intro to compooters

Study Unit

Introduction to Computers

iii

It’s hard to imagine a world without computers. They’ve

come to be part of just about everything—from cars to space

shuttles, from schoolrooms to boardrooms, from department

store gift registries to the bank’s cash machine. Computer

chips are part of just about everything electronic.

Although it may look like a cross between an electric type-

writer and a television, the computer can do much more

than either of those two more familiar devices. In fact,

today’s computers have more computing power than the

mainframe computers of the early 1960s, which were so

large they filled entire rooms.

This study unit will provide you with a basic knowledge of

computers and computer terminology. Soon you’ll be as at

ease with a computer as you are with a telephone or radio!

When you complete this study unit, you’ll be able to • Identify the major components of a computer

• Navigate in the Windows environment

• Identify methods of interfacing with productivity software

• Describe three main types of productivity software applications

• Discuss basic features and functions of word processingsoftware

• Discuss basic features and functions of spreadsheet software

• Discuss basic features and functions of database software

• Explain what the Internet is

• Describe basic aspects of the World Wide Web

• Describe basic features and functions of electronic mail

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COMPUTER BBASICS 1Parts of the Computer 1Windows and Operating Systems 6

STARTING OOUT 117Using a Mouse 17About Microsoft 24Software 25What Word Processing Software Does 25Features of Word Processing Software 26Spreadsheet Software 36Database Software 39

THE IINTERNET AAND TTHE WWORLD WWIDE WWEB 43What Is the Internet? 43Electronic Mail 43The World Wide Web 47

SELF-CCHECK AANSWERS 53

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COMPUTER BASICS

Parts of the ComputerWhile a computer is a complex machine, its purpose is

straightforward: it’s simply a tool for handling information.

You’ll use the computer, for example, to store and organize

information. You’ll also use it to communicate information.

Different parts of the computer perform these and other

functions. Figure 1 shows the basic parts of a typical com-

puter system. The computer’s monitor is used to display

information. The system unit stores this information on

disks. At least one disk—called a hard disk, or hard drive—is

mounted inside the system unit’s cabinet. Other disks—flash

drives, digital video discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs)—

are separate from the computer. Such disks are designed to

be inserted into the computer’s USB ports or disk drives

whenever you want to access the information that the disks

contain. These storage devices can then be removed from the

drive and stored away from the computer. The keyboard and

mouse are the most commonly used devices for loading

information into a computer.

Just as all cars have an engine, a chassis, and so forth, all

computer systems have certain parts in common. But, just

as with different makes and models of cars, there are differ-

ences from one model of computer to another. In cars, for

instance, the brake and accelerator are always in the same

place, but the control for the windshield wipers may be a

lever on the steering column in one car and a knob on the

dashboard in another. With one type of car, the driver may

be able to lock all the doors and control all the windows

from the driver’s seat. Another model may not have driver

controls for power doors and windows. A similar situation

exists in different brands and models of computers.


Introduction to Computers2

The basic parts of a computer system are the same in all

cases, but different models can have different features. The

location of the monitor’s power button, for instance, may vary.

Cable harnesses and the position of the disk drives may also

be different from one system to the next. Still, the funda-

mentals are all the same: the computer has devices for

inputting, storing, and displaying information. Once you

know the basics, you’ll find it easy to become familiar with

any configuration. If you own a computer, refer to the docu-

mentation that came with it from the manufacturer for the

specifics unique to your computer.

The Monitor

A computer’s monitor is its display screen. There are differ-

ent types of monitors, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) or

cathode ray tube (CRT). Regardless of the type, the monitor

let’s you see what’s going on. When you type text, the letters

are displayed on the monitor. When the computer performs

calculations or runs programs, the results are displayed on

the monitor.

FIGURE 1—The main partsof a typical computer sys-tem are shown here.

Introduction to Computers 3

A program is a series of instructions or commands that a

computer follows. The instructions tell the computer what to

display on the screen and what functions to perform.

Programs, and the disks they’re recorded on, are called

software. The software instructs the computer hardware, or

machinery, what to do and display.

System Unit

The system unit contains the computer’s central processing

unit (CPU), also called processor, which is the brain of the

computer system. It’s the CPU that lets you store and

process programs on a computer.

Disk Drives

The CD-ROM drive. Almost all computer systems also have

a CD player. However, in addition to being able to play music

CDs, the computer’s CD-ROM drive can read digital informa-

tion stored on a computer CD. Today, most software programs

come on CDs or DVDs. The programs for newer software

applications are typically very large. Such large programs can

fit just fine on one CD, which reduces costs and makes

installation of the program that much easier for the user.

To distinguish them from music CDs, the computer CDs are

called CD-ROMs. The acronym CD-ROM stands for compact

disc-read-only memory.

The DVD drive. Another type of drive you may have is a

DVD drive. A DVD looks similar to a CD, but can store much

more data than the traditional CD—over six times more data.

The additional storage space makes it a good medium to

store both data and videos.

Note: Both CDs and DVDs are often formatted in various

ways. A CD-R or DVD-R can have data stored on it one time,

but the data can’t be erased to store more data. A CD-RW

and a DVD-RW can have their data erased to store more data

and be reusable.

The flash drive. A kind of storage device that’s growing

increasingly popular these days is the flash drive. Flash

drives weigh less than two ounces, yet they can store a lot of


data and are fast and compact (Figure 2). With a storage

case, they’re sturdier than CDs or DVDs, which can be some-

what fragile. Flash drives are connected to the computer

through USB ports. Flash drives can be purchased with a

range of storage capacities, from 64 MB all the way up to 256

GB. Other terms you may hear when people are describing

flash drives are memory sticks, jump drives, or thumb drives.

The hard drive. Another disk drive, a crucial part of the

system unit, is found on the inside of the machine. The hard

drive, or hard disk drive, contains permanent, high-capacity,

rigid magnetic disks. On the hard drive are stored all the

computer’s resident programs. Some of the disk space is

reserved as ROM (read-only memory), for permanent pro-

grams and information. The rest of the disk space is for the

computer user, who can add to and change its contents.

Input Devices

The keyboard. The computer’s keyboard resembles that

of a typewriter. You use the keyboard to enter and change

information.

The mouse. The mouse controls an arrow-shaped pointer

that appears on the screen. You use the mouse to select,

move, and change items on the screen by sliding the mouse

about on a cloth or plastic sheet called a mouse pad. The

pointer on the screen responds to the movements of the

mouse. Nearly all of today’s computer systems include the

mouse as standard equipment. However, some systems,

FIGURE 2—Examples ofFlash Drives


especially portable laptop and notebook models, may have a

trackball or a small touch-sensitive panel installed on the

keyboard. These input devices work like the mouse, but they

don’t take up as much space since they don’t require a

mouse pad. The user simply rolls the trackball within its cra-

dle or traces a finger across the panel to move the pointer on

the screen.

Other Parts of a Computer

A computer system may also have external speakers, a

microphone, a printer, and other peripheral devices. Figure 3

shows some peripherals.

The computer’s speakers are important for programs that

include sound. With a microphone, you can record information.

A printer provides printouts, or hard copies, of documents.

A system may include other peripheral devices, such as an

image scanner or a digital camera. You’ll discover their uses

as you learn to set up and use your system.

