Getting to Know the Internet
The Amador County Library provides access to the Internet or World
Wide Web (WWW) at the Jackson Branch. This section of the home
page for the Library is to assist new users in navigating the Net. This
section will contain basic information for new users. It is an
explanation of the screens you use, search methods, terminology,
and a basic e-mail tutorial. The Library does own
books that explain the use of computers in greater detail. You may
check those out with a current library card. At this time the
Library does NOT have sufficient employees to give tutorial help with
the computers themselves. A few volunteers are able to help the
beginning user during scheduled times.
1. Terminology
The Desktop is the first screen you see when you first come
to the computer. The icons on the screen (little pictures
with names underneath them) represent the programs available for you to
use. Some of the common names for these icons/programs are:
WordPerfect, Internet, WordPad, Carmen Miranda and Games. To open
(use) a program, you must use the mouse. The mouse is
the tool to the side of the keyboard. To click, double click,
or hit means (in 99% of the cases) to tap the left mouse button.
The mouse moves the arrow and/or hand symbol for certain
procedures like opening programs or web sites. The computer user
glides the mouse on the table
to move the arrow to a location on the screen. Once the
desired location is achieved, then to open that program or do some
other function, click the mouse. When the mouse is used for
entering text, a line or blinking cursor will show up on the screen
indicating to you where to enter the information.
Different functions require one or two clicks. Try one first, then
two second. Try to do the double clicks evenly and quickly in
succession. When a program is successfully accessed, an hourglass
(or clock) symbol will appear. This means the computer is opening
the program you requested. When the computer has completed this
work, the screen will show the new program and the hourglass symbol
disappears.
In our program that accesses the Internet, the E icon (for Microsoft
Internet Explorer) is in the upper right of the screen. It
revolves while searching and loading programs. This symbol also
stops when the loading process is done. The toolbar and command
line at the top of the page give you many choices for actions you can do
on the computer. The toolbar has a series of pictures with
names underneath them representing the action that button will do.
The command line has a series of words listed. Clicking the
cursor on any of them will show choices you can do in that selection.
Often many of the SAME actions can be accomplished from EITHER area.
Some of the buttons will be explained as we continue in this tutorial.
2. Searching the Net
The home page of the Amador County Library has several choices for
searching the net. The easiest way to begin is to choose Search
Engines. Notice that on this page, and most pages of the Internet, some words
will be in a different color of print. Often they are underlined. If you place the cursor on these words or a picture, the
cursor will change to a hand symbol. When this happens, the program is telling you there
is MORE information at this site. By clicking your mouse on this site, this action will retrieve the site or information for you. Here on this
page you can go directly to the library's search page by clicking on following words: Search Engines .
There are several choices in the toolbar. ALWAYS remember the Back
button. If you get stuck and don't know how to return to where you started, you can choose the back button. This takes you in reverse to
the sites where you had been visiting. You can also go forward again by using the
arrow button pointing to the right. The stop button is also a handy button. Sometimes if you have changed
your mind while searching or the site is slow or "stuck" or loading slowly, you can use the stop button, then the back button and try
again. This button may look look like a stop sign or a traffic light. The
Home button will return you to the Library's home page. You can
also use the home icon on this line to go back to the library's home page. If the cursor is placed on the Home icon, the symbol changes to a
hand. Clicking on this button will take you directly to the library home page.
In the toolbar, the Search button will take you to another search engine to begin a new search of your choice. When you search, you
try to match words for a concept, like a company or a brand. An example
is football. Your general search will find sites about the game, teams,
or anywhere the word football is mentioned. On the other hand, the address of a site is in the location box in the
toolbar section of the page. Addresses begin with http://
The address information is the EXACT place where a particular site is found
on the Internet. If you have the address of a particular site, then this is typed in the
location box. This enables you to skip the search part.
