Issue Number 18 - February 2000

Jane Dorner has just produced a guide on electronic publishing for writers. It gives all the basics for getting on line, locating resources, and finding the right form for your work. The best parts of the book are the advice she gives on electronic books and new portable readers, email magazines, submitting work, and a huge list of sites for writing groups, outlets, online texts, and digital publishers. Full details at -

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/dorner-2.htm

FREE Bibliographic Software
This will appeal to those people who need to keep track of bibliographic references - for research, library storage, dissertations, and theses. Here's what they say about themselves:

"Biblioscape Express is a simple reference manager for researchers. It is the freeware edition of our flagship product Biblioscape. Biblioscape Express can be used to collect literature references of different types, explore resources on the Internet, and used as a free viewer for bibliographic records. Biblioscape Express is designed to be small and efficient, and you can run BiblioExpress from a floppy disk."

http://www.biblioscape.com

The Internet in School
Everyone knows that teachers have been asked to do the impossible - get themselves up to speed on IT with virtually no help. Duncan Grey's new book is a lifesaver for teachers, IT co-ordinators, and even parents and beginners. It explains the basics of emailing and Web use, then tackles all the thorny problems of censorship, porn, plagiarism, and what to do about them. A must for the hard-pressed staffroom.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/grey.htm

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
Do you ever wonder about the origins of odd phrases and quaint sayings? Why do we say 'A kettle of fish' for instance? This is not the sort of thing you can look up in a dictionary or an encyclopaedia. That's why the Reverend Brewer compiled a reference book of these linguistic puzzles and curiosities in the nineteenth century. It's is a rich source of reference which has kept writers (and after-dinner speakers) amused for the last hundred years.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/brewer.htm

Encyclopaedia of Language
David Crystal is a UK language guru who has written extensively on the subject in a manner that's accessible and often quite funny. One major work has become a standard reference manual for all those interested in any aspect of language studies. It's called an encyclopaedia, but is presented as a series of mini essays which are well illustrated by pictures, diagrams, and maps. It covers everything you would need to know about the languages of the world up to research level.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/crystal.htm

Concise Oxford Dictionary
This is a great favourite with writers, and a best-seller for OUP. It's perfect for the desktop, and contains just enough lexical detail to be useful as a research tool - without being overpowering. The latest edition makes its virtue out of contemporary relevance, and all entries begin with the most up-to-date meaning. If you want a dictionary in one volume which will cover most needs - this is it.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-con.htm

MP3 and the Digital Revolution
You'll have noticed that the big media mergers in the last couple of weeks have been motivated by fears of what the new MP3 digital audio format can do. Basically, it can put record and CD producers out of business unless they get into Internet business quickly. Bruce Fries' new book explains how MP3 works, and he shows you how to download your own music collection for free. He also explains the rules of musical copyright in the clearest way I've seen so far. The best book on this subject to date. Very comprehensive.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/fries.htm

Roget's Thesaurus
Writers often get stuck for words. Perhaps the most common case is when you've used your favourite word once and don't want to repeat it. Where can you find an alternative? What is a synonym for 'exemplary'? The best-loved reference book for answering such questions is Roget's Thesaurus - another piece of nineteenth century scholarship with has been in print ever since - regularly updated.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/roget

Our Most Popular Article
Top of the FREE downloads is our Writing Skills bibliography - so we've revised and updated it. New titles, more details, and short annotations have been added.

http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/bib1.htm

Windows Tip - Opening Files
Each of your files has a type, which is denoted by the file's extension:

.DOC .EXE .COM .TXT .GIF .JPG

When you double-click a program, Windows tries to open it by using the program assigned to that type. If you don't like the assignment for a file you're using, you can change it.

1. Go to the Program Manager
2. Shift + right-click the file's icon
3. From the pop-up menu, choose Open With
4. In the Properties window, choose the program you want associated with the file.
5. Click OK.