CAP - Community Access Program

April 2005

News!etter

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» Seniors Catching the Computer Bug

» Photography Old and New

» CAP-YI Success Stories

» Spotlight On... South Brook

» Mount Pearl Celebrates 50 Years

» CAP Sites Partner with the CSC

» Tech Corner - Ad-Aware

March 2005
49186 users
292+ Training Sessions
147 Sites Reporting

The staff at the Cow Head Public Library offer seniors an introduction to computers and the Internet. Cecilia Hewlin (eighty one) and Myrtle Hutchings (eighty) are just two of the local seniors who took advantage of the training sessions. They now have their own e-mail accounts and send messages to their children and grandchildren. They also learned how to surf the Internet and have both done some research into their family history. Myrtle, who is the treasurer of The Friendly Club (a local seniors group), can now type her annual reports using WordPerfect. Both ladies are very enthusiastic learners and have learned a lot. As Myrtle says “The only way to learn is to make mistakes and try and try again”.

On April 15, 2005, the Mount Pearl Public Library held an open house to coincide with the City of Mount Pearl's 50th anniversary celebrations. The theme of the day was a retrospective of the role of the library in the community. Local dignitaries brought greetings and the gathering heard the personal experiences of some long time patrons and past employees of the library. Cal Taylor, Chair of the Provincial Information and Library Resources Board, spoke of the changes the library has witnessed since it was opened, including the addition of computers and it's partnership with the Community Access Program.

Those assembled heard readings from local authors Ed Kavanaugh and Don Hutchings and Mr. Kavanaugh treated the audience with several selections on his harp. The highlight of the day was the unveiling of the library's new mural, which was created by local artist Kyle Callahan. CBC's Karl Wells captured the moment for local viewers.

Deidre Vey and Wanda Mazerolle were on hand with the CAP display unit to represent the program and provide information to those assembled.

In late December, the CAP Site in La Grand'Terre partnered with L'Ecole Ste-Anne to offer a unique photography course to the Grade seven and eight students. In phase one of the course, each of the students built their own pinhole cameras out of a coffee can, duct tape and a piece of copper. Using the old-time cameras they learned how light, time and the photosensitive paper combined to create a negative. Taking these negatives, they then went into the darkroom to create their final pictures. In phase two, the participants went from the oldest camera technology to the newest as they worked with the CAP Site's digital cameras. Rather than just take conventional pictures, the participants learnt about light sensitivity and its continued impact on photography. They set up their pictures in a dark room with the only source of light being a strobe light. This allowed them to take a single still photograph that appeared as a series of pictures. Through a trial and error process they were able to create unique pictures impossible with a traditional flash camera. In the end, all of the participants were able to print off their photos onto iron-on transfer paper and have them placed on t-shirts which were then hung as a unique photo exhibit throughout the school.

The Community Services Council (CSC) of Newfoundland and Labrador has partnered with both the Lewisporte Public Library and the Twillingate Public Library CAP Sites to hold a training program called "Public Relations for the Non-profit". The trainer was supplied by the Community Services Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, located in St. John's. This program provides information to non-profit organizations and develops skills on how to prepare a formalized public image. The Lewisporte and Twillingate CAP Sites were used to facilitate these training sessions and is an excellent example of how a local CAP Site can help to connect rural communities with new initiatives through the use of computer technology.

Botwood

Otelija Russell's fibre artworks are grounded in the culture and natural history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her works explain and celebrate her relationship with her ancestors, her experiences with the Aboriginal peoples of Labrador and her intimate knowledge of the province's flora and fauna. Russell is also the only artist in Canada presently creating “knotted sculptures.” For years Russell has sold to customers through various methods, including word of mouth and placing pieces in art shows around the world. In order to better reach her international audience, Russell decided to develop of a website. At the Botwood Public Library CAP Site, Youth Intern Jodie Davis worked closely with Russell to start developing a website where she could display her works to the world. It is hoped that the site will evolve into an e-commerce website and Russell is exploring the possibility of auctioning works on eBay.

Placentia

In the once French capital of Newfoundland, Youth Intern Jason Whelan worked with the local CAP steering committee to develop a website for the Placentia Public Library Board. The Placentia Public Library Board website was designed to showcase the library's history, provides information on its programs and services (including CAP), highlights local authors and promote literacy. Placentia has a wealth of creative writers, many of whom write for local and provincial publications. In an attempt to promote and preserve their culture, local authors are invited to share some of their stories, poems, and articles in the Writers Corner section of the site. The site was officially launched in August 2004, but work to the site has been ongoing.

Last month we looked at Spybot – a program designed to eliminate much of the spyware and adware that gets installed on your computer. This month, we look at another similar program – Ad-Aware from Lavasoft. “Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.”

Ad-aware offers frequent updates to its reference files so that its users have the ability to deal with the latest spyware that may infect their system. It works quickly and efficiently on your machine, meaning you can get back to using your spyware-free computer quicker. According to many reviews on the product, it is an essential program for all home computer users. Having been awarded the PC World’s “Top Freeware Program of 2002” the makers of Ad-Aware haven’t rested on their laurels. Instead, they have continued to make improvements with each subsequent release. One of the most recent allows the end user to select add-ons which can expand upon the program’s functionality.

Ad-aware is free for non-commercial use. For more information on Ad-aware visit their web site at: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware. To download the free, non-commercial version and a two minute video on how to use this software check out the Ad-aware page at Download.com.

Next Month: Buying a new computer.

Established in 2001, the CAP site in South Brook has always found innovative ways to provide the services that the people of the area have come to expect. A worker is available to help with training and site operations because of the steering committee's hard work and imagination.

The site is housed in the community's town hall and has expanded from a basic setup with 3 computers to a full service center with 6 computers and a range of locally produced merchandise. The steering committee recognized in the early stages that a site worker would be essential to the success of their site and set out to make it happen. They take advantage of any funding programs that are available to hire a worker for the site and, through production of everything from greeting cards to customized clocks, raise revenue to keep the worker in place year round.

One project that the site has found to be very successful is the creation of a community newsletter. The newsletter includes stories of local interest, a schedule of events, birthday and anniversary greetings and local advertising. Revenues are generated through direct sales of the newsletter in addition to charges for placing advertisements or announcements. This idea has been echoed by other sites who have since started their own newsletter and we look to South Brook for many more innovative ideas.