SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

It's happened to almost all of us. You're happily typing your paper on the computer then the power goes out. You've lost 8 pages of the 10 page paper you just wrote. You begin to rant and rave and try not to put a fist through the monitor. The only answer to the problem is to save as you go.

Save! Save! Save! Save at least every 10 minutes or so. I would recommend always having a jump drive with you when using the computers here in the library. If you lose you paper there is NOTHING we can do to help you that is why we're offering this advice. There is no way for us to retrieve what you've previousy typed.

There are several things that may occur that no one has control over that may turn your computer off. First, with this being the summer the weather is unpredictable. We never know when a surprise storm will pop up and knock the power off. Second, and this has happened before, you never know when a bird may fly into a transformer, cause it to blow and off goes the power. Third, computers can sometimes just be downright unpredictable. One young man was typing a paper and his computer just shut itself off. It was the only computer in the library to turn off and he'd not saved any of his work.

So again, I recommend you bring a jumpdrive and save your work every 10 minuts or so. Also, please remember to take your jump drive with you when you leave.