M A N T E X N E W S L E T T E R Number 65 - March 2002 - Guides for Writers - --- ISSN 1470-1863 --- 0----- "Oxford Guide to Style" Oxford University Press have just come up with a book to replace their famous guide on house style. The old 'Hart's Rules' has gone through nearly forty editions - and will remain a classic of pocket-book compression. But it has now been completely superseded by the OUP 'Guide to Style'. This is a first rate contribution to the literature of editing, style, and text presentation. It deals with everything from footnotes to copyright; from proof-reading to the presentation of foreign languages and mathematics. It acts as both a tutorial guide and a reference to details - such as how to present texts in Sanskrit or from official European Union directives. Anybody who is serious about preparing text for publication should take a look at this. It's also amazingly good value by current standards. Full details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/oxf-styl.htm 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 1 Who wrote 'The House of Mirth'? 0----- FREE 'Classic Novels' by e-mail - '5 Minutes A Day' e-mails promise to bring you the world's best Classic Novels, delivered in daily instalments to your e-mail address. They have several novels running concurrently, so one is guaranteed to be starting soon. Choices range from Beowulf and Mark Twain to Charles Dickens. http://www.classic-novels.com 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 2 What sort of creature is a hoopoe? 0----- "Developing Online Content" This is a comprehensive guide to the job of writing and editing for the Web. It's aimed at professional writers - but anybody who wants to learn about the details of authorship in the digital age will learn a lot from it. It explains not only how to write for the screen, and how to work on collaborative projects - but even how to get into this sort of work if you're interested. Details at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/hammer.htm 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 3 What is the monetary unit of Vietnam? 0----- FREE newsletter in HTML There's a FREE, monthly, non-subscription newsletter available for academics, students, engineers, scientists + social scientists. Contents include web site reviews and updates on ejournals, directories, academic sites, search engines, recruitment agencies, publishers, government sites, etexts, booksellers, publishers, portals, software, news services, conferences, research groups. No subscription or registration needed. Access directly at - http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn90/irn90.html 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 4 What is an octothorpe? 0----- FREE - Common File Types Do you know the difference between an .asp file and a .wsz file? One of the most popular FREE downloads at our site is a list of common file types, their filename extensions, and what to do with them. It's just been updated to include files created in the latest media software packages. http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/t171/t171-05.htm 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 5 What would you do with a Zloty? 0----- FREE textbooks £7,500 worth of NEW engineering, mathematics and computing books are being given away FREE in a joint promotional campaign. All you have to do is go to browse the publishers' catalogues, choose the book you'd like and enter it on the form. No catches. Each entrant will have the chance to win one book of his or her choice from the hundreds being given away. Closes - 31st May 2002. http://www.eevl.ac.uk/freebooks/ 0---- THE PUB QUIZ - 6 What does the term 'mea culpa' mean? 0----- Handwriting - again! FTP gremlins ate part of our review of "Handwriting in the 20th C" announced in the last issue. If you thought it looked weird or truncated - you were right! All is well again now - but if you missed the item first time round, here are the details again. Typographist Rosemary Sassoon has a new book out which documents the development of handwriting styles during the last 100 years. It's an elegantly written and profusely illustrated account of attempts to teach clear handwriting. She uses examples from school copy books and commercial tutor notes. The styles gradually move away from traditional copperplate towards the italic script which is common now. She takes a very tolerant and humane line - and her observations will be of interest to educationalists and those in teacher training, as well as both typographists and designers. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/sassoon3.htm 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 8 Which element's symbol is P? 0----- What do we call the @ sign? There is no special term for the symbol @ in English, but in other languages they are more inventive. DUTCH - 'apestaart' - monkey's tail DANISH - 'snabel' - elephant's trunk FINNISH - 'kissanhnta' - cat's tail GERMAN - 'klammeraffe' - hanging monkey HUNGARIAN - 'kukac' - worm NORWEGIAN - 'grisehale' - pig's tail RUSSIAN - 'sobachka' - little dog KOREAN - 'dalphaengi' - little snail [Source - EVE magazine] 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - 9 Who did Ramon Mercader kill in 1940? 0----- THE PUB QUIZ - Answers Who wrote 'The House of Mirth'? ANSWER: Edith Wharton What sort of creature is a hoopoe? ANSWER: A bird What is the monetary unit of Vietnam? ANSWER: The Dong What is an octothorpe? ANSWER 1: eight fields ANSWER 2. one of these # What would you do with a Zloty? ANSWER: Spend it [in Poland] What does the term 'mea culpa' mean? ANSWER: My fault Which element's symbol is P? ANSWER: Phosphorous Who did Ramon Mercader kill in 1940? ANSWER: Leon Trotsky 0----- COMING SOON 'The Online Educator' 'Secrets of Successful Web Sites' 'Back to the User' 'Getting Hits' 'Blown to Bits' [e-Commerce] 'The Non-Designer's Web Book' 'Flash for Cartooning' 'Dreamweaver 4 in a Nutshell' 'Innovating in Higher Education' (c) Copyright 2002, MANTEX All Rights Reserved PO Box 100 Tel +44 0161 432 5811 Manchester Fax +44 0161 443 2766 M20 6GZ UK www.mantex.co.uk If you like this newsletter, PLEASE FORWARD IT to friends and colleagues. New subscribers should register at the following address -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm FREE BACK ISSUES featuring news items, reviews, and product details are available at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm Please retain the copyright and subscription information. It may be posted, in its entirety or partially, to newsgroups or mailing lists, so long as the copyright and subscription information remains. If you have any requests, observations, or items you would like to be included in our next issues, just mail us at -- news@mantex.co.uk You receive the MANTEX newsletter because you subscribed to it. If you wish to unsubscribe, go to -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm News-65-Mar-2002 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library