Study Guide

Tech Tips

File Formats

I will accept file attachments only in the following formats, in order of preference:

  1. OpenOffice
  2. RTF (Rich Text Format)
  3. MS Word
  4. ASCII TXT (plain text)

Since Microsoft keeps changing the file format on Word, I have given up trying to keep up. If you have Word, your best bet is to SaveAs RTF. But try OpenOffice. It's free! and it reads and writes Word files. Oh, and it includes spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing. Did I mention it's free?

File Naming

Any file you send must have your name in the document itself.

In addition, embed your WebBoard login name as part of the file name. This will help me as I look through a directory with forty or fifty files in it, all labelled REPORT.DOC!

Example

Do this:
sknox term paper.rtf

Not this:
Noble Resistance to Henry VII.rtf

Browser Compatibility

My site is designed to be compatible with standards and can be read by any browser including text-only browsers. The sound files I've embedded are simple WAV files and should be playable automatically. If your browser claims it doesn't recognize the type and offers to save the file to disk, then you have not configured your browser to play sounds.

Technical Assistance

I cannot provide technical assistance. I can't fix your e-mail system or work with your ISP. I do have a fair amount of computer knowledge, but what I can do remotely is pretty limited. If you have questions or problems, though, you can always post to the Student Lounge (if you can log in, that is!). Maybe one of the other students will be able to help.

Otherwise, you are pretty much on your own. Just as the University doesn't come to your aid when your car breaks down and you can't make it to class, so likewise when you have computer problems you will have to turn to your own resources to get them resolved.

Organization

Make a new bookmark folder for this course. It's there under your Bookmarks menu, for Firefox. If you use a different browser, you'll have to hunt around. Bookmark the Classroom page.

When you are out browsing, add to your bookmarks list liberally. You can always go back after the class is over and delete them, but it's often impossible to remember where that useful site was you found two weeks ago. Even the history list will be of only limited usefulness in that case. If you know how, make a folder just for this class' bookmarks. There are other note-taking tools as well, including Evernote or Zotero.

Remember that, when adding a new site, you can change the name. Whatever is on that input line is what will appear in your favorites list. If the title is too long or too cryptic, change it to something meaningful.

Discussion Board Tips

Take time to read the online Help. It's reasonably clear and will answer a lot of your questions quickly.

Cut and Paste a URL

If you find a site you think is good, and you want to tell the class about it, go to the page you want to cite. Highlight the address shown in the Location line of your browser. Copy that by pressing Ctrl–C (=Edit, Copy) once the address is highlighted.

Now switch over to the board and start a message. When you get to the part where you want to cite the address, press Ctrl–V (=Edit, Paste). You should see the address get pasted directly into your message. This works equally well when you want to cite an on-line source in a report—just paste it into your word processor.

Search

How to exclude Wikipedia from search results.

Sometimes Wikipedia seems to own information on the Internet. If you want to be able to filter out that site, do this (works for any url):

-site:en.wikipedia.org keyword or phrase

Punctuation is very important here! The query must begin with the minus sign and a colon must come after the word site and there must be no blank spaces except in front of keyword.

How to scope a search to college sites.

You can restrict your searches to institutions of higher learning by doing this:

site:.edu keyword or phrase

Again, punctuation is important or the magic doesn't work.

Suggestions

If you have suggestions for things to add to this tip sheet, please email me. You know the address.