FIGURE 3—A computer system may include any of several peripheral devices.


Windows and Operating SystemsAn operating system is the set of programs that instructs the

computer about how to perform various housekeeping tasks,

such as accepting and interpreting information from the key-

board and mouse. Without an operating system, the comput-

er can’t recognize input from the keyboard and can’t display

anything on its monitor.

Some examples of operating systems are Microsoft Windows,

Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris. Microsoft Windows is the most

common operating system, and the most recent version is

Windows 7. Other Windows versions are Windows XP and

Windows Vista. Mac OS X is the operating system from Apple

that comes on Macintosh computers. In this study unit, the

screenshots are in Windows 7.

Basic Windows Terms

Assuming all goes well during booting, or starting the com-

puter, the computer will display the Windows opening screen

on its monitor (Figure 4).

Windows operates in a GUI environment. Thus, graphics, or

pictures called icons, are presented to the computer user.

6

FIGURE 4—When the system boots up, the Windows screen appears.


Figure 5 shows an example of these icons. The icons repre-

sent programs, documents, and data that the computer user

can access. The user interacts, or interfaces, with the com-

puter by selecting different graphics. Thus, the computer is

said to employ a graphical user interface.

In the GUI environment, you use a mouse to point to and

select icons. You also use the mouse to activate drop-down

lists and select items from them. By clicking a mouse button

rather than pressing Enter on the keyboard, you can also

use the mouse to respond to message box questions.

The following is a list of basic terms you should become

familiar with to make any discussion of Windows easier.

Refer to Figure 6 as you read about these terms so you

can see exactly what the terms refer to in the Windows

environment.

• Desktop. The desktop is the background against which

all the Windows icons are displayed. It contains the

taskbar and Recycle Bin icons along with any opened

windows or dialog boxes. You can also put your own

icons on the desktop to serve as shortcuts to programs

you use frequently.

• Window. A window is a rectangular, bordered section of

your screen. A window typically contains the icons rele-

vant to a particular computer program.

• Menu. A menu is a list of commands, or options, that

you can select from.

FIGURE 5—In a GUI environment, the computeruser works with the machine by selecting graphics(icons) that represent programs, documents, andcomputer data.


• Icon. An icon is a picture that represents commands or

programs that you use in Windows.

• Taskbar. The taskbar, located at the bottom of the screen,

displays any programs that are currently running and

programs that have been pinned to the taskbar. By click-

ing on these buttons, you can switch from one window

to another or you can open the program you want to

use. In Windows 7, you can pin icons to the taskbar as

another way to launch the program.

• Start button. The Start button is located at the far left of

the Windows taskbar. Clicking it opens the Start menu.

• Start menu. The Start menu is the most basic menu in

Windows. This list of basic programs contains almost all

the commands you’ll ever need to use.

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FIGURE 6—Take some time to familiarize yourself with the terms for basic Windows features.


Basic Windows Skills

If a program has been assigned an icon on the desktop or on

the taskbar, it’s probably easiest to launch the program sim-

ply by clicking on that icon with your mouse. However, if a

program doesn’t have its own icon on your desktop or on the

taskbar, you can still launch it. Most programs will be avail-

able from lists in the Start menu. You can access the Start

menu by clicking the Start button on the taskbar. Figure 7

shows an example of a Start menu.

Table 1 explains the basic commands that can be found in

the Start menu. Other items can be added to and removed

from your Start menu, but the commands listed in Table 1

are all available in the typical Windows installation. Your

Start menu may also have shortcuts to the Internet, e-mail,

or programs such as Microsoft Word.

Sometimes, a listing in a

Windows menu may end

with a right-facing arrow

(). This arrow indicates

that the listing is divided

into additional choices avail-

able on a submenu. The sub-

menu will automatically

appear when you rest your

mouse pointer on a menu

item that has the right-fac-

ing arrow. Note how the

Getting Started menu item

in Figure 8 has such an

arrow.

FIGURE 7—You can select from among a list of options on the Startmenu.


The Parts of a WindowNow, let’s consider the parts of an open window that are dis-

played on the desktop. Figure 9 shows an example of the

Control Panel window, which can be opened from the Start

menu.

Across the top edge of the window is the title bar, which iden-

tifies the name of the program or group of programs repre-

sented by the window. By using the mouse pointer, you can

click and hold onto the title bar so you can drag the window

around and reposition it elsewhere on your desktop. When

the pointer is on the title bar, you can also press the mouse

button twice rapidly, or double-click, to enlarge the window

frame and cover your entire desktop. Not all windows will

have a title listed in the title bar, for example, the Control

Panel. The mouse usage described here with the title bar will

work on all windows regardless of title listing.

FIGURE 8—Some menuselections have sub-menus associated withthem. The existence ofa submenu is indicatedby a right-facing arrow.


Note the three small boxes at the right end of the title bar.

These boxes are buttons that can be clicked on with the

mouse. They’re also used to resize the window frame. The

Minimize button has a small line at its base. Clicking on it

will collapse the window down so that it no longer takes up

any space at all on the desktop. The window, however, can

be returned to the desktop by pressing the program’s button

on the taskbar.

The window’s Maximize button is marked with a little square.

To expand the window frame so the window fills the entire

desktop, you can click the Maximize button or double-click

on the title bar. Once the window frame is as large as the

desktop, the Maximize button changes to feature two over-

lapping squares. If you click the button now, the window

frame will return to the size and shape it had just before it

was maximized, or enlarged.

12

FIGURE 9—Important Parts of a Window


The button with the X on it is the Close button. Clicking on it

will close the window completely. Even the program’s button

on the taskbar will vanish. To get the program back, you

would have to launch it again.

The borders of the window are the lines that appear around

the outside edge of the window. These borders can be selected

with the mouse and dragged to stretch the window and make

it longer or taller or both. A scroll bar may appear along the

window’s right edge or bottom edge or along both these edges.

In Figure 9, a scroll bar can be seen along the window’s right

edge. It consists of a long, sliding box, sometimes called an

elevator, between two arrows. Its presence indicates that

there are additional items hidden past the window’s borders.

Rather than stretching or resizing the window frame, you can

use the scroll bar to fully reveal these icons. You would sim-

ply drag down the elevator between the two arrows, or you

can click on the down arrow. Doing so will reorient your view

of the window’s contents within its frame, shifting your view

of the window’s contents downward.

The Recycle Bin

You’ve probably noticed a little trash can icon on your

Windows desktop. This icon represents a special area on

your hard drive called the Recycle Bin.

Since the icon looks like a trash can, you’ve probably guessed

that the Recycle Bin has to do with throwing things away.

That’s exactly right! When you want to get rid of a file, simply

drag the icon for that file over to the Recycle Bin and drop it.

As shown in Figure 10, separate icons will be displayed

depending on whether or not the bin contains any files.

When you move a file into the

bin, the icon will change from

an empty can to one with

papers in it. The papers inside

the bin indicate that you’ve

thrown something away.

However, files placed in the bin

aren’t necessarily lost forever.

The bin is a staging area for

FIGURE 10—The RecycleBin icon changes to indi-cate that something hasbeen placed inside.

