Via laterlife.com Jackie aims to particularly help those new to IT and the web to
build up knowledge and confidence, so no question is too basic. At the same time she will
cover Q&As for the more experienced user.
So if you
would like to ask a question of Jackie, why not email her jackie@laterlife.com
or if you
have discovered something which may be of interest to others in making the most of the
web, then she would love to hear about that too jackie@laterlife.com
Better Searching
Q.
Do you have any general advice about searching the Web?
A: If you’ve
tried finding information, you probably realise by now that some search engines are better
than others, and the wording of your ‘key words’ in the query box is very
important. Most of the search engines work in a similar way, but read their help screens
for detailed advice on how to get the most from them. If you want to, try some of these
tips:
-
Type words between quote marks to avoid hundreds of irrelevant ‘hits’ e.g.
"Bikini Island" shouldn’t bring up clothing company details.
-
Use the * symbol to represent different characters e.g. train* should pick up trainers,
training, training officer and trains.
-
Use AND to link words that must be contained and AND NOT to exclude words
-
Try putting a + sign in front to ensure that the word is included, or a – sign if
the word must not be included.
-
Some search engines allow you to enter a complete sentence, which helps if you
aren’t very good at picking the perfect combination of words.
Common search engine sites to try include
www.altavista.co.uk,
www.google.com,
www.yahoo.co.uk
and www.excite.co.uk
Perhaps the best advice is to start collecting site addresses (known as URLs). When you
need specific information e.g. on a health, culture or family issue, you can type the
address of a relevant site directly into the address/location box in your browser window.
This way, you’re likely to find valuable information on the site itself as well as
links to other, similar sites. Good sites are also more likely to have checked their links
for content and how up-to-date they are so that you won’t waste time following up
irrelevant, unsavoury or discontinued web sites – a problem with search engine
results.
Repeated entries
Q: I run a small club and use Access to
maintain a database of members. As many of the details for each record are the same e.g.
the annual fee and the class they belong to, I wondered if there was a way to repeat
entries automatically.
A: The best method to use,
although it may be too late if you have already set up a large database, is to create a
default entry at the time you design your tables. For the field in question, e.g. subscription,
enter the repeated figure in the Properties – Default Value box. When you start
entering records, you will find this entry appears automatically and, for the few records
where it is incorrect, you can replace it with the correct figure.
A shortcut when entering records is to press [Ctrl] plus [2] whenever you want to
repeat an entry displayed in the record above, that is in the same field. Changing your signature
Q: I send
e-mails to all sorts of people. Can you explain how to add automatic signatures at the
bottom of messages that I can vary, depending on what style of signature I want to
include.
A: In letter-writing, you
usually end "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully" depending on
whether or not you know the name of your recipient, as well as Love, Best Wishes, All the
best etc. when writing to friends or relatives. With e-mails, you may also want to end
formally or informally and most systems allow you to create and save different endings
quite simply.
In Outlook Express, for example, you must go to Tools – Options and select Signatures.
Click New, enter the text you want to appear and then click Apply. Repeat this for other
signatures and then click OK, renaming the signatures if necessary to make it quite clear
which is which.
Back in your message, click Insert – Signature when you reach the end of
the text and choose the correct example.
Easy indexing
Q: Is it very difficult to add an index
at the end of a long document?
A: It’s a little
fiddly, but worth it as indexes do make your work far more accessible. The steps involve marking
any word you want to include and then creating the index.
-
To mark a word or phrase, select it and then hold down [Alt] plus [Shift] and press [X].
A box appears displaying your word(s) and you can amend these if necessary and then click
Mark.
-
Keep repeating this throughout the document and then click in position for the index
e.g. at the end of your work or on a new page.
-
Go to Insert – Index and tables, choose the style of index you want from the
Format box and then click OK.
-
If you change your document later, update the index by selecting it and pressing [F9].
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Aimed at first-time Internet users, the guide, co-written by TV
personality Carol Vorderman and Internet expert Rob Young, offers a thorough and
non-intimidating introduction to the Internet.
and under the books section select Computers and Internet.