Guidelines for Word-Processing

HOW TO START
If your computer is in the PLATO mode, click on "exit" button: This will exit out from PLATO program and brings up the windows95 screen.   Most useful and popular programs are set up to be seen on desktop.  Use the mouse to double click on the program you wish to use (most people use either Microsoft Word, or WordPerfect).

ONCE YOU ARE IN THE WORDPROCESSING PROGRAM
If you already have something on disk that you are working on, go to the FILE menu using either the mouse or the letter keys (for example, to open the FILE menu, hit the ALT key and the letter "F" at the same time: this works for all the menus where a key letter is underlined), and in the FILE menu select OPEN using either the mouse or the arrow keys on the keyboard.

If you are in WORDPERFECT: Select DRIVE A from the drive menu. If your disk is in DRIVE A and you are using the same program that you created the document in, the OPEN menu will show what files are available on drive A.

If you are in MICROSOFT WORD: In the open dialogue box, click on the bar on top that says "Look in:" and select "Desktop." Once you have selected "Desktop" the "3 1/2 Floppy (A)" will show up as an option. After you double click on "3 1/2 Floppy (A)," the open menu will show what files are available on your disk.

Once you have opened the disk, in either program, use the mouse to double click on the file you want to open.

If you are starting to work on a new document, you can begin typing as soon as the program has a cursor blinking on the screen.

Saving a Document:
Save your document on a DISK in the A DRIVE under your first or last name, or a convenient title which reminds you of the paper's topic. Whenever you use the A DRIVE, the light on the drive will come on, showing you that it is working. Never remove a disk while the light it on, as this will harm the drive and your disk.

Once you are done working on your document for the day, go to the "File" menu and select "Save as." In Wordperfect you must change the drive location to "A:" in order to save it on your disk. In Microsoft Word, you must change the location by clicking on "Look in:" and selecting the "Desktop." On the desktop select the "3 1/2 Floppy (A)" as the location you want to save on.

YOU MUST SAVE ON DISK:

WE CLEAN THE COMPUTERS DAILY
AND ANY DOCUMENTS LEFT ON THE COMPUTERS WILL BE ERASED.

EDITING YOUR DOCUMENT

Highlighting the document:
Select the part of the document that you want to change by highlighting that area. You can highlight words, sentences, paragraphs or the whole document at once by placing the cursor where you want to begin to highlight (by using either the mouse or the arrow keys) and then dragging the mouse to the end of the section you wish to highlight. If you want to use the keyboard to do this, hold down the shift key and use the arrows to move the cursor to the end of the section you want to highlight. Once the section is highlighted, select the operation that you want from the format menu.

AFTER HIGHLIGHTING:
You may perform the following operations on highlighted text, by selecting the operation in the FORMAT menu (look under CHARACTER OR PARAGRAPH to find these options):

• UNDERLINING
• SINGLE SPACING, DOUBLE SPACING, or 1.5 SPACING
• BOLD TEXT
• ITALICS
• CENTERING TEXT (for Title Pages, etc.)

INDENTING PARAGRAPHS:
To indent the beginning of your paragraphs, hit the TAB key once.

TO INSERT PAGE NUMBERS:
Go to INSERT and select PAGE NUMBERS. It will give you options as to how you want the pages numbers to look.

TO INSERT SPACES BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS OR AT THE TOP OF A PAGE:
Move the cursor to where you want to insert the space. Hit return once. If you want to insert more space, hit return again.

TO DELETE SPACES OR TEXT:
Move the cursor to the END of the space or text that you want to delete. Hit the "Back Space" or "delete" key at the corner of the keyboard until you have deleted the unwanted material. If you wish to delete a large amount of material, highlight the text you want to delete first, then hit the "Back Space" key.

HELPFUL HINTS:
· SAVE YOUR WORK AT REGULAR INTERVALS (every ten minutes or so). This will save you time and frustration in case there is a power failure or in case you accidentally delete your work.

· HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL DISK TO SAVE YOUR MATERIAL ON. Disks are available at the bookstore for a nominal fee. Saving your document on disk will SAVE YOU TIME AND EFFORT. Documents are lost when they are saved on the hard drives. In addition to saving your work, the investment of about $ 1.00 for a disk may save you hours of frustration and hassle. If you have your own disk, you won't ever have to spend time "looking" for your work: you'll know exactly where it is, and you can be certain that no one will have altered it.

ALL PRINTING WILL BE DONE AT THE FRONT DESK BY A LAB ASSISTANT.