(A) (B)


holding files that you decided you don’t want anymore. If you

change your mind about getting rid of anything sent to the

Recycle Bin, you can retrieve the item or items by double-

clicking the icon and then restoring your selection using the

Restore option from the bin’s File menu.

To get rid of the bin’s contents permanently, you must empty

the Recycle Bin. You can do so by right-clicking the icon to

reveal a list of menu items, as shown in Figure 11. You can

then select Empty Recycle Bin from that menu.

The contents of the

Recycle Bin will be

irretrievably removed

from your hard drive

when you empty the

bin. If you choose

Open from the bin’s

menu, you’ll be able

to browse the bin’s

contents and can

selectively restore any or all items to where they came from

on your hard drive.

Shutting Down

Windows needs to power down before shutting off. Otherwise,

you may find some problems next time you try to use your

computer.

To shut down a computer that’s running Windows, you

would—believe it or not—click the Start button. From the

Start menu, click Shut Down. If any programs are still run-

ning, you’ll receive a message letting you know there are pro-

grams that are still open. You can decide to continue with

the shut down or to return to your desktop and close the

programs yourself.

There will be a wait while Windows does some behind-the-

scenes work as it prepares to shut down. If you turn off your

computer using the power button rather than shutting down

through Windows, you risk losing some information on your

hard drive. Files may get corrupted, resulting in malfunction-

ing programs or irretrievable documents.

14

FIGURE 11—A menuappears when you right-click on the Recycle Binicon.


Also, by habitually using the proper shut down procedure,

you can ensure that anything you’ve been actively working

on will be saved to a disk. If, for instance, you’ve forgotten to

save changes to documents, you’ll be prompted to save the

documents during the shut down process.

Your computer may power off automatically when the shut

down process is complete. If it doesn’t turn off on its own, a

message should appear telling you that you can safely turn

off your computer. In this case, you then press the power

button.

Even if you’re conscientious about always shutting down

properly, accidents can still happen. Your whole system, for

instance, may be shut down unexpectedly by a power failure.

Occasionally, some combination of programs being run at the

same time may cause your system to freeze or lock up, and

you’ll have no alternative except to turn off the power and

reboot. If your computer has a reset button, try that before

pressing the power button.

It’s been said that all’s well that ends well. So it is with your

computer sessions. When you use the hardware properly and

shut down the software correctly, you can expect the com-

puter to function to the best of its ability the next time you

use it.

Now, take a few moments to review what you’ve learned by

completing Self-Check 1.


Self-Check 1

At the end of each section of Introduction to Computers, you’ll be asked to pause and

check your understanding of what you’ve read by completing a “Self-Check.” Writing the

answers to these questions will help you review what you’ve studied so far. Please com-

plete Self-Check 1 now.

Questions 1–2: Provide short answers to the following questions.

1. What are the basic parts of a computer system?

__________________________________________________________________________

2. What does a right-facing arrow on a menu item indicate?

__________________________________________________________________________

Questions 3–4: Indicate whether each of the following statements is True or False.

3. _____ Files or programs moved into the computer’s Recycle Bin can be restored to their original locations by emptying the bin.

4. _____ The Shut Down command is found in the Windows Start menu.

Questions 5–8: Fill in the blanks in the following statements.

5. After booting, Windows icons are displayed on a background called the _______.

6. In Windows, _______ are lists of commands that appear on the screen.

7. The _______ button on the taskbar can be used to exit Windows.

8. Little pictures that represent items you use in Windows are called _______.

Check your answers with those on page 53.


STARTING OUT

Using a MouseComputers are designed to function best with a mouse. In

fact, it can actually be more difficult to use a computer with-

out a mouse. Therefore, you should develop mouse skills so

you can use a computer most effectively.

Parts of a Mouse

Take a look at the mouse, illustrated in Figure 12. Each

mouse generally has three buttons—two larger ones on the

sides and a smaller button in the center. The button on the

far left of the mouse is normally designated as the primary

mouse button. The primary button is the one used most of

the time. The right mouse button is normally designated as

the secondary mouse button. It’s typically used just for calling

(A)Two-Button Mouse

with Wheel

(B)Optical Mouse

(C)Laser Mouse

FIGURE 12—For right-handed individuals, the most important button on the mouse isthe left one. The buttons’ function assignments, however, can be switched. All thefunctions for the left button can be assigned to the right button. That way, a personcan handle the mouse in the left hand with his or her index finger still hovering overthe most frequently used button.


up special shortcut menus. The middle mouse button or

wheel between the right and left buttons is used to perform

special functions in certain programs designed for use with

those features. An older mouse may have only two buttons,

but you’ll still be able to access all the features.

Although the left button is initially designated as the primary

button, you can reassign the buttons’ functions—making the

right the primary button and the left the secondary. The but-

ton over which your index finger will normally rest is the one

you want to designate as the primary button because the pri-

mary button is the one you’ll most frequently use. If you ever

want to reverse your button assignments, you can do so

through the Control Panel in the Start menu.

Some mice are contoured to conform to the shape of a person’s

right hand. If you’re left-handed, you could purchase a

mouse specially shaped for left-handed use. Other mice are

symmetrical; they rest the same way in the left or right hand.

Your mouse may be connected to the computer with a cable or

it may be wireless. Most mice packaged with computers use a

cable. If you prefer, you can purchase a wireless mouse with

or without a keyboard setup.

Turn your mouse over and look at the bottom. Depending on

the type of mouse you have, you may see a ball protruding

from a chamber recessed into the underside of the mouse or a

recessed light (Figure 13A). Both indicate sensors. As the

mouse is slid across a mouse pad or other flat surface, sen-

sors detect the motion and direct the on-screen mouse pointer

to move in the same direction(s). The computer is able to

process the signals from the sensors almost immediately so

you see no delay from your mouse movement to the screen.

Roll your mouse backward by pulling the mouse toward you,

and the pointer slides down the screen. Roll the ball forward

by pushing the mouse away from you, and the pointer shoots

up the screen.

Mice with a ball roller function should be used on a mouse

pad. A mouse pad is simply a smooth cloth or plastic surface

upon which the mouse can glide around easily. When moving

your mouse, it may reach the edge of the mouse pad. In that

case, just lift the mouse up and place it down at a more con-

venient location on the pad. It’s important to keep the mouse

18


pad clean at all times. If you have a mouse with a ball roller,

lint or any kind of debris can get into the chamber housing

the mouse ball. The mechanism could jam, and you’ll lose

some control over your mouse pointer. If that happens, you’ll

have to open the mouse and clean out the debris.

Figure 13B shows a mouse with an optical sensor that con-

tinually takes pictures of the work surface. It takes over a

thousand pictures per second. A processor compares changes

in the captured images and translates these changes into on-

screen movements. The bottom of an optical mouse is sealed

up and contains no moving mechanical parts. Therefore,

using a mouse pad is unnecessary and depends on the

user’s preference. The optical sensor will work fine on just

about any surface—notepaper, walls, jeans, and so forth.

When you’re using a mouse, position your hand on it so that

you cup the mouse naturally in your palm. Your index finger

should rest directly over the left mouse button. The heel of

your hand should rest on the surface of the desk or mouse

pad. Figure 14 illustrates this proper technique of holding a

mouse. If you’re left-handed, the only difference is that your

index finger would hover over the right mouse button instead

of the left button.

