Online Safety

Welcome to Blue 2.0!

Over the next few weeks, we'll all be learning from each other about exciting technologies that we can use in our professional and personal lives. If the Queen of England can post videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel), then so can you! But before we get started, let's first cover a few pointers on online safety...

1. Never give your password to anyone, or post your password on a website or blog.
2. Know who you are dealing with online.
3. Minimize the personal information you give out online.
4. Use strong passwords that include letters, numbers and symbols.
5. Don't click on links within e-mails that ask for personal information, including account numbers and PINs. This helps prevents "phishing," an effort by identity thieves to trick users into giving personal information. Reputable companies and organizations will never ask for sensitive information via e-mail.
6. Activate pop-up blocking. Besides being annoying, pop-ups are often forms of "spyware" that can collect personal information or change your computer's configuration.

To learn more, visit these sites...

OnGuard Online
http://onguardonline.gov/index.html
Tips from the Federal Trade Commission on a wide variety of online safety topics including online auctions and shopping, social networking, identity theft, and more.

National Cyber Security Alliance
http://staysafeonline.org/
Stay Safe Online provides online safety tools and resources from the NCSA, which has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, and other private-sector organizations.

WiredSafety.org
http://www.wiredsafety.org/safety/index.html
A nonprofit, volunteer-run organization offering information on cyberstalking, identity theft, instant messaging, online scams, chat rooms, music downloading, etc.

Kids' Rules for Online Safety from SafeKids.com http://www.safekids.com/kidsrules.htm

As you work through each activity, please keep in mind that this is a self-directed program. This means that while we won't be having any traditional instruction sessions, you are welcome (and encouraged) to ask for help from co-workers, your student workers, or any of the Blue 2.0 work group (see Participants).

Let's get started!

--Jen

Need Help?

Blue 2.0 is a collaborative effort. Although there are "experts" leading each section, you can and should be able to help each other. So, if you have a question about a particular module, leave a comment on that module's blog post. If you have a general question about any aspect of the program, leave a comment on this blog post. In either case, one of the "experts" or another of your co-participants may have the answer!

We are also compiling an FAQ, which we will maintain on this post. Check below for answers to common questions!

PROGRAM FAQ

• PROGRAM BASICS. The Blue 2.0 Planning Team will make a new blog post at the beginning of every 2-week module in the program. That initial post will include information about the technologies we will be exploring, links to useful information, and assignments. At the end of the 2-week period, we record everyone who has completed the assignments on a spreadsheet. The only purpose of tracking progress is for the prize drawings. You can feel free to work on the program at your own pace, but only participants who are on schedule will be added to the drawing pool.
  
• PRIZES. We will have two prize drawings during the program, and one grand prize drawing at the end. To be eligible for a drawing, participants must be on schedule at the time of the drawing. Only UK Libraries personnel are eligible for prizes.
  
• EQUIPMENT. If you have your own equipment, please use it! But if you don’t have easy access to microphones and digital cameras, you can check them out at the WTYL Circulation Desk. Headphones will also be available at Circulation, but these will be yours to keep (so please only request a program headphone set if you really don’t have your own!). We have three microphones, one digital still camera and one digital video camera that will be loaned out. Be sure to mention the Blue 2.0 program when you check out equipment, and bring your ID so that the equipment can be checked out in Voyager. We have had ninety people sign up for Blue 2.0, so sharing equipment could get complicated! If you can share a friend’s camera you may want to do that. We will try to make the process as smooth as possible, but you may want to plan ahead for any video, image or microphone needs. If you can arrange to snap some shots before Weeks 9 & 10 “Photos, video and podcasting” you’ll probably have better luck!