Beginners learn the basics of computers, Internet
NORTH AUGUSTA -- The Nancy Carson Library held an event to introduce newbies to the digital frontier Thursday.
Library manager Barbara Walker led the "Internet for Absolute Beginners" seminar from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the library's meeting room. She gave each participant a folder of handouts detailing such basic information as the relationship between mouse and cursor, the icons of the most commonly used web browsers, where to type in a web address and how to use a search engine.
"Basically what I did was to create something based on the computers that we have here," Walker said. "Everyone at home has all different systems, so I restricted it to what's here at the library."
The handouts included "Internet 000: Starting from Scratch," which the librarians created for those patrons whose computer questions began at "how do I turn this thing on?" They also included a packet of information from the Web Wise Seniors line of computer training materials.
Walker demonstrated the basic techniques, such as moving a cursor, double-clicking an icon and entering an address into a web browser, on a laptop connected to a projector. She introduced the participants to search engines such as Google and Yahoo and explained how to restrict search terms to make resulting link lists more accurate.
She also showed the seminar attendees the Aiken-Bamberg-Barnwell-Edgefield Regional Library System's own website and demonstrated how to use some of its interactive features, such as the online card catalog through which library patrons can reserve books from the collections and request interlibrary loans.
"We get requests for this kind of seminar all the time, so we thought we'd try it and see how it goes," Walker said.
For more information about upcoming events, call the Nancy Carson Library at 279-5767, or visit the library website at www.abbe-lib.org.
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.