Ann

About Ann

Ann Hummel has been a member of the Learning Solutions team at Johns Hopkins University for six years. Her role as an instructional designer allows her the opportunity to work on a wide scope of projects. She can also be found in the classroom facilitating an SAP course or our favorite course, Accounting Comes Alive. Her interests include (in no particular order) traveling, list making, things that shimmer/sparkle, and stinky cheeses.

Posts by Ann Hummel:

Microsoft Word – How to Print Track Changes (Only)

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags: , , , ,

Happy_Printing

Do you ever use the Track Changes feature in any Microsoft Office products? It’s great! I use it in Word all the time. It’s especially useful when I’m working with a client and they have revisions to make to documents. Track Changes makes it easy to locate and see exactly what changes they’ve made.

Recently, we’ve had to update older documents. One document came to me that was nearly 100 pages long. My colleague had made numerous changes, but not on every page. I only needed to print the changed pages so I could physically take them into the audio recording booth. But wait – Word does not have the capability to just print Track Changes! (Trust me, I used the Help menu and tried to Google how it was done. Nope – it’s not possible.) I was fearful that I’d have to look through page by page and write down which individual pages to print. Before I gave in to that solution, I found a much better work-around. Here’s a trick to help you save a serious amount of time and paper.

  1. Access the Print menu.
  2. From the Settings drop-down menu, select List of Markup.Track Changes 1   
  3. Click Print.
  4. Review the printed document. It’s a concise list that indicates every page where a change was made.Track Changes 2
  5. Access the Print menu again.
  6. From the Settings drop-down menu, select Custom Print.Track Changes 3
  7. Enter the pages that contain changes.Track Changes 4
  8. Click Print.

Birthday Goals

By in Holidays and Celebrations, Living Well Tags: ,

Birthday_Cupcake

It’s June 5th! Happy birthday to me!

It seems as though people have varied opinions on birthdays. Some loathe the thought of turning another year older. Others completely ignore the fact that their birthday is even occurring. If you’re like me, you welcome it. I love my birthday for lots of reasons. I love hearing from those so dear to me. I love doing special things, like dining out at that place you’ve heard great things about or being surprised with an event, like a night of jazz at Lincoln Center (props to my boyfriend for that treat last year!). But what I love most is reflecting on what I’ve accomplished over the course of the past year. I make it a point to spend time on my birthday to look through photos from the year, ticket stubs, playlists, and my journal to recap how much I’ve done since this time last year.

On the cusp of 24 and a few weeks after completing graduate school, a close friend told me that every year on her birthday she reviews goals she set from the previous year. She explained that she thinks about the ways in which she challenged herself to continue to grow and learn, and then establishes her goals for the next year. I remember thinking – what a great idea! We set yearly goals for work – so why don’t more people set yearly goals for their personal life? Ever since then, I started making birthday goals. I make sure not to set goals that are unrealistic, like make a million dollars or become a size 00. I do my best to set goals that will help make me a better, happier person.

Sometimes my goals are ambiguous. Last year, I set a goal to “be free.” I didn’t quite know what that even meant at the time when I wrote it, but I felt a struggle in my personal life that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. In early February, an opportunity came up where I could fly to London for a long weekend – and I did it. I literally became a jet setter by allowing myself to be free and just do it. I booked my ticket on a Sunday (after getting a vacation day for Friday approved from my supervisor) and flew out on the Thursday night red eye. What a thrill that was! It was one of the highlights of my year.

London
The queen wasn’t home.

Instead of moaning and groaning about turning another year older, I celebrate what I have accomplished in a year’s time and welcome the challenge of figuring out how to achieve my new goals for the year to come.

What’s one of the goals I’ve established for myself this year? Learn how to speak Mandarin. I have Rosetta Stone – I just need to commit to the time and effort it will take.

Creating a Contact Group in Outlook 2013

By in Microsoft Office, Technology Tags: ,

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Do you ever find yourself continuously sending emails to the same groups of people? I do. Still, it feels like I’m constantly reviewing and thinking “who did I miss?” Then I wised up and realized there’s a solution for that! Now you can stop racking your brain with questions like, “who was on that committee?” And there’s no longer any need for my go-to technique of adding people based on their office location in order from front to back. The answer — create a new distribution list in Outlook (2013) and you’ll no longer need to worry about forgetting to add anyone!