An example of a search term "49ers" will retrieve numerous sites but the official home page for the San Francisco 49ers is
http://www.sf49ers.com/ If you type in this address in the location
box, only this site is retrieved. Remember you must type the address exactly or no site or a different site could be found. Notice I used
the word official in the previous sentence. Many sites may have information about the 49ers but consider the source on the Internet just
as you consider the author of material you read. The last three letters in an
Internet address indicate the type of site you are accessing. Here are the majority of types of sites on the Internet:
.gov - government .edu - educational .com - commercial
.net -network
3. E-mail
To use this service at the Library, you need an e-mail account. For an
explanation of the different types of e-mail accounts, try the site called
Free Email Providers Guide The reason these services are free
is because advertisers use space on the page. They pay for the running and
upkeep of a site much like TV advertisers pay for time and space during programs.
Generally speaking, to use the e-mail service here at the Library, you will use a free, web based e-mail system. Click on either of these
sites for information and opinions of different e-mail options: Free
Email Address Directory or PC Magazine Online. Popular e-mail sites
that are used by patrons in this library include Hotmail, Excite or
Yahoo. The Library does not endorse any particular company. There are
currently over 500 free e-mail providers! Each provider has different features. Patrons are encouraged to check the characteristics and
ratings for themselves.
To begin e-mail service you must register at the site you have chosen.
The mail service provider will have a form at their site for you to fill
out requesting information. Some is voluntary; some is required. REMEMBER THE E-MAIL ADDRESS,
YOUR LOG-IN NAME AND PASSWORD! Write these items down in a secure place. Your log-in name and password
must be typed EXACTLY as you originally entered them or you will be DENIED ACCESS TO YOUR
ACCOUNT by the service! The same is true for the people you SEND mail to.
The address must be exact or the message will be returned. Most e-mail services will provide an in-box, out-box, trash, address
book, and other folders.
With whatever service you choose, the Help icon can answer questions you may have.
You also may be required to use your account in a certain time period or
your account will be deactivated. When you are done using the e-mail program,
remember to log-off. You are using public computers. If you have not logged off and closed the
program, another person could use your account, read your private mail, or send letters in your name.
You may print your e-mail messages. In the next section under the printing icon is a detailed explanation of how to print on the library
printers.
Some Do's and Don'ts and Etc..
We ask you NOT to use the Start button at the lower left corner of the
screen. This will shut the computer off completely. This DOES NOT close a program.
The proper way to close a program is to click on the X in the upper right hand corner of the entire screen (See the
explanation below). Please close the programs you are using when finished with the computer and tell one of the library people you are
done. Many times other patrons are waiting to use the computers. To start a program, click on the program
icon. To manipulate the program, use the three icons in the upper right hand corner. To close a
program when you are finished, use the X icon. To minimize (the program
is still open but not viewed) choose the icon with the underline symbol. The
middle icon is a page size symbol. It will either be one or two boxes on top of each other. This represents the size that the
program takes up on the desktop (screen). Some people prefer to have
the program a smaller size so they can see the other programs available to them on the computer.
These computers are for public use. Some features have been
disabled. You cannot download programs from the Internet. This protects the
computers from "filling up" or being corrupted with a possible virus, or changing the configurations of the settings.
Saving: You cannot save information to the computer's hard drive
(the "C" drive or memory of the computer). Instead you can save information or data you have entered on a disk in the "A" drive.
The library requires you to use a disk supplied by them. These disks cost
one dollar. Use the command line "File" or the icon in the toolbar
"Save" (sometimes a picture of a disk) to save a document. When you choose either, a
message box opens in front of your document. The top line will be "Save" or "Save As." The next line is "Save In." Make sure the choice
is: 3-1/2" Floppy (A). If it is not, click on the arrow next to this line and select the "A" drive.
When the computer reads the disk in the A drive, any documents already stored on the disk will appear in the next box. At the bottom of the
Save message box is a place to name your document. Pick something to remind you of the content of your document. Choose the save button.
The computer will then process your request. It may give you a message: "a document with this name already exists, replace it?" If
you are NOT updating a file with new information, you will lose the old file if you replace it. You can either do this or rename your new
document. Another message may tell you the file name is incorrect. You
may need to shorten the name, not put numbers in the first space of the name, or leave out spaces.
