Online Tutorial

Welcome to the LibraryU Live Online Tutorial. This tutorial illustrates the LibraryU Live Conference Room during an actual session. Through screen prints and annotations, you will get an idea of how to use the conference room effectively.

The LibraryU Live Conference Room Layout

The following screen shot illustrates the areas of the LibraryU Live screen:

• 1 (blue border) - chat dialog box, if the text is too long to fit within the viewable area, a scroll box will appear to allow review of past chat messages
• 2 (green border) - text entry box. This is where participants can type in text, if they desire. Often people use this box to report a problem with hearing the speaker or to ask a question.
• 3 (purple border) - participant list. The participant list shows all people in the session. The microphone and speaker icons below the list are used to control volume and to request the microphone to speak.
• 4 (red border) - application window. This browser based application window is used to display program content. The presenter may take over this screen to illustrate information. At other times, you will be able to navigate following the links you desire.

Communicating with Chat

The chat session dialog box continues to scroll as participants enter comments and ask questions. Underneath the chat session history there are two drop down boxes. The first drop down box shows a solid black color in the image below. You can choose another color to change the display color of your text comments. The second drop down box allows you to change the scope of your chat session to a specific participant. On the day of the event, we will have a participant called "Technical Support." This person will be available to chat privately to anyone experiencing technical problems. By chatting privately, we can keep the primary chat session to presentation topics.

The text entry box below these drop down boxes is the chat typing area. To add a comment or ask a question, simply click in the text entry box, type the information you wish to send and press enter.

The participant list is shown below the text entry box. Notice as someone is typing, an icon appears in front of their name. As soon as they press enter, this icon disappears. One other item of note is how participant names are displayed. Moderators have their names displayed in bold type.

Tip: The LibraryU Conference Room areas can be resized to match you needs. You can increase or decrease the size of any of these area by placing your cursor over a horizontal or vertical boundary. Hold the mouse down and drag in the direction you wish to resize that portion of the display.

Audio - Who Has the Microphone?

The LibraryU Live session content will be presented by Tom Peters and Lori Bell. So, most of the time, either Tom or Lori will have the microphone. As moderators, they can choose to release the microphone and open up the floor for questions and comments at any time. You will always be able to tell who is speaking based on the speech bubble icon that appears before the participant's name.

I Can't Hear You!

If you notice that someone has the microphone and you do not hear anything, you may want to voice a concern via chat. In the image below, Jane Doe has posted a comment in the chat session "Tom, I can't hear you."

Also illustrated on this image are the control buttons for requesting the microphone and the volume adjustments for increasing or decreasing the microphone and speaker volumes. As a speaker you may be asked to raise your volume. If this happens, move the volume slider to the right. If you are asked to lower your volume, move the slider to the left. If you are having problems hearing, check the volume adjustment on the speaker.

Communicating in Audio and Text

Since Jane Doe could not hear Tom, it would not make much sense to try and help by "talking" her through the problem. Instead, he responds with a chat message "OK, check that your speakers are turned on, look in the system tray of your computer."

Turn Speakers On

Many of us may turn the speaker to mute when we are working. It is very easy to forget to turn it back on before an audio conference.

The system tray is located at the bottom right side of your task bar (lowest area on the windows screen). Look for a speaker-like icon. Click on this icon to bring up the volume controls. If the volume control has a check in from of the Mute indicator, then your speaker is turned off. Make sure the Mute box is cleared to turn on the speakers.

Your Turn to Talk

You may wish to ask a question directly through the microphone. To request the microphone, click on the microphone control button. If the microphone is available, you will now be able to speak. Everyone in the Conference Room will be able to hear you.

Give it Up Jane Doe!

Once you have the requested the microphone, you are in control until you click on the microphone control button again to release the microphone. Through experience, it is very easy to forget this step. So, when you have finished responding or speaking, be sure to release the microphone.

Reminders from the Moderators

If the moderators notice silence and that you have finished speaking without releasing the microphone, they may post a gentle reminder. If that doesn't work, the moderator can take over the microphone. So, don't worry, just try to remember to release the microphone when you are done so that the session can continue to flow.

Next in Queue

Multiple people can request to speak but clicking on the microphone control button. It works like a game show; the faster you are on the clicker, the closer you are to getting to answer, or to speak in our case. Notice the "1" in the speech bubble icon next to Tom's name in the image below. This indicates that he is next in line to get the microphone.

The Whole Experience

After using LibraryU Live for a little while, you will become comfortable with the interface and be able to concentrate your attention on the subject matter. We are excited to meet you in the LibraryU Live Conference Room!