Follow these steps:

  1. Create a list of the people you want to add.
  2. In Outlook, click People from the navigation bar at the bottom.Photo 1
  3. Under My Contacts, pick where you want to add the contact group.Photo 2
  4. Click Home and then select New Contact Group.Photo 3
  5. Type a name for the group in the Name field. Photo 4
  6. Click Add Members, and then add people from your address book or contact list.
  7. Click Save & Close.
    Photo 6

When you need to send an email to this group of people, simply begin to type the name you saved the list as, and it should appear. Click the list to select and use.Photo 7

Note: clicking the plus sign next to the contact list name will display each individual your message will be sent to.Photo 8

Do you have any useful tips about creating groups in Outlook?

 

Move Over BW! Analysis Is Arriving at Hopkins

By in Finance and Accounting, Technology Tags: , , ,

HappyWorker

My voice has been quiet on the blog over the past few months due to a big project we are feverishly working on – transitioning from BW to Analysis in SAP.

What is SAP/BW/Analysis?

SAP is an enterprise resource planning software that we use at Hopkins to manage business operations.

One of the reasons we use SAP is to have a tool that can run reports. We run reports on everything here at Hopkins. From sponsored projects to HR demographics, we need reports to show us how we are spending and where we can save, and to demonstrate compliance. Therefore, it’s important we use the most up-to-date and robust tool to fulfill all of our reporting needs.

When we started using SAP, we used a front-end interface called BW Report Center to access data and reports in Business Warehouse. Technology has advanced and SAP has been changing their product. With that, they will no longer support the BW interface we are accustomed to using, but instead, have created a much more robust interface – Analysis.

Benefits of Analysis 

We are really excited to transition over to Analysis for several reasons, including:

  • Ability to run and open multiple reports at the same time
  • Drag and drop functionality
  • Universal structured reports
  • Enhanced graphing
  • Pausing the data refresh
  • Custom calculations

What does this mean for users?

Our project team has been creating a multitude of training opportunities for our users here at Hopkins. From FastFacts to job-aids to show-me videos to instructor-led training, we are trying to make sure we provide all of our users with training materials that best fit their personal learning style.

For more information concerning BusinessObjects Analysis and/or the upcoming training, please visit our Analysis resource page: http://finance.jhu.edu/reports_guides/analysis/overview.html

If you are an employee of Johns Hopkins University and have any additional questions, please email the Financial Quality Control department at Hopkins: fqchelp@jhu.edu

Waiter-less Wait Staff In Our Future?

By in Innovation, Technology Tags: , ,

Tablet_Menu

Picture this – you and your family walk into a restaurant. You find an open table, browse through the menu options, and select your order using a wireless device. When your food arrives, that’s the first interaction you have with someone on staff at the restaurant. Could the days of having a waiter take your order become obsolete in the not-so-distant future? How would you feel about that?

I recently asked myself the same question when I first encountered a quasi-waiter-less ordering system. My boyfriend and I were out of town for a wedding. We were looking for a quick, late-night bite to eat near our hotel. From the window of our room, we could see the neon glow of the Applebee’s sign just across the parking lot. Half-price appetizers after 9:00! Done.

We walked in and were directed by the bartender at the entrance to have a seat anywhere. We sat down and immediately noticed the slick, black, tablet-like device in the middle of the table. Menus were already at the table, but we were quick to push them to the side and start scrolling through the appetizer options.

IMG_3975Each one of the options had a photo, and you could select an item for a brief description. We added our selections to our order list before our waitress greeted us at the table (which was approximately three minutes after we sat down). She explained to us that we could order appetizers and desserts from the table top device, but all entrees and drinks should be placed with her. We told her we had already submitted our order and she was happy to tell us that they should be ready shortly. The device was self-explanatory, easy to follow, and had extra screens for preferences, for example ranch or blue cheese dressing with the wings.

FullSizeRender
Scrolling through the menu.
IMG_4095
Some of the more advanced options once you select an item.

 

Before we knew it, our food arrived and we were impressed with the timeliness. Our waitress checked back to refill drinks and ensure we were okay.

IMG_3983
Did we really order this much?

When we were done, there was an option to pay with the device or give our payment to the waitress. Can you imagine that? Never having to wait for the check ever again! We wanted to pay with the device, but our waitress said they were experiencing problems with the system that day.

IMG_3982
Credit card swipe capabilities at the top of the device.

Overall, I enjoyed my waiter-less dining experience. But think of the most memorable meals that you’ve had at a restaurant. What made them so special? I can vividly recall my 29th birthday dinner. The food was spectacular, but even more so, the waiter was phenomenal! He was part of the charm and ambiance of the experience, making our meal that much more special. A waiter-less meal probably wouldn’t have been the same.

So going back to my original question: how would you feel about a waiter-less restaurant? Does this take away from the dining experience or enhance it?