Printing
Ask for paper at the Library desk. Load the paper. Turn on the printer. If you want to print a document, you can point the mouse to
the printer button (a choice with the picture of a printer) in the toolbar. Another choice is to click on File in the command line and
choose Print. Click on the icon or choose Print and the computer will print the page you are viewing. A page on the computer screen may be
MORE than one paper page. Pages cost 15 cents each. You pay at the circulation desk after finishing your printing.
Request printing a document only once. If the printer does not produce
the requested pages, ask for help.
Printing only part of a Page: Sometimes you will only want a part of a page or e-mail message. You
can use the copy, paste and print functions to do this. Most programs
will have a top line of command words. Each word will have more commands revealed when you point the mouse to the word and click on the
word. A common command word is Edit. Pointing and clicking on this
command will bring up a list of functions like cut, copy, paste,
undo.
1. You first must choose the text you wish to copy. Use the "highlighting" or
"select" feature to do this. Place the cursor where you want to begin to copy the text.
Hold the left mouse button down and drag across what you want to change. This will "darken" or select the
text. The command line under Edit will have the following features: Most tool
bars show the icons as a picture of scissors (cut), one piece of paper
on another (copy) and a pot of glue or a clipboard (paste).
2. Choose the copy icon or the Edit command. Copy leaves the selection
where it is, but also allows you to paste it in another location.
3. Minimize the screen. To do this click on the box in the upper right hand corner with the underline.
4. Open Word Pad program.
5. To paste, put the cursor where you want the "clipboard" text to be placed. Then either use the Edit command and choose paste, or use
the paste icon.
6. At this point you may print the selection on Word Pad OR minimize Word Pad and find more text to copy and add to the Word Pad
document repeating the instructions above. When you have all the text you want, print the Word Pad document.
When you use the copy or cut feature, you have placed the selection on an invisible "clipboard." As long as you do not select some other text
and cut or copy again the same text stays on the clipboard ready to be placed some other place on the document.
Paste (in the edit function) will be highlighted IF you have cut or copied something to this "invisible" bulletin board. The Cut and Paste
feature may not work for pictures. Now, with these basics you're on your way, have a great trip!
Word Processing
A word processing program is an application for typing documents.
Letter composition is a common use for these programs. Two types
of word processing programs the Library has are Wordpad and Corel
WordPerfect. The programs can be used as simply as one uses a
typewriter. Most programs have many additional features that are
handy for a computer user.
The following instructions, guidelines and suggestions will apply to
most word processing programs. Some commands will work in other
programs like the Internet browser you use, a spreadsheet program or the
resume program.
1. Appearance
The font and font size are two choices used to change the appearance of
the typing. Font refers to the shape of the letters. Arial
is the name of the font used in this paper. As examples, Century
Gothic, Amazone BT, and Book Antiqua are just three choices amid many to
choose from. The programs you use either have a box in the toolbar
with the name of the font or a choice in one of the command line
selections. You can click on the font box and change the
appearance of the letters by changing the font. In the
program Word, using the mouse to choose Format in the command line shows
many possible changes to a document. One is font. Clicking
on this choice you can change the font and font size.
The font size changes the size of the print. The smaller the number in
the font box the smaller the type. A font size of 20 appears like
this: twenty. Eight is smaller.
Another series of buttons in the toolbar change the appearance in other
ways:
The bold button makes things bold.
The "I" is for italics.
"U" button is for underline and it does just that.
Four alignment buttons will change the where the beginning and end of
each line starts and stops.
The left alignment choice will begin typing at the left margin. There is
a centering choice, starting at the middle and going each
way. The next choice is a right alignment.
The last choice is justify. This feature evens the margins.
As the paragraph develops each line is evened out so both sides are a
straight line down the page.
The placement of the type on the page is controlled by the ruler and/or
the margin (usually found in the file or format commands). If
displayed, the ruler is just above the blank page that begins a
document. The margin commands are usually in page set up or
paragraph commands.
Change your margin by using the ruler. Use the top
triangle to decrease the margin. If you want a "hanging
indent," you may use the lower triangle on the ruler. The
vertical dotted line appears. Place the cursor with the mouse on
the triangle. Hold the mouse button down and glide the cursor to
where you would like the indent to be, then let up on the mouse.
