intro to compooters

Study Unit

Introduction
to Computers

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

P r ev i ew
P r ev i ew
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 processing
software
• 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

iii

Contents
Contents
COMPUTER BASICS 1
Parts of the Computer 1
Windows and Operating Systems 6

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

THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB 43
What Is the Internet? 43
Electronic Mail 43
The World Wide Web 47

SELF-CHECK ANSWERS
C 53

v

Introduction to Computers

COMPUTER BASICS

Parts of the Computer
While 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.

1

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

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.

2 Introduction to Computers

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

Introduction to Computers 3

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.

FIGURE 2—Examples of
Flash 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,


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 Systems
An 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.

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.

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

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.


• 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.

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 Start
menu.


FIGURE 8—Some menu
selections have sub-
menus associated with
them. The existence of
a submenu is indicated
by a right-facing arrow.

The Parts of a Window
Now, 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 9—Important Parts of a Window

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.


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 FIGURE 10—The Recycle
Bin icon changes to indi-
an empty can to one with cate that something has
papers in it. The papers inside been placed inside.
the bin indicate that you’ve
thrown something away.
However, files placed in the bin (A) (B)
aren’t necessarily lost forever.
The bin is a staging area for


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.

FIGURE 11—A menu The contents of the
appears when you right- Recycle Bin will be
click on the Recycle Bin
icon. 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.


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 Mouse
Computers 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) (B) (C)
Two-Button Mouse Optical Mouse Laser Mouse
with Wheel

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


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.

FIGURE 13—The
Optical Sensor mouse is used to
Ball Used to Used to Track
Track Movement reposition the pointer
Movement on the computer
screen. As you slide
the mouse across a
surface, the pointer
responds by mimick-
ing the mouse’s
movements. (Photos
used with permission from
Microsoft Corporation)

(A) (B)
Microsoft Intellimouse
Intellimouse Explorer

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.


FIGURE 14—Holding the
mouse properly will make it
easier to use. You’ll want to
practice using the mouse
until you can instinctively
move the pointer to any
area of the screen.

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.


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.


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

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.


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 the
top 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 Microsoft
The 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.


Another Microsoft product is Internet Explorer, which is a
Web browser program-software that enables computers to
connect to the World Wide Web (WWW).

Software
Knowing 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 Does
Word 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 Software
The 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.


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).


(A)

(B)

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


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

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 20—The Print Preview
View can only be accessed via
the “Office Button” located in
the upper left-hand corner of
the window.

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.


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-

(Before)
LOAN FORM
Item Borrowed: ____________________________
Borrowed by: ________________________________
Phone #: ________________
Date Borrowed: _____________ Due Date: _____________
Signature: __________________________

(After)
LOAN FORM
Borrowed by: ________________________________
Item Borrowed: ____________________________
Phone #: ________________
Signature: __________________________

FIGURE 21—Here’s a loan form before and after cutting and pasting to
move 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


LOAN FORM
Borrowed by: ________________________________
Item Borrowed: ____________________________
Phone #: ________________
Signature: __________________________

LOAN FORM
Borrowed by: ________________________________
Item Borrowed: ____________________________
Phone #: ________________
Signature: __________________________

LOAN FORM
Borrowed by: ________________________________
Item Borrowed: ____________________________
Phone #: ________________
Signature: __________________________

LOAN FORM
Borrowed by: ________________________________
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 Software
A 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).


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


Database Software
A 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,


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 screen
exactly 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 you
generate.

__________________________________________________________________________

8. What are some personal uses of database software?

__________________________________________________________________________



THE INTERNET AND THE
WORLD WIDE WEB
You’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 Mail
Electronic 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:
username@host.domain
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 rsmith@gmail.com. If his account is
hosted by Arbor University, his e-mail address might be
rsmith@arboru.edu.
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.”


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

FIGURE 26—A Typical E-mail Form

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

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.


The World Wide Web
When 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/


FIGURE 28—Typical Browser Window

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.


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

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


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!


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.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________



Self-Check 1
1. The basic parts of a computer system include the
system unit, the monitor, a disk drive, the hard drive,

A ns we r s
An s we r s
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

53

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

54 Self-Check Answers

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