better control the placement of objects on the page, such as text and pictures. You can make those holiday letters much easier with Publisher!
In February, we are offering a two-part Intermediate Excel class that will teach you how to use Excel’s many useful functions. A large list of information is difficult to look at, but you can use Excel’s sorting and filtering commands to change how a list is displayed. You can perform simple A-Z (alphabetical) or Z-A (reverse alphabetical) sorts or create custom sorting lists. You can learn to filter out information by one or more criteria. We will cover even more functions beyond these in the Intermediate Excel class.
Classes are not the only place to get computer related help or information. Since 2008, the Capital Area District Library has been blogging. Check out our Tech Corner blog at this address: http://www.cadl.org/techblog. This blog contains useful information on a variety of technology and computer related topics. You will find posts on eBook Readers, formatting a document in Microsoft Word, Twitter, SMS, and a host of other topics. Take a look and subscribe to the feed.
Another great way to learn about computers and technology is to use the CBT Nuggets video database. The library subscribes to this resource and it provides streaming video tutorials on how to use Microsoft Office applications and many technical topics such as iNet+, A+, SQL, JAVA, PHP 5, Windows Server, SharePoint Server and many exam packs for CISCO and Microsoft. These videos require a high speed Internet connection and your library card number.
Perhaps you are interested in a more traditional method of learning, the book. We have plenty of those at the Capital Area District Library! The easiest thing to do is to go to our website, www.cadl.org, and search our catalog for a title, author or keyword. You can find books on Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and programming languages (PERL, C++, Apache, etc). We also have books on learning to use your iPod, Blackberry, Facebook, Photoshop and much more. If you have not visited us in awhile, please stop by and see all that we have to offer.
