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Teaching notes to be used with Section 6 of the

CXC Information Technology General Proficiency Syllabus, Word Processing [IT for
CSEC pg. 194, Cato; IT for CSEC exams- Campbell, pg. 190]

By the end of this module, the student should be able to:

● Understand the concept of word processing

● Use editing features to create a well-formatted word-processing document

● Insert and import images, text and tables in a document

● Add headers, footers, endnotes and footnotes to a document

● Combine documents and perform block operations

● Check and correct document before printing

● Create a mailing list document

Word Processing
A Word Processor is an application package with which you can prepare letters, reports,
memos, books or any type of correspondence. You can use it to edit, print, and save
documents for future use. The most commonly used Word Processing package is
Microsoft Word, which is part of Microsoft’s Office Suite.

Launching/Starting Microsoft Word

Launch the application by double-clicking on its icon on the windows start menu.
Alternatively, you can launch the program by using the key combinations winkey+r,
typing the command “winword” then pressing your “enter” key or, pressing your
winkey and typing “winword” in the search menu. A new blank Word document should
appear, ready for you to begin typing.

{Student activity: Familiarising yourself with the interface}

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Identify the Office Button [Office 2007].Double clicking this icon will close the
program
Identify the “Word” icon [Office 2010]. Double clicking this icon will close the
program

The Document
This is the main part of the screen. A blank document is white with the cursor placed in
the top left-hand corner. The section that stretches across the top of the screen is called
the Ribbon.

The Ribbon contains tabs which contain different functions, tools and formatting
options. Each tab groups together similar features and functions. By default, the
“Home” tab is open – this tab contains all the basic formatting options.

In the top left corner, you will find the Office Button [in Office 2007]. This button
provides a menu of options that allow you to print, open and save a document. In
Office 2010, the office button has been replaced the Word icon. Double clicking this
icon will bring up the office tab, which gives you the option to close the program or the
active tab.

Quick Access toolbar

Located next to the office button [in office 2007] or the “word” icon [in office 2010], is the Quick
access toolbar. This toolbar contains buttons that allow you to save, undo and redo your last action.
It can be customised, which allows you to add or remove buttons that suit your needs.

{Student activity: Student is to navigate to the quick access toolbar, and right click on
it for “customise” options}.

Basic editing features

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Creating text is simple – you use your keyboard to type in letters and use the spacebar
to create spaces between words. The “Tab” button on a keyboard creates larger spaces,
which is useful if you want to indent sentences.

Some rules to remember about typing in a document:

⮚ Use a period [.] to end sentences.

⮚ Use the “Enter” key to start a sentence on a new line.

⮚ Use at least one blank line to separate paragraphs.

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Insert
Esc Key Num Lock
Key Key
Backspace Delete
Key Key

Tab
button

Caps Shift
Lock Key

Arrow
Keys Enter
Space Key
Bar
Key Components of a QWERTY
Keyboard

Word wrap

When you are entering text and are nearing the end of a line (i.e. you are approaching
the right margin), if the last word is too long to fit on the line, Word automatically
moves to the next line. This feature is called soft wrapping. There is also hard wrapping.
Hard wrapping is to press the “Enter” key to move from one line to the next. You
should hard wrap only if you want to do one of the following:
a) Create blank lines.
b) If you have reached the end of a line that you want to keep short in appearance.
c) You have reached the end of a paragraph.

More pages are added as you need them. You can quickly tell how many pages you
have created by looking at the Status bar at the bottom of the screen. The number of
pages is indicated on the far left.
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Type the
following sentence: Status bar
No. of pages Layout view
The quick brown fox jumps over the dog.

To delete the last word you have just typed, press the Backspace ( ) key. If the
character/word you want to delete is elsewhere, use the mouse to place the cursor
directly after the character and click the left mouse button. You will see the cursor where
you have clicked. Press the Backspace button to delete the character.

You can delete characters that are directly after the cursor by pressing the Delete
button. You can also undo your last action by clicking the “Undo” button on the Quick
Access toolbar.