Ball Used toTrack Movement

Optical SensorUsed to Track

Movement

(A)Microsoft

Intellimouse

(B)Intellimouse

Explorer

FIGURE 13—Themouse is used toreposition the pointeron the computerscreen. As you slidethe mouse across asurface, the pointerresponds by mimick-ing the mouse’smovements. (Photos

used with permission from

Microsoft Corporation)


Mouse Skills

Moving the pointer across the screen with the mouse doesn’t

affect the information that you see displayed on the screen.

The pointer simply indicates a location on the screen.

Generally, you’ll use the pointer to select an icon or a menu

item displayed on the screen. Once you’ve pointed to a par-

ticular item, you’ll need to click a mouse button to affect the

screen display.

Table 2 provides you with a brief description of the five basic

actions you’ll perform with a computer mouse.

20

FIGURE 14—Holding themouse properly will make iteasier to use. You’ll want topractice using the mouseuntil you can instinctivelymove the pointer to anyarea of the screen.


Let’s now consider each of these actions in a bit more detail.

Throughout this exercise, we’ll assume the mouse is being held

in the right hand for ease of discussion.

Pointing. When you move the mouse around, an arrow point-

er floats across the desktop to match the movement of the

mouse. Move the mouse until the pointer is positioned over the

Start button on the Windows taskbar. You’ve just used the

mouse to point to the button. Hover over the mouse icon. Note

how the icon’s background changes color (Figure 15). This

change indicates which icon you will select when you click.

Click on the Mouse icon.

The Mouse Properties window you’ve just opened can be used

to adjust the various features of your mouse. If, for instance,

you’re left-handed, you may want to change which button the

computer recognizes as the primary mouse button (Figure 16).

Clicking. When clicking on an icon or button on which you’ve

placed the pointer, you must hold the mouse very still. Resting

FIGURE 15—Hovering over on an icon changes its background color to indicate what you want to select.


the heel of your palm on the mouse pad or desktop will help

you stabilize the mouse so the pointer doesn’t jitter about as

you press the mouse button. Using your index finger, quickly

press and release the left mouse button, being careful not to

move the pointer off the Start button. You’ve just used the

mouse to click the Start button.

Sometimes, clicking on an icon or a window’s title bar is

referred to as selecting the item. With the Start menu still

open, slide your pointer up until it rests on the All Programs

item. The All Programs submenu then opens next to the

Start menu. You can click on a program in the submenu to

select it. Click outside of the All Programs submenu to

deselect it.

Now, click on Start again and this time click the Control

Panel. Now locate the mouse icon in the Control Panel win-

dow that has just opened. If the icon is outside the window’s

frame, use the window’s scroll bar to expose the icon. Note

that items in the Control Panel need to be clicked only once

to open the setting window for that item.

22

FIGURE 16—A left-handed per-son can modify the mouse tosuit his or her needs in theMouse Properties window.


Double-clicking. While keeping your pointer very still on an

icon on your desktop, click the left mouse button twice in

rapid succession. You’ve just used the mouse to double-click.

This action is sometimes a difficult process to master. At

first, most people tend to accidentally nudge the mouse out

of position when trying to double-click. If you have such trou-

ble, don’t worry. You’ll improve with practice. Just remember

that the secret lies in keeping the mouse stationary. Try to

move only your index finger when clicking.

Note also that several labels are lined up near the top of the

Mouse Properties window. These labels are for the different

sections of the window. The sections are designed to resemble

tabbed index cards stacked one in front of another. Therefore,

each separate section is called a tab. Initially, the window

opens with the Buttons tab displayed in front. You can bring

the other tabbed sections to the front simply by clicking on

the tabs at the top of the window (Figure 17).

FIGURE 17—Clicking on a tab at thetop of a window opens another sec-tion of information.


Right-clicking. Right-clicking an icon or text will usually

give you a menu with additional options available for that

item. Remember the menu that appeared when you right-

clicked on the Recycle Bin (Figure 11).

Dragging. Rest your mouse pointer directly on the slider

between the Slow and Fast markings. Press the left mouse

button, and don’t release it. With the left mouse button

pushed down, slide the mouse to the left. On the screen, you

should see the slider icon moving as though it were glued to

the mouse pointer. Take the slider down to a slower position,

stop moving the mouse, and then release the left mouse but-

ton. You just used your mouse to drag the slider icon to a

new position. Just about any icon or window that appears on

your desktop can be moved by being dragged with the mouse.

The process is also sometimes called click-drag-and-drop or

click and drag, but it’s usually referred to simply as dragging.

Note the folder icon in the double-click speed section of the

Buttons tab. You can use this folder to test your setting for

double-click speed. As you gain more experience with the

mouse, you may want to return to the Buttons tab to readjust

your speed setting for double-clicking.

About MicrosoftThe operating environment and overall look of the different

versions of Windows operating systems are very similar. All

versions of the software are supplied by Microsoft, a company

started by Bill Gates. You’ve probably heard or read about Bill

Gates. He started his company, Microsoft, to produce DOS,

the operating system of most pre-Windows computers.

Eventually, Microsoft developed the Windows software, which

originally ran as sort of an add-on to DOS. The GUI operating

environment of Windows was intended to help DOS machines

compete with the graphics-based Apple Macintosh computers.

Today, in its later versions, the Windows software has evolved

to the point that DOS is essentially functioning as the add-on

to the Windows operating system.

Microsoft also developed and distributes Outlook—software

that enables communication through electronic mail, or e-mail.

24


Another Microsoft product is Internet Explorer, which is a

Web browser program-software that enables computers to

connect to the World Wide Web (WWW).

SoftwareKnowing how to use computer software has become a necessi-

ty for today’s workers. Computer software helps users com-

plete routine job tasks with greater efficiency and accuracy

as well as to solve business problems. We often refer to soft-

ware that directs a computer to perform tasks and produce

information as productivity software. The most popular types

of productivity software help users prepare and work with a

variety of documents such as letters, memos, spreadsheets,

and database reports. One of the most useful features of cur-

rent software packages is integration. Integration is the abili-

ty to place information created within one type of application

into a document created with another type of application. It

thus allows the sharing of information among applications.

In this section, you’ll learn about the three most widely used

types of productivity software—word processing, spreadsheet,

and database. Then you’ll discover the many tasks that pro-

ductivity software can help you accomplish more efficiently at

home, at school, and on the job.

What Word Processing Software DoesWord processing software can help you be more creative by

simplifying many of the mechanical tasks involved in writing

and editing. You spend less energy on the mechanics of edit-

ing, with more time available for the creative process. Good

writing requires revision; a first draft is rarely a final draft.

When you work with pencil and paper or with a typewriter,

rewriting and revising a written document can be tedious.

Imagine that you’ve just completed a business report due

this afternoon using a typewriter. The report is 10 pages in

length. As you quickly review what you’ve written, you dis-

cover that you omitted several paragraphs from page three.

The second paragraph on page two should be the last para-

graph on page five. You see a few places where you could


have expressed your ideas more clearly. You find three mis-

spelled words. What about that heading? You want it cen-

tered and typed in all capital letters. You omitted an impor-

tant quotation from page six. Get the picture? You must

retype the entire document to make the changes. Can you do

so by the time the report is due? Probably not, even if you’re

an exceptional typist.