Each time you type to the end of a line the program recognizes the
command to place the next line wherever the "tabs" are on the
ruler.
2. Handy skills or knowledge
Unlike a typewriter, you do not have to use the enter (return) key to
type on the next line. The program will automatically wrap around.
If you DO want to begin a new line, use the enter key to make a hard
return (the equivalent of a new paragraph). In fact, hard returns
are not used very much at all except for new paragraphs because if you
make changes later on in your document the alignments of the lines will
be off and you may end up with a hard return in the middle of your page.
The Edit command line has an undo choice. On the toolbar the icon
may look like an arrow curving around. This will undo your last
action like a typing mistake, a command you really didn't want, or
frequently a keystroke you accidentally hit.
Many programs have a spell checker feature. This is found in the
command line under Tools or in the toolbar usually saying ABC
w/checkmark.
The watchword for this feature is content. The spell checker will
correct misspellings but not misuse! As an example, you the
author must decide whether the word is supposed to be "there"
or "they're" or "their."
The backspace and delete keys are another little feature. See the
arrow on the backspace key. It points to the left.
Pressing it will remove characters to the left. Pressing delete
removes characters forward or to the right of the cursor.
Next to the delete key is end key. This takes you to the end of
the line the cursor is on.
After you have written information, if you want to change the look of
specific words on the page, use the highlighting or select feature to do
this. Place the cursor where you want to begin to change the text.
Hold the left mouse button down and drag across what you want to change.
This will "darken" or select the text. Then you change
whatever feature you wish. An example would be highlighting the
word "darken" and then choosing the underline icon to
underline just that word. Always highlight the text first then
click on the desired change then click back on highlighted area to
affect change.
Another handy feature, especially if you have a number of points to get
across is the bulleting feature.
- This is a "bullet" feature, each time you do a "hard
return" you get a new dot.
-
So here is another feature of a word processing program.
-
To take the bullets away, click on the bullet icon on the tool bar or in
the format of the command line.
3. Movement on the page
A feature used on all word processing programs and many others is the
cut or copy then paste actions. These commands allow you to edit
your document easily, change attributes to sections, or add repetitive
statements without retyping them over and over.
The command line under Edit will have these features. Most tool
bars show the icons as a picture of scissors (cut), one piece of paper
on another (copy) and a pot of glue or a clipboard (paste).
As you begin the process, you are selecting the section of the document
you want to change, delete, or duplicate. Highlight the text (see
select above in #2) that you are manipulating.
Choose the cut or copy icon or the Edit command. Cut will
remove the selection so you can paste it somewhere else. Copy will
leave the selection but also paste it in another location.
When you use the copy or cut feature, you have placed the selection on
an invisible "clipboard." As long as you do not select
some other text and cut or copy again the same text stays on the
clipboard ready to be placed some other place on the document OR another
document.
To paste, put the cursor where you want the "clipboard" text
to be placed. Then either use the Edit command and choose paste,
or use the paste icon.
Paste (in the edit function) will be highlighted IF you have cut or
copied something to this "invisible" bulletin board.
4. Printing a document
The toolbar has an icon that has the picture of a printer. If you
want one copy of the document, just click the mouse on this icon.
In the File command line you have more options. One is Page
Setup.
In this area you can choose the orientation of your paper: Portrait is the standard setup.
Landscape will print long side
horizontally on the paper. In some programs, page setup also
controls the margin settings.
Additionally, in the File command, is Print Preview. Choosing this
option will bring up a screen with your document laid out on a page as
it would look when printed. If it is satisfactory, then you can
choose the print choice from there. Otherwise, you can close and
edit your document with necessary changes.
The File command also has the Print choice also. In this message
box you can additionally change the number of copies you want or
choose a particular page you want printed instead of the whole document.
5. Additional Help
Fortunately, most programs have a Help choice in the command line or a
Help icon. Choose a topic you need more information about and read
about it. Learning the terminology of the program in the help
section will enable you to also use the program better.
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