Documentation and Usability Index

This page provides pointers to documentation for instructors and students on various applications and technologies used in courses in the Professional Writing major and English 419, 420, and 421. We have Adobe PDF versions available for some of our documentation; you will need Acrobat Reader to view and print those versions.

If you would like to use any PW technologies in your English courses or for a writing-related project, please contact Karl Stolley or (for Drupal sites) Charlie Lowe.

Professional Writing's Guides to ITaP Labs

• Mac Lab Basics -- Updated for OS X (PDF format; 141k)
• OS X in ITaP Labs (PDF format; 210K)
• PC Lab Basics (PDF format; 35k)

Accessing Purdue Resources
(from ITaP's resources index and other sources)

• Accessing and setting up course resources
  Setting up ITaP resources for your courses
• Accessing your home directory from non-ITaP machines (Windows)
  How to access your home directory from Windows machines that aren't located in ITaP labs (such as the grad lab or your office).
• Accessing your home directory from non-ITaP machines (Macs)
  How to access your home directory from Windows machines that aren't located in ITaP labs (such as the grad lab or your office).
• Career Account summary
  Accessing and/or changing your @purdue.edu login, email, and account preferences
• Creating a Website or Page at Purdue
  Creating a web page in your home directory at Purdue.
• FTP and your career account.
  Basic help for using FTP to transfer career account files. Purdue now requires that people use the SSH protocol. Get the free Secure FX software.
• ITaP Help Topics Index
  ITaP's index of help topics.
• Setting up Email on the Purdue Server
  Frequently asked questions about using Purdue mail services..
• Purdue WebMail
  Accessing your Purdue email over the web.
• How to Burn a CD in a Mac Lab at Purdue
  Directions for copying files to a CD in an ITaP lab.
• How to Burn a CD in a PC Lab at Purdue
  Directions for copying files to a CD in an TIC lab.

Archiving and Scanning

• Repurposing Print: How to Create Searchable PDF Archives and Digital Versions of Printed Texts through OCR
  The title says it all. The guide explains how to keep the file size small for scanned PDF documents (journal articles, course readings, etc.), how to run Adobe Capture, and how to deliver a digital archive.--DB
• Running PDF Image files through OCR and optimizing them for the Web as searchable documents (for journal archiving, etc.). This is the guide used to produce digital archives for WPA: Writing Program Administration and The Writing Instructor. 5.2.2003--DB

Drupal Documentation

• Importing Content from a Previous Drupal Site into a New One with BUEditor
  With these directions, you'll find it easy to move content from an old Druapl site to a new one.

Graphic Design Software

• Manipulating an Imported Image with PageMaker 6.5
  Documentation written by Dave Hatton, Richard Kessler, and Marcus Zickefoose for Tracy Clark's Technical Writing course, Spring 2002
• Photoshop Basics
  Using Photoshop for image manipulation.
• Using Hints in Photoshop Elements
  Documentation written by Tracy Clark
• Using Recipes in Photoshop Elements
  Documentation written by Tracy Clark

Internet Applications

Email and Mailing Lists

• Mailing lists for Professional Writing students and instructors
PW-Staff, PW-Mentor, PW-Talk, Drupal-Sites, IMP, and more.

FTP and File Management

• Using WinZip to Place Multiple Files into one "Zip" File
  Documentation written by Tracy Clark
• Transferring and Downloading Files: FTP with WS_FTP
  Using a Windows program called WS_FTP to move files in and out of your home directory at Purdue.
• FTP with Fetch
  Using a Macintosh program called Fetch to move files in and out of your home directory at Purdue.
• Using WS_FTP to Upload Web Pages to your Career Account in IMP (Heavilon 402)
  Documentation Written by Tracy Clark

World Wide Web

• Using Web Search Tools
  Using search engines and directories on the World Wide Web

Microsoft Office

Excel

• Creating Charts with Excel XP
  Documentation written by Tony DePirro, Jordan Panich, and Heather Parsons for Tracy Clark's Technical Writing course, Spring 2002
• Gantt Charts with Excel
  Creating Gantt Charts in Excel.

PowerPoint and Keynote

• SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/
• Keynote Tutorials and Documentation from Apple: http://www.apple.com/support/keynote/
• PowerPoint in the Classroom: http://www.actden.com/pp/
• The PowerPoint FAQ: http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/
• MS Office PowerPoint Templates: http://office.microsoft.com/templates/default.aspx
• Joab Jackson's PowerPointless
• Peter Norvig's The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation. See also The Making of the Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation
• David Byrne's Learning to Love PowerPoint
• Absolute PowerPoint
• Ian Parker's Absolute Powerpoint: Can a software package edit our thoughts
• Edward Tufte's Cancer survival rates: tables, graphics, PowerPoint
• Avoiding PowerPointlessness
• PowerPoint Presentations: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Julie Romberger's Rhetoric of PowerPoint. Created for and used in ENGL 421.
• Joyce Kasman Valenza's PowerPoint effective, but often misused. Contains advice on how to teach students to produce effective PowerPoints.
• Webliography: Active Learning with PowerPoint

Word

• Microsoft Word Tutorials and Templates (from Microsoft): http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857991033.aspx

Screenshots and Pictures

• Taking Screenshots on a Mac or PC in ITaP Labs
  To use in writing user documentation and other projects requiring visual content.

Web Page Creation

• Dreamweaver MX Cheat Sheet (PDF format)
• Making Flash Buttons in Dreamweaver 4
  Documentation by Rob Leader, Erica Mueller, and Adil Tiwana for Tracy Clark's Technical Writing course, Spring 2002
• Yale Web Style Guide (2nd edition)
• DevX: Project Cool
  A comprehensive resource and reference guide
• Sustainable Web Design. An introduction to semantic markup and CSS by Purdue's Karl Stolley.
• W3C
  World Wide Web Consortium; includes validator services and Web standards guidelines
• W3schools
  Lots of free tutorials and interactive tools for learning HTML and Web design.
  

Accessibility and Usability

• Chapters 9, 10, & 11 from Steve Krug's 1st edition of Don't Make Me Think focuses on usability testing.