With word processing software, your changes would be easy

to make. All the editing work involved—from moving para-

graphs, to correcting spelling, to finding appropriate synonyms,

to centering the heading and changing it to all caps—would

take you only several minutes to complete.

Another impressive characteristic of today’s word processing

software packages is that they do more than just help you

record and edit text. Enhancements, such as graphics, color,

word art, special letter designs called fonts, and even audio

create a whole new way to help you convey your ideas to oth-

ers more effectively, more efficiently, and with a lot of style.

We’re going to take a look at today’s most popular word

processor, Microsoft Word. You’ll see how word processing

software removes many obstacles to skilled writing and docu-

ment preparation. First, you’ll learn some of the major features

common to today’s word processing applications packages.

You’ll see that some of the writing tasks you would use word

processing software for at home are the same ones that you

would perform at work.

As you read through this unit, imagine how word processing

software can make your life easier.

Features of Word Processing SoftwareThe two best-selling word processing applications available

are WordPerfect and Word. You might think that word pro-

cessing packages vary considerably, with features and screen

displays completely different from one another. That’s not the

case. All of today’s word processors actually offer the same

major functions that users have come to demand. In fact,

they even look very similar when you view documents on your

monitor. Once you learn how to use one software package,

it’s very easy to learn a second one.

26


Let’s take a look at the most common features of today’s

word processors. We used Microsoft Word for the figures and

sample documents illustrated in this unit. Word is the best-

selling software package in the world.

Entering Text

Insert mode and typeover mode. As you use the keyboard

to enter and later edit text, you have two options. You may

select either insert mode or typeover mode. You switch

between the two by tapping the Ins (Insert) key. Insert mode

is the default mode. This means your software automatically

lets you insert whatever you key into existing text as it pushes

whatever is already there to the right. Suppose you typed

“calendr” and wish to insert the a between the d and the r.

All you need to do is move the insertion point to the r and

type the a. When you do, the r moves to the right of the a

that you’ve just keyed.

In typeover mode, the new text you key replaces existing text.

It’s like erasing and retyping at the same time. When you’re

in this mode, you lose your old text when you add the new.

WYSIWYG. WYSIWYG (pronounced WIZ ee wig) stands for

“what you see is what you get.” In other words, what you see

on the screen is exactly what you’ll get when you print it.

Print Preview is a software feature that lets you see the docu-

ment on your screen in a view that looks like a miniature

document. If you see something you want to change, you can

switch back to the editing screen. In Word, for example, the

default editing screen for entering text is called Print Layout

View. If you want to see how your changes look, you can

switch again to Print Preview. Figures 18A and 18B show you

how a document looks in Print Layout View and in Print

Preview.

Print Preview allows you to see the entire page or zoom in to

get a close-up view of a small section of the document

(Figure 19). Print Preview helps you save time and paper. You

can make sure your document looks exactly the way you

want it to look before you print it. The Print Preview view can

only be accessed through the “Office Button” located in the

upper left-hand corner of the Word (Figure 20).


FIGURE 18—You can see the difference between how a document looks in PrintLayout View (A) and in Print Preview (B).

(A)

(B)


Word wrap. As you key text, you don’t have to remember to

tap the Enter key at the end of every line of text. The soft-

ware knows when to begin a new line. With this feature,

called word wrap, words drop to the next line automatically.

You don’t need to press the Enter key until you want to start

a new paragraph or begin a new line, as in a mailing address.

By pressing Enter, you create a new paragraph. In word pro-

cessing, paragraph is a term that simply refers to a unit of

text that begins and ends with the Enter keystroke.

Just as you don’t have to press Enter at the ends of lines

within a paragraph, your word processor will automatically

FIGURE 19—Print Preview lets you zoom in on a small section of a page.


begin a new page when the current page is full. At times you

may want to begin a new page before it’s full. You can force a

new page with certain keystroke commands like Ctrl + Enter.

Editing Text

Editing features of word processors are many and varied. The

ease and efficiency with which you can make changes to your

documents has made the Word software application the most

widely used type of productivity software tool in today’s work-

place. As discussed earlier, word processing has replaced the

typewriter because of time saved in editing. When you need

to correct errors or move and add data within a document,

you no longer have to spend hours to reenter information.

Let’s take a look at basic editing features that all word pro-

cessing software packages contain.

30

FIGURE 20—The Print PreviewView can only be accessed viathe “Office Button” located inthe upper left-hand corner ofthe window.


Deleting text. You’ve already learned about the insert and

typeover modes to enter text. Insert and typeover are methods

of adding omitted text to a document. What do you do to get

rid of unwanted characters or other document elements?

Three ways to delete text include

• Delete (Del) key, which deletes the character to the right

of the cursor

• Backspace key, which deletes the character to the left of

the cursor

• Mark and Delete, in which you click and drag the mouse

to highlight one or more consecutive characters and then

press the Delete key

Finding and replacing. When you use the find-and-replace

feature, the software first looks through your document for the

word, phrase, or formatting code that you told it to find.

When it finds the word, phrase, or formatting code, it

replaces it with the information that you also provided.

Once find-and-replace executes, you can tell your word

processor to automatically change each occurrence or to

change only those entries that you give it permission to alter.

You might, for example, use find-and-replace to update a

name. Suppose you have a 20-page business report in which

you referred to your organization as CMO. You used the

company name frequently within the document. You decide

that it’s better to spell out the name rather than to use the

abbreviation. You first begin the task by selecting the appro-

priate menu item and filling in pertinent information in a

dialog box. You then tell the software to find each occurrence

of CMO and replace it with Craggy Mountain Outfitters.

It’s so easy! Using find-and-replace can save you time. The

software will automatically do the tedious job for you.

Cutting, copying, and pasting. Word processing software

simplifies the tasks of moving text around and copying blocks

of text for insertion elsewhere within a document or into

another document. You can move a word, a sentence, a

paragraph, a page, or any section of a document you specify

by using a procedure called cut-and-paste. First you click

and drag to select (highlight) the section you want to move.


Next, you click the right mouse button to display the menu

and select cut (or press the Ctrl key and X). Your selection

disappears from the screen. It’s stored electronically in a

temporary storage location called the Clipboard. Next, you

place your cursor at the location where you want to place the

information. Then you right-click with the mouse and select

paste (or press the Ctrl key and P). The end result is that

you’ve moved text from one location to another. Figure 21

shows the results of a cut-and-paste operation.

The copy-and-paste procedure is also a timesaver. Use it

when you want a block of text to appear in more than one

place. Why retype text when you can type it once and then

copy it to other places? When you copy-and-paste, the proce-

dure is similar to cut-and-paste. First you highlight the text

you want to copy. Click the right mouse button and select-

32

(Before)

LOAN FORMItem Borrowed: ____________________________

Borrowed by: ________________________________

Phone #: ________________

Date Borrowed: _____________ Due Date: _____________

Signature: __________________________

(After)

LOAN FORMBorrowed by: ________________________________

Item Borrowed: ____________________________

Phone #: ________________


Signature: __________________________

FIGURE 21—Here’s a loan form before and after cutting and pasting tomove the second line up to the first line.


copy (or press the Ctrl key and C). Your selection won’t dis-

appear from the screen with this procedure. A duplicate of it

is stored in the Clipboard. You next place your cursor where

you want the text copied and choose paste from the right-

click menu.