How To Disable Facebook’s Auto-play Video Feature

By in Technology Tags: , , ,

FacebookShort2

Ugh! Over the past few months, my Facebook news feed was inundated with an influx of video uploads courtesy of the ice bucket challenge.  During the month of August as I scrolled through my feed, videos would start to play one after the next.  In fact, Facebook announced that they had 2.4 million ice bucket challenge related videos posted to their site during the month of August.

What aggravated me even more was knowing that this feature was running through my monthly data plan faster! (Read as: Ah! Not my monthly data!)

Facebook originally added the functionality of auto-play to be more competitive with apps like Instagram and Vine.

The demand of Facebook’s users to allow the option to disable the auto-play feature was heard loud and clear. You can bet that I was one of the first users to turn off auto-play.  (Note: If I want to watch a video from here on out, I simply click the play button on the video post.)

FacebookProposal

 

Follow these short steps to turn off auto-play on your own device!

iPhone and iPad
1. Select the Settings icon on your device.
2. Scroll down and select Facebook
3. Select Settings
4. Under video, select Auto-play
5. Choose an option

 

Android
1. Open the Facebook app
2. Select your phone’s menu button
3. Select Settings
4. Scroll down and select Video Auto-play
5. Choose an option

 

On your desktop
1. Go to Settings and click Videos
2. Click the drop-down menu next to Auto-play Videos
3. Select Off

RSS – Streamline How You View Content on the Internet

By in Technology Tags: , , ,

RSS2

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of content on the internet? Are there twelve different sites you check on a daily basis, and sometimes you can’t seem to find the time to catch up on them all?

I discovered that the best way to sift through the massive amount of content the internet has to offer is to use an RSS feed. It’s a one-stop shop that helps me organize and read everything from all of the sites I want to follow. It’s basically an inbox of content.

If you’ve never used an RSS feed, then you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about. Let’s start off with the basics.

RSS – Rich Site Summary, often called Really Simple Syndication.

What does it do?
Exactly what it says! It’s a summary of a site, typically entry by entry. RSS feeds pull content from each site you add to it and let you know what content you’ve read and what you have not read. Instead of visiting each of your favorite sites, you can go to one place and read the content from all of the sites you’ve added.

How do I get an RSS feed?
Simply pick one! There are many aggregators out there to choose from. Most are web applications that allow you to add and remove any site.

What do I use?
I originally used Google Reader, but with the sunset of that project (on July 1, 2013), subscribers had to find a new alternative.

With lots of options out there, I opted to go with Feedly. I like the way it presents the information and allows me to customize what I see and how I see it (both on my mobile device and my laptop!).

When Google shut down Reader, they linked users to this site, full of alternatives: http://alternativeto.net/software/google-reader/

Pick the one you like and start adding content!

Setting up Feedly

Since I know Feedly from experience, I can walk you through adding content.

  1. Sign up for Feedly (use your Google account)
  2. Click Add Content
    RSS2
  3. Search for your interests or add a URL
    RSS3RSS4
  4. Click +feedly
    RSS5
  5. Select a category to organize and then click Add
    RSS6
  6. Adjust the settings to select how you would like to view the contentRSS7

If you have any questions about how to use Feedly, respond in the comments below!

We Started a Blog

By in JHU, Technology Tags: , ,

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Under the direction of our fearless leader, Louis, our team here at The Johns Hopkins University has taken off with the idea of starting a blog. This first week of posting is really where the rubber meets the road, so to say.

When we first started this project, we were full of ideas and visions, and we quickly developed a skeleton of a structure. But as we got deeper into the actual creation of the blog, we realized just how many things there were to consider. We found ourselves asking questions like:

  • What’s the best publishing platform for our purposes?
  • What type of content should we be publishing?
  • Will people actually read this?
  • What are some best practices of successful blogs?
  • What will we call it?

Who would have thought there would be so many things to consider when it’s a ten-second process to sign up on WordPress/Blogger/Tumblr/etc. and begin posting content?

We were careful to take the time to consider first and foremost – our purpose. What are we trying to do with this? Our objective for this blog takes a page out of our university’s mission statement. It is our intent to educate, promote life-long learning, and bring the benefits of discovery to the world. We intend to do this by covering a wide range of topics and posting material that is relevant to what we see, what we do, and who we are.

Each member of our team has a hand in this project. We will all play the roles of contributor, reader, and participant of the learning community we hope to create with this space. We look forward to the challenge of posting fresh ideas and new perspectives, and being agents of learning for ourselves and the community we serve at this institution.