30 Posts in 30 Days: You with the large attachment! Put it down slowly and step away!
Ok, new rule: If the file you’re thinking of sending me is larger than 100k, do not put it in an e-mail attachment. Seriously! There are just better options that won’t cram my inbox and slow my Internet connection down to a crawl while it downloads via SMTP.
Here’s what you do instead. Go to Dropbox and sign up for an account. Once you’ve got an account you’ve got a few options. The best one is to install Dropbox onto your computer. This will give you a Dropbox folder into which you can put anything. You’ll find a “Public” sub-folder into which you can put files you want to share. Once your file is there, right-click on it, select the Dropbox item and choose “Copy Public Link”. Paste that link into the e-mail you’re sending me. I’ll be able to download the file at my own convenience and much quicker from your Dropbox account.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Here’s what you do instead. Go to Dropbox and sign up for an account. Once you’ve got an account you’ve got a few options. The best one is to install Dropbox onto your computer. This will give you a Dropbox folder into which you can put anything. You’ll find a “Public” sub-folder into which you can put files you want to share. Once your file is there, right-click on it, select the Dropbox item and choose “Copy Public Link”. Paste that link into the e-mail you’re sending me. I’ll be able to download the file at my own convenience and much quicker from your Dropbox account.