Figure 22 shows the loan form copied four times on a page to

save paper. Why rekey it over and over when you can key it

once and copy it three times?

Spell checker. Proofreading your own letters, memos, and

reports can be difficult. It’s easy to overlook misspelled words,

typographical errors, repetitive word usage, and punctuation

and grammar errors when you review what you’ve keyed.

When we used typewriters for document production, keeping

a wide selection of writing resources such as a dictionary,

thesaurus, and grammar reference was a necessity. Today’s

editing tools are electronic. They’re convenient and easy to use.

By far the most-used electronic editing tool is the spell checker.

Either automatically or at your request, the spell checker

examines the spelling of each word in your document and

compares it to its own built-in dictionary. When it finds a

word that’s not in your word processor’s dictionary, it flags it

by highlighting or marking it in some manner to bring the

word to your attention. You must decide which of the following

you want to do.

• Replace the misspelled word by editing it and correcting

it yourself.

• Replace the misspelled word with the correct version

that you select from a displayed list.

• Ignore the word if it isn’t misspelled.

• Add the word to its dictionary.

Spell checkers that are part of your word processing software

are limited in size. Their dictionaries aren’t as extensive as

printed ones; therefore, words flagged often aren’t misspelled

words. Spell checkers don’t include proper nouns such as

unusual personal names, names of organizations, and foreign

words. Also, technical terms related to a specific discipline

such as medicine, real estate, and law may not be in the



Item Borrowed: ____________________________

Phone #: ________________


Signature: __________________________


Item Borrowed: ____________________________

Phone #: ________________


Signature: __________________________


Item Borrowed: ____________________________

Phone #: ________________


Signature: __________________________


Item Borrowed: ____________________________

Phone #: ________________


Signature: __________________________

FIGURE 22—By using the Copy command, one sheet of paper can hold four copies of the loan form.


dictionary. Specialized add-on dictionaries are available for

purchase that will work with your spell checker. Your software

may even let you create your own supplementary dictionaries.

Once you’ve expanded your dictionary capabilities, you’ll save

yourself much time. Figure 23 shows you how a document

looks when a spell-check operation has caught a misspelled

word.

Beware! No word processor’s spell checker can check your

word usage. A spell checker, unlike a real dictionary, doesn’t

contain definitions of words. It contains only a list of words.

If you key “their is know weigh ewe can get me too go two

thee beech,” your spell checker won’t mark even one word as

a spelling error. All the words are spelled correctly, but obvi-

ously eight words are used incorrectly. When you use spell

checker, remember that you possess the real skill—not the

software.

FIGURE 23—The spell checker will flag a misspelled word and let you decide what to do.


Spreadsheet SoftwareA spreadsheet is basically a worksheet with columns and

rows. The columns and rows are in a grid in which you enter

labels, values, and mathematical functions. The intersection

of a row and column is called a cell. Cells contain numbers

along with column headings and row headings to explain

what the figures mean. Businesses have been using spread-

sheets for hundreds of years. Accountants and bookkeepers

use them to track financial information. Meteorologists use

them to work with figures compiled about temperature and

rainfall measurements. Sales workers track monthly sales of

merchandise with them. Spreadsheets can be prepared man-

ually with a pencil and paper printed with columns and

rows. This specially printed paper used for spreadsheet

preparation is called ledger paper.

Though some individuals and small businesses still use the

manual method of preparing spreadsheets, electronic spread-

sheets have many advantages over the old, labor-intensive

manual method. In an electronic spreadsheet, mathematical

formulas are calculated automatically. If you change one

number, the software automatically updates the totals. You

can automatically format a spreadsheet to give it a profes-

sional look with stylish fonts and colors. Electronic spread-

sheets also provide you with fast graph preparation to further

enhance the mathematical data. There are many tasks that

electronic spreadsheets can perform to help you be more pro-

ductive on the job and with your personal finances.

Spreadsheet software is second only to word processing soft-

ware as a productivity tool used in today’s workplace. A vari-

ety of professions use spreadsheets. Stockbrokers use

spreadsheets to keep investor records and track the stock

market. Scientists use them to analyze data from experiments.

Builders use them to compare construction bids and keep

track of costs. Bankers use them to calculate loan repayment

schedules. Teachers use them to track student progress.

Finally, individuals use them to track personal investments,

record expenditures, and prepare household budgets

(Figures 24 and 25).

36


FIGURE 24—This electronic spreadsheet tracks the net sales of a small catering busi-ness over a five-year period.

FIGURE 25—This is a sample of a pie chart created with spreadsheet software.


Spreadsheet software automates the preparation of the grids

and the calculation of the data they contain. Therefore, we

can spend more time analyzing the information to ask “what-

if” questions. For example, suppose you’re trying to save

enough money for a vacation to France. You can work with

your personal budget spreadsheet to plug in numbers to see

what expenses you can decrease to have enough money.

What if you work overtime three hours a week? What if you

curtail eating out? What if you carpool to work with a friend?

What if you decrease your clothing expenditures? With

spreadsheet software you can type your changes, and your

figures will automatically recalculate.

Suppose Craggy Mountain Outfitters has asked you, their

new office employee, to help prepare a budget for the growing

business. You’ve just completed a 12-month budget for the

coming year. As you examine your figures, you have an idea

that will greatly reduce expenses. If you were using a manual

spreadsheet, you would have to recopy the entire worksheet,

making changes in each month and recalculating all totals.

However, you know the power of electronic spreadsheets for

working with numbers. The changes you make will take only

seconds, and the software recalculates all totals. After

reviewing the proposed budget, owners Jenny and Jacob

suggest changes as well. You can make their new changes

quickly and easily. You decide to make comparisons between

last year’s budget items and those proposed for the coming

year. You can create a colorful bar chart automatically with

spreadsheet charting tools that will graphically present the

numeric data for easy understanding.

Besides utilizing spreadsheet software to prepare budgets,

users can create and maintain the following:

• Financial statements

• Payroll records

• Loan analyses

• Sales reports

• Inventory analyses

38


Database SoftwareA database is a large collection of facts that can be combined

to produce information that we use for retrieval, editing,

additions, and decision making. Database facts can be bro-

ken down into smaller and smaller units in a system of data.

An electronic database is a computerized version of a filing

cabinet. It’s like a set of index cards, an address book, a

recipe catalog, or any other manual system you may have set

up to keep track of information. Federal, state, and local gov-

ernments keep giant databases containing information about

their citizens in the form of

• Census demographics

• Earnings data

• Income tax information

• Social Security records

• Real estate holdings and property tax liabilities

• Vehicle identification records

• Legal records including arrests and traffic violations

• Addresses and telephone numbers

With an electronic database, you can search through hundreds

or thousands of records in seconds to find the information

that you need. With a manual file retrieval system, it may

take minutes to find information, or it may take hours. Just

imagine the inefficiency not only of governments, but also of

businesses large and small, if they all maintained information

on paper documents. Paper documents require expensive

physical space, costly storage equipment, and extra workers

to handle recordkeeping tasks.

No one can argue the importance of a data management sys-

tem to an organization. Besides organizing and storing infor-

mation, a data management system maintains, sorts,

retrieves, adds, deletes, and formats information into usable

reports. With database software, you can perform all of those

tasks.


