Cabrillo College Library

If you want, you may open a Word document to use instead of filling out this exercise sheet by hand. Start -> Word. Put your name on the document, and label the parts of the worksheet as you do them.

What's on this page:

1. Finding books

2. Finding fulltext electronic resources

3. Finding quality Web resources

4. Transferring an image

5. Tell us what you think!

 

name____________________________________

To get to the Web page for this class:

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage <http://libwww.cabrillo.edu>
  2. Click on Internet Links
  3. Click on Computer Applications/Business Technology
  4. Scroll down to Course-Related Materials, and click on CABT 157, Business and Technical Writing
  5. Make this page a Favorite (Internet Explorer; or Bookmark this Web page if you're using Netscape or Mozilla).

CHALLENGE -- Your boss went to college a few years ago. She wants you to be familiar with the book she used. It was The Business Writer's Handbook, by Gerald Alred. There have been various editions over the years; any will do. How can you get this book, real fast?

YOUR SOLUTION -- You'll see what it costs to order a copy online, but you'll also see which libraries in the local area already have it so you can borrow a copy in the meantime.

Check whether you can order it online

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage. <http://libwww.cabrillo.edu> (Or, use the link to the library that is at the top lefthand part of this page.)
  2. Click on Internet Links, then on Books/Bookstores, Reviews
  3. Using Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble (or both, if you want to compare prices!), find out if the book is still in print, and how much it costs.

    Is the book available for sale? ____ Cost (new or used)? _________

Check whether it's in a local library
You could check whether the book is at Cabrillo (to do that, from the Cabrillo College Library homepage, click on Library Catalog). BUT, you're smarter than that. You can see what Cabrillo and other libraries in this area have by using the MOBAC (stands for Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Library System) Library Catalog.

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage
  2. Click on Internet Links, then on Libraries, Other.
  3. Select the MOBAC Library Catalog [link is kinda in the center, towards the top.] The MOBAC Library Catalog searches the online catalogs for all the libraries in this region. Click on Search MOBAC Regional Catalog -- ALL libraries. Then, do a title search.

Which library (or libraries) has The Business Writer's Handbook, by Gerald J. Alred. NOTE: when you get the Results screen, click on the book title to get full information about it, including which library it's at and its availability.

_______________________________________________________

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How do you borrow a book that is at another library? If you're a Cabrillo student, just come to the Reference Desk. Otherwise, just go to your own local public library and tell them you would like to borrow a book from another MOBAC library. It's that easy!

CHALLENGE -- Your boss asks you to research how to avoid email attacks. There's been a rash of them, and everyone's fed up!

YOUR SOLUTION -- You find some good periodical articles on the topic. To do this, you turn to EBSCOhost's Academic Search Elite.

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage
  2. Click on Fulltext Articles (if you are off campus, your library card number is your user ID)
  3. Select Magazine and Journal Articles (EBSCOhost).
  4. On the next screen, click on
  5. On the next screen, click on the Advanced Search button. Click on the little box next to the term Full text to limit your search to fulltext articles in the database.
  6. Type in your search terms and hit the Search button.
  7. From the Results screen, click on an article title to get to the screen with full information

NOTE that once you have your article on the screen, you can print, save, or email it (see buttons at the top of the screen).

Write down information about at least one periodical article you found that responds to the challenge.

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_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

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CHALLENGE -- You've briefed your boss about your progress on your project, but today she says "You know -- We also need to think about all that spam that people get in their email these days. Find me a recent article about spam and how it affects productivity."

YOUR RESPONSE -- You use the library's National Newspaper Articles database. You'll even email her a copy, just to show her how on the ball you are!

  • Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage
  • Click on Fulltext Articles
  • Select National Newspaper Articles, which covers these papers-- New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and provides fulltext for most of the articles.
  • Click on Advanced Search

See if you can find a fairly recent article on spam and productivity. Once you've got it, try emailing it to yourself (surely you have email!). If you don't have your own email account, and still want to practice, you can send it to me at tosmalle@cabrillo.edu

What's the title of the article you found? ________________________

_____________________________________________________________

When was it published? ______________________________________

What newspaper?___________________________________

Finding Quality Web Resources

It's important to evaluate what you find on the Internet.

To get to a list of Web search engines, with tips on how to use them to best advantage

  • Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage
  • Click on Search the Internet

Unfortunately, none of the search engines covers all of the Internet, and they all operate a bit differently. Usually, however, this search technique always applies:

  • Use quotation marks (" ") to keep words in phrases together
Suppose you were looking for information on the Web about business plans for opening a new bike shop. The major concepts would be
business plans bike shop  

Your search statement, on many search engines, might look like:

"business plans" "bike shop"

CHALLENGE -- You'd like to augment your research on company email by finding some Web sites that summarize the fine points about business email etiquette.

YOUR SOLUTION -- You use Web search engines to identify good quality Web sites on the topic.

To get to a list of search engines

  1. Go to the Cabrillo College Library homepage
  2. Click on Search the Internet
  3. Click on Search Engines

Identify at least two good Web sites with information on business email etiquette. Makes notes about them below, so you can return to them in the future. (Which means, at least write down their exact URLs.)

1. _____________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________

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Transferring an Image from the Web into a Word Document

The Web is rich in images. There are times you need to incorporate images in a paper or report -- for example, an organization chart, a computer diagram, the specs for a new product.

If you copy and include the image in something you write, the origin of the image should be acknowledged. In a formal paper, use an MLA Style Guide to cite your source. At the very minimum, give the title of the Web site and the complete URL (you can just copy and paste the URL into your Word document -- Ctrl C to copy; Ctrl V to paste).

Open a Word document, if you haven't already. Here are some easy sources of
images: || Ditto.com || Corbis.com || ixquick (click on Pictures)

Once you have your image, go through these steps:

  1. On the Web, right click on the image; scroll down to Save Image As
  2. Save the image to the Desktop. (If you are at your own computer at home, or wherever, save it where you want!) You can rename it if you would like. Save it with a .jpg (for photographs and images with lots of detail), or a .gif (other images) extension.
  3. Go to your Word document.
  4. Click on Insert on the toolbar at the top of the screen
  5. Go to Picture. Select From File
  6. Go to the Desktop and click on your image to insert it.
  7. Under (or near) the image, type the word Source and include the title of the Web site and its complete URL. [This is the minimum information you should include. For how to fully cite the image, use guides listed at Style Guides.]

Your image is there. You can write next to and below the image. To put text around the image -- click on the image, go to Format -> Picture. Click on Wrapping tab, and select the wrapping format you want (tight usually works well). NOTE: Depending on the version of Word you are using, you may have to first click on the Position tab and select Float over text.

Please Share with Us Your Thoughts about This Session

o get to this page on the Internet

  1. Be on the Cabrillo College Library homepage http://libwww.cabrillo.edu
  2. Click on Internet Links
  3. Click on Computer Applications/Business Technology
  4. Scroll down to Course-Related Materials, and select CABT 157, Business and Technical Writing

C. Ross and T.N. Smalley; last revised 2/05