M A N T E X N E W S L E T T E R
Number 53 - mid-August 2001
Courses + Reviews + FREE Stuff
------ ISSN 1470-1863 -----
0----- 'Headstart' - Preparing for University
Would you like to prepare yourself
or your students for entry into
higher education? In double-quick
time? Maybe even ready for September
or October this year?
It can still be done. Get connected
with HeadStart - a course devised by
City College Manchester. It's available
as a distance learning course, or you
can run it in your own college or school
as a taught course.
It equips students with the skills
they will need for essay-writing, time
management, tutorials, lectures, and
coping with the pressures of university
life.
The course was developed to meet the
government's widening participation
objectives. It draws down funding,
it's fully accredited, and it is
spreading like wildfire throughout
the UK.
For details contact - Heather Pollitt
Phone - 0161 431 0495
Email - Heather@turbotext.co.uk
0----- FREE Teacher's Email Update
Subscriber Jim Hartley sends a
recommendation for a useful site.
TCRecord comes from the Teacher's
College at Columbia University.
Their site features articles,
reviews, and news on topics of
interest to teachers.
There are sections on distance
learning, teacher education,
Research, and International
Education.
There's a big archive of articles,
journals, and reviews. All you need
do is subscribe, and they will send
you notice of updates.
http://www.tcrecord.org/
0----- 'Education + Training on the Net'
Most colleges and universities have
now caught on to the fact that it
makes sense to put their courses on line.
There's also a lot more online training
being mounted in the commercial sector.
This is a guide to online courses
and vocational training available
via the Internet.
There are details of government
portals, and the best of them provide
rich listings of further sources. This
makes the guide a good reference book
for anybody who works in this field.
There are also sections on vocational
and occupational sites, plus
distance and online learning sites -
from the Open University to e-Colleges.
It even describes how to develop your
own education and training site.
Full review and details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/alex.htm
0----- FREE Software - Update
We've updated our FREE software
resources. There are new items -
from word-processors, web editors,
and XML utilities, to free browsers
and HTML tutorials.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/t171/t171-04.htm
0----- 'Visual Information'
Guest reviewer Professor James
Hartley kindly sent us his article
on a series of conference papers
published in book form by Taylor
and Francis.
These feature design issues in
everyday life - from instructions,
warnings, forms, tables and graphs,
graphic symbols, maps and plans, to
wayfinding information.
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/zwaga.htm
0----- 'Word 2000 in Nutshell'
Do you use Microsoft Word?
A huge number of people do -
but not many of them know
their way round the dazzling
array of features it has.
This manual from the O'Reilly
'in a Nutshell' series spells
out all the details of the
software and explains how to
use them.
There are lots of new customisable
features in the latest version of
Word. You can use this guide as a
tutorial to them - or a source of
desktop reference. Full details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/glenn.htm
0----- 'Building a Website'
This is a quick-start guide to
creating a web site - without
going into too many details.
Brendan Murphy deals with the
basics of HTML - page format,
lists, tables, and graphics.
He also offers guides to web
design using four of the most
popular web editors - Front Page,
Coffee Cup, Hotdog, 1st Page, and
Netscape Composer.
You will need further information
about the details of HTML - but all
that is available free on the Web.
Full details and review at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/murphy.htm
For FREE HTML tutorials, go to -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/web-tut.htm
0----- 'How to Research'
Anyone embarking on a research
project knows that problems begin
the moment you start. How do you
even define the topic?
This is a guide to the whole
process - from clarifying your
first thoughts, to gathering
information, using the best
methodology, and writing up
the final results.
It's from the excellent series
of guides on academic writing
from the Open University Press.
This new and enlarged second
edition includes up to date
bibliographies and research
using the Internet. Details at -
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/blaxter.htm
0----- Modern Typography - David Carson
There's a new expanded edition of
David Carson's 'The End of Print'.
Our review of this book is one of
the most-requested pages on our site.
David Carson was once a competitive
surfer and a sociology teacher - but
he became a leading figure in the
Grunge school of west coast American
typography in the 1990s.
'The End of Print' is a best-seller
which he designed himself and shows
a wacky sense of graphic design in
which pictures, text, and page layout
all seem to blend into each other.
This one is for post-Modern fans.
Full details and review at --
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/carson-1.htm
0----- Birthday issues
Today - 16 August - is my birthday,
and it's also Madonna's. Apart from
that, I think we have little in common.
Yesterday was Napoleon's birthday:
he would have been 232.
0----- COMING SOON
* Writers' Questions and Answers
* Dreamweaver 4 - The Missing Manual
* Web Tools and Techniques
* Computer Projects
(c) Copyright 2001, MANTEX
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News-53-August-2001
ISSN 1470-1863
The British Library