Database software helps you arrange and rearrange informa-

tion as often as you need to very quickly and easily. You can

sort data from A to Z or from Z to A; from one to one million

or from one million to one. You can sort by date, by city, by

state, by ZIP code—by any classification of data. If you use a

manual database system, this kind of data rearranging is

enough of an overwhelming, intimidating task to keep you

from attempting it.

At Craggy Mountain Outfitters, Jacob Wright has planned a

closeout sale on last summer’s hiking boots. To advertise the

sale, he decides to send personalized letters to all mail-order

customers who purchased hiking gear during the past year.

The company’s customer database contains the names and

addresses of 2,545 customers. If Jacob has only a manual

database, how long would it take him to find just those cus-

tomers? He probably wouldn’t have time to even make the

effort. However, with electronic database software, he can

search through all the customer records in seconds to find

only those customers he wants to reach. If Jacob later

decides to narrow his mailing to only three or four ZIP codes,

he can use his database features to find only those customers.

He can use the database search results along with a word

processing document file to create personalized letters and

envelopes for mailing to the customers he selects.

After Jacob prepares the mailing list, Jenny suggests that all

customers who haven’t purchased any merchandise or serv-

ices in the past two years be removed from the database.

Instead of deleting these particular customers, Jacob decides

to put data about those customers in a separate file named

“Inactive Customers.” He then creates a report that relates

the status of every customer, both active and inactive.

As you can see, database software is flexible, allowing you to

perform many tasks with data. Whether at home or at work,

you probably have some sort of address book containing

names and addresses of clients, business suppliers, friends,

40


and family. Other home uses of database software are to cre-

ate database files for your

• Personal telephone directory

• Recipe files

• Videotape collection

• Home and auto repairs, warranty, and maintenance

records

• Personal collections of valuable objects such as baseball

cards or dolls

If an electronic database isn’t available to handle the infor-

mation, most people rely on a file of index cards or an address

book. Updating the manual database is time-consuming and

inflexible, and can prove unreliable. Database software saves

you time, provides you with helpful information quickly, and

is useful on the job as well as personally.

Now, take a few moments to review what you’ve learned by

completing Self-Check 2.


Self-Check 2

1. Describe the two main buttons that are typically found on a mouse.

__________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the basic mouse actions called, and how are they executed?

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What do we call the ability of your word processor to display documents on your screenexactly as they’ll appear printed?

__________________________________________________________________________

4. Pressing which key deletes the character to the left of the cursor?

__________________________________________________________________________

5. What is meant by a paragraph in word processing?

__________________________________________________________________________

6. What do we call an intersection of a column and a row?

__________________________________________________________________________

7. In addition to prepared budgets, name three documents spreadsheet software can help yougenerate.

__________________________________________________________________________

8. What are some personal uses of database software?

__________________________________________________________________________



THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEBYou’ve probably heard about or are familiar with the Internet.

It seems you can’t pick up a newspaper or read a magazine

without reading something about the Internet or the World

Wide Web.

This study unit will help you understand the Internet better

and become more acquainted with its features. Sound excit-

ing? We hope so, because the Internet is growing every day.

Who knows what impact it will have on us in the future?

What Is the Internet?Breaking down the word Internet reveals exactly what the

Internet is. The prefix inter means “between,” and the suffix

net is short for “networks.” Therefore, the Internet is a virtual

world that exists between computer networks.

The Internet’s structure is often compared to an enormous

highway system. You’ve probably even heard the Internet

referred to as the “information superhighway.” This analogy

came about because the backbones of the Internet are some

very high-speed central networks. These backbones are similar

to interstate highways; they allow you to get on and off

smaller networks of “roads.” Think of the small networks as

highways and the even smaller networks as city streets. All of

these networks—highways and streets—are interconnected, or

linked, so you can move around on them at will. The intercon-

nected nature of the Internet is virtually transparent to

users, which means that as you travel along the Internet,

you won’t even be aware of all the connections being made.

Electronic MailElectronic mail, or e-mail, lets you communicate with people

all over the world in a matter of seconds. You can send

messages to and receive messages from anyone with an

e-mail account anywhere in the world. The recipient doesn’t

even have to be online when you send the message. As with


the Postal Service, messages are delivered to a “mailbox,”

which the recipient then accesses at his or her own conven-

ience. You can send e-mail to the White House or to a mem-

ber of Congress. You can also send e-mail to local radio and

television stations, internationally published magazines, or

your next-door neighbor!

E-mail Addresses

Internet e-mail addresses generally take the following form:

[email protected]

Username. The name you select as your account name.

Most people try to select a username that’s easy to remember.

Using parts of your real name is a good idea. For example, if

your name is Robert Smith, you might choose robertsmith or

robsmith or rsmith as your username.

Host. The computer that “hosts” or houses your Internet

connection. This is generally the name of your Internet

service provider (ISP). An ISP is an organization, such as

AT&T, Verizon, DirectTV, Earthlink, Comcast, or any number

of local services available in your area that give you access to

the Internet. If you get your Internet account through your

work or school, the host name will be some variant of your

employer’s business or your school’s name. For example, if

Robert Smith’s account is hosted by Google, his e-mail

address might be [email protected]. If his account is

hosted by Arbor University, his e-mail address might be

[email protected].

Domain. The domain name distinguishes the kind of insti-

tution or organization that provides you with your account.

For example, if your account is provided by a commercial

service like Google your domain will be “com.” If your

accounts originates with an educational institution, your

domain would be “edu.”

44


Sending E-mail

The procedure you must follow to send e-mail depends on

the e-mail software you’re using. However, e-mail packages

have a few similar requirements (Figure 26). To send e-mail,

you must include the following information:

• The e-mail address of the recipient in the “To” box

• The e-mail addresses of anyone else you’re “copying” on

the message, in the “cc” or “bcc” boxes (“bcc” stands for

blind carbon copy; recipients don’t see these names)

• A subject line in the “Subject Header” box

• Your text in the body of the message

There’s an art to writing good, descriptive subject headers

(Figure 27). Once you start receiving a lot of e-mail, you’ll

realize why descriptive subject headers are important. For

example, the subject header “Where Can I Find Movie

Information?” is much better than “HELP!” because it gives

you a very accurate idea of what the sender needs.

When you’re finished typing the body of your message, you

should reread the message to correct any spelling and gram-

matical errors you may have made. Most e-mail programs

include a spelling checker that will find most typographical

errors for you. Remember, the recipient is going to get a

FIGURE 26—A Typical E-mail Form


definite impression of you as a person based on the way your

e-mail message is written. This probably doesn’t matter so

much if the person is a relative or a long-time friend, but it

matters a great deal when the person is a business or profes-

sional contact.

To send your message, you simply click on an icon labeled

“Send.” Some e-mail programs may require you to use a key

combination or a function key. If you’re unsure how to send

a message, read your Help menu, review the software manu-

al, or ask someone else. It might be a good idea to send your-

self a sample e-mail message just to make sure you’re using

your e-mail correctly. To do this, just type your own address

in the “To” line.

Keep in mind that e-mail isn’t secure, and that many people

don’t think twice about forwarding e-mail messages to other

people. Exercise caution in your e-mail communications.

