How Best to Use These Books

The advice on this page will not apply to everybody in every situation. Nevertheless, most undergraduates using these books for a course should find these suggestions useful:

1. Do not print these books--they are optimized for screen viewing.

Yes, they can be printed, but reading then at the computer screen on a regular basis is better. One reason is that you will be able to study the links, which are an integral part of the text. Because many of the links consist in large part of graphic images, readers commonly discount them as relatively unimportant decorations. But they are not. The notion that visual images are frivolous or worse is deeply entrenched in Western culture (broadly defined as those regions under the general cultural influence of Christianity, Judaism, and/or Islam). But in today's world, visual literacy--here meaning the ability to interpret visual rhetoric critically--is just as important as conventional literacy. And the two types of literacy complement each other in practice. Furthermore, Environmentally-conscious readers will certainly not want to use any more trees than necessary (even though most printer and copier paper is partly recycled and otherwise comes from pulp farms, not lofty forests), and nearly all of us would function more efficiently by substituting bits and bytes for paper whenever possible.

2. Optimize your monitor and video subsystem.

One reason that some people resist reading the books on a screen is because they claim that the quality of monitor images is poor. In ancient times--ca. 1994 and earlier--this claim was correct. In today's world, however, there is no good reason for poor image quality. And yet, amazingly, many computer screens do in fact look terrible. Why? Because nobody has bothered to do a few simple setup tasks. These tasks are explained below. Do them.

First, make sure that your computer's display is set to the "optimal" refresh rate. All too often, people settle for the headache-producing, flickering 60hz VGA default refresh rate--a standard long ago left behind in the dust. You will want at least a 72hz rate, and nearly all monitors and graphics cards/chips can support 85hz or more. The easy way for Windows users to set the rate is to right click on the desktop. Then follow the menu/tab choices in this sequence: properties ► settings (while there, make sure your "colors" is set to "high color") ► advanced ► monitor ► refresh frequency. Then, select 72hz or higher. If "optimal" is an option, select it. In some versions of Windows, you will need to select the refresh frequency from the "adapter" tab, not the "monitor" tab. Otherwise, the process is nearly the same.

After you apply this new refresh rate, your screen size and shape may change a little. In any case, it is now time for the second major adjustment: making sure that the entire viewable surface of your monitor is used for image display (by default, it usually is not). How? By adjusting the vertical size, horizontal size, and vertical & horizontal positions. Use the controls on the front panel of the monitor. The details differ for each monitor, but with a little effort you can figure them out. Then, adjust the brightness, contrast, and, if available, the "warmth" of the display, again using these controls. In short, here is what you need for a display as good as or better than paper:

• a refresh rate of at least 72hz (not the 60hz default)

• use of the full surface area of your monitor for viewing

• "high color" or "true color" setting (for better image viewing)

• proper brightness and contrast settings;

• appropriate screen resolution (typically 1024 x 768 pixels on a 17-inch monitor)

• a slightly off-white background color (to reduce glare off of the screen).

You can control first five items through the settings in your operating system, and I have taken care of the last one. And since minimizing paper usage is no longer an issue as it was when these books appeared in print, I have selected relatively large 12-point fonts for the body of these texts to make reading easier.

3. Deal with the speed issue.

There is only one major drawback to these books: the links can take a long time to load over a dialup connection. The graphic images I have produced are all optimized for Web display and the images are housed on a fast, reliable server. Still, they will be slow to load over an ordinary modem. Images found on web pages other than mine might not be optimized for screen display, and will likely take even longer to load. The main text will be no problem because there are no graphics in it, but, as mentioned above, the links are an integral part of the text. So, if you must rely on an analog modem connection (as opposed to a "broadband" connection like cable modern or DSL, which will work fine), here are some considerations:

• Be sure your modem runs at 56K (which it almost certainly will if purchased around 1998 or more recently). If not, consider shelling out the $20-30 a new one will cost at one of the giant electronics store chains.

• Consider reading this book at one of the many university computer labs. As far as most universities go, PSU is about as good as it gets for student computer services.

• A compromise might be to read the main text over a modem connection and use the labs for viewing the links, though, ideally, the links and main text should be studied at the same time.

• If you can afford to tie up a phone line for a while, it is perfectly OK to read the books over a dialup connection. Everything will work, but there will be delays in the range of 30-60 seconds for some of the more elaborate graphic images to load.

4. Read on a regular basis.

It never ceases to amaze me that some students still regard reading material housed on the Web as somehow less serious or less important than reading material printed on bound sheets of processed wood pulp. The books here deal with material that is, in many cases, extremely difficult. Trying to rush through them just before an exam is usually a recipe for disaster. Regular, disciplined study on a daily (or at the very least several-times-a-week) basis is the way to succeed in any college course, this one included.

5. See the Introduction of each book for more study and use tips.