Don’t include any information in an e-mail message that you

wouldn’t want to become public knowledge, or anything that

might come back to haunt you at a later date.

If your e-mail account is provided by your employer, you

should know that most employers have the technical capability

of reading your incoming and outgoing messages. In addition,

many companies routinely back up the server (the computer)

on which your e-mail is stored. E-mail you’ve written or

received might be stored for years.

46

FIGURE 27—Make your subject headers as specific as possible so the receiver knows what your messageis about.


The World Wide WebWhen you think of the Internet, what you’re probably think-

ing of is the World Wide Web, often called the Web or WWW.

To access the Web, you need to use a Web browser. The most

commonly used browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer,

Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. A browser is a software program

that acts as a go-between between the user (you) and the

Web. Browsers can be either text based (Lynx is a popular

text-based browser), displaying information as text only, or

graphical (Internet Explorer), displaying information in

whatever format that author has used, including graphics,

photographs, sound, video, text, and more.

Every document on the Web has an address known as a

Uniform Resource Locator (URL). This address tells your

browser where to look for a particular Web site (Figure 28).

A typical URL looks something like this:

http://addressname.domain/path-to-file

A typical URL breaks down as follows:

• http: Tells your computer the type of resource the site

is, and how it should be accessed. This will be http

(hypertext transfer protocol), ftp (file transfer protocol), or

gopher (an information retrieval tool similar to the World

Wide Web).

• addressname.domain: Identifies the address and

domain of the host computer.

• path-to-file: Provides the full path to the file, along with

the name of the file being opened.

The colon and forward slashes in the URL must appear just

as you see them. If you’re using an older version of a browser,

you must be careful to type the URL exactly as it will appear.

Newer versions of browsers let you type partial URLs and

attempt to provide the rest of the information for you.

To get to a specific site anywhere on the Web, you need to

know or be able to find the site’s URL. One of the best ways

to learn about sites, their URLs, and hyperlinks is by visiting

a Web directory resource such as Yahoo at

http://www.yahoo.com/


Resource sites like Yahoo provide indexes, search capabilities,

and hyperlinks to thousands of Web sites (Figure 29).

Sometimes you won’t be able to link to a site—the site may

be heavily trafficked, its host computer may be down, or

the document may have been renamed or moved to another

location. The Internet is constantly evolving, so this type of

change is continual and inevitable. As you gain more experi-

ence using the Web, you’ll learn how to get around these

problems.

Today most business organizations list their Web addresses

on their letterhead and business cards. You can also find

Web addresses printed on magazine ads and articles, bills,

catalogs, and flyers. Some restaurants even print their Web

addresses on their menus!

Whether you’re researching a term paper or just having fun,

you can always discover something new on the Web.

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FIGURE 28—Typical Browser Window


Hyperlinks allow you to jump effortlessly from site to site.

You can start at a site in Pittsburgh viewing works by Andy

Warhol and wind up just a few mouse clicks later at a site in

France looking at Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Search Engines

Because there are millions of pages on the Web, search engines

were created as a way for users to sift through all of those

pages and easily find those that match up to a particular

research or personal interest area.

Many different search engines are available on the Web, and

each searches for information in its own unique way. You’ll

find, when you perform a search on more than one engine,

that the “hits”—or matching results—returned to you are

unique. This is because search engines read and search for

data differently. They also vary in size and speed. Some

commonly used search engines include

AltaVista http://www.altavista.com

Bing http://www.bing.com

Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com

Google http://www.google.com

Webcrawler http://www.webcrawler.com

You can review a list of hundreds of different search engines

at My Virtual Reference Desk:

http://www.refdesk.com/newsrch.html

FIGURE 29—Yahoo’s Main Screen (Reprinted with permission of Yahoo)


The Web provides access to a whole host of other services

besides information retrieval, though. For example, online

shopping, also known as electronic commerce or e-commerce,

continues to grow in popularity as more and better products

are offered over the Web, and as sites use technology to

make sure that your credit card or other personal informa-

tion is secure.

Online Groups

You can connect with other people on the Web by using

blogs, chat rooms or messaging software, and social network-

ing sites, among others.

Blogs. The word, blog, is a combination of the the words web

and log. Blogs are interactive sites which allow users to post

messages and comments to a threaded discussion. Today

blog topics range from personal interests to world news to

almost anything you can think of.

Chat rooms. Some commercial services, most notably AOL,

offer users access to a variety of chat rooms, where users can

discuss topics of interest. The difference between a chat room

and a bulletin board is that chats take place in real time; this

means all of the users are logged on and are posting at the

same time. (This is also called synchronous communication.)

Chat messages are typically available to users only while

they’re chatting, although you can usually save them to be

read at another time.

Social networking Web sites. Another way that people can

communicate through the Web is through social networking

Web sites. Through Web sites, such as Facebook or Twitter,

users can create profiles and then invite other people to be

part of their network. Users can post blogs, send e-mails,

share multimedia, join groups, post bulletins, and so on.

Another form of social networking site is Linked In, which is

designed for professional networking.

Once you’ve taken Self-Check 3 to quiz yourself on the

material in this section, you’ll be ready to complete your

examination. Good luck!

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Self-Check 3

1. Simply put, the Internet allows for communication between _______.

2. Briefly explain what an e-mail username is.

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What is a Uniform Resource Locator?

4. Altavista and Google are examples of _______.

5. Name three ways the Internet allows you to talk with other people online.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________


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Self-Check 1

1. The basic parts of a computer system include the

system unit, the monitor, a disk drive, the hard drive,

the keyboard, and the mouse. Often, the system includes

both a CD-ROM drive and a DVD drive. Speakers, a

printer, and other peripherals may be present as well.

2. A right-facing arrow at the end of a menu item indicates

that the item is divided into additional choices displayed

on a submenu. The submenu will appear automatically

when you place the mouse pointer on the menu item.

3. False

4. True

5. desktop

6. menus

7. Start

8. icons

Self-Check 2

1. The primary mouse button, normally situated on the

left-hand side, is the button used most of the time. The

secondary button, normally situated on the right-hand

side, is typically used for calling up special shortcut

menus.

2. The basic mouse actions are as follows:

• Point—placing the mouse pointer on an item

• Click—quickly pressing and releasing the mouse

button

• Double-click—quickly pressing and releasing the

mouse button twice in rapid succession while hold-

ing the mouse absolutely still

• Right-click—quickly pressing and releasing the

mouse button assigned the secondary functions

• Drag—moving a selected item by sliding the mouse

while holding down the left button

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Self-Check Answers54

3. WYSIWYG

4. Backspace

5. A unit of text that begins and ends with the Enter

keystroke

6. A cell

7. Any three of the following: financial statements, payroll

records, loan analyses, sales reports, inventory analyses

8. Some personal uses of database software include

address books, personal telephone directories, recipe

files, catalogs of personal collections, records of home

and auto repairs, files of product warranties, and

maintenance records.

Self-Check 3

1. computer networks

2. A username is a name you select for your e-mail

account (for example, if your name is Dan Miller, your

username might be dmiller).

3. The Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, is an address

that tells your browser where to find a particular

Web site.

4. search engines

5. Blogs, chat rooms or messaging software, social net-

working sites

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