To delete a whole word, sentence, line or paragraph, you need to select the text first:
1. Use your mouse button to point to the start of the text you want to select.
2. Click the left mouse button and drag the mouse across the text while keeping
your finger pressed down on the mouse button.
3. As you are dragging, the text will be highlighted. When you have highlighted the
desired text, release the mouse button. The text you have selected will remain
highlighted.
4. Press the backspace button to delete the selected text. The same method can also
be applied to whole blocks of text.

[Show alternative method: keyboard combination keys].

Copying and moving text

Copying and moving text are important in word processing because it allows you to
make as many copies of a block of text as you want, while the original block of text
remains in position in the document.. The buttons for this can be found in the
Clipboard group on the home tab.

The Clipboard group on the home tab

How to copy-and-paste

1. Select the block of text you want to copy.

2. Click “Copy.” [Ctrl+c]
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A copy of the block of text is placed on the clipboard. This copy can then be inserted
anywhere, as many times as you desire, into any open document.

3. To paste, place the insertion point anywhere in the document, or in any other
open document and click the “Paste” button. [Ctrl +v]
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Cut, Copy and Paste

To cut means to delete a piece of a document. It can be a character, a word, a line, a

paragraph, or a block of text.

Selecting text using the mouse

1. Position the mouse pointer in front of the first character of the block of text to be
selected.

2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the text you want to
select.

3. Click the “cut” button.

When the cut command is used the piece of document is removed and placed in a
temporary storage area called the clipboard.

4. Place the insertion point anywhere in the document, or in any other open document,
and click the “Paste” button.

Cutting and pasting is the most efficient method for moving text around in a document.

Saving a document

Saving a document on a backup storage device makes it available for editing and
printing at a later date. If you do not save a document, once power to the computer is
lost, your information also will be lost. To save a document for the first time you can
use either the “Save As” or the “Save” command. When either of these commands is
used to save a document for the first time, the “Save As” dialog box appears. You can
select a location at which to save the document, and input a file name and file type.

File names

A file name can be up to 255 characters in length and contain letters, number and other
characters. However, it must not contain the following symbols: /, \, >, <, *, “, or; these
characters are reserved Wildcard characters that are used when searching for
documents whose names you cannot remember.

Closing a document

Closing a document removes it from your screen. There are several ways to do so,
including:
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a) Pulling down the “File” menu and selecting the “Close” option
b) Double clicking the office button or “word” icon on the upper left part of the
screen
or
c) Clicking on the “Close” button at the top righthand corner of the document
window.

{At the end of this class session, students will be required to create a folder in the
Documents folder which will be used to store their practical exercises and evaluation
activities for the term.}

Evaluation Exercise1

1. Which of these is the correct sequence for moving a sentence to a different part of
a document?
a. Cut, select, paste
b. Select, copy, paste
c. Select, cut, paste
d. Copy, select, cut, paste

2. You want to place the same sentence several times in a document. You would:
a. Cut, select, paste
b. Select, copy, paste
c. Select, cut, paste
d. Copy, select, cut, paste

3. Which of the following is the best sequence for deleting a whole paragraph of
text?

a. Select the text and cut

b. Select the text and press Backspace on the keyboard
c. Place the cursor at the start of the paragraph and press the Delete button
until all text is deleted
d. Select the text and press the insert button on your keyboard

4. How do you start a sentence on a new line?

5. What is the purpose of the clipboard?

{To be collected and marked while students perform first practical exercise: “Exercise
1: My First Document”}
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Exercise 1: My First Document

1. Launch Microsoft Word

2. Create a new word document by typing the following text.

Microsoft Word is a word processor. A Word Processor is a computer, program or application used in

the creation editing and printing out of documents. Some commonly used word processors include

LOTUS WORD PRO, COREL WORDPERFECT, MICROSOFT WORKS AND CLARIS WORKS and

the most popularly used word processor, Microsoft Word. It has features such as word-wrap, which

automatically takes care of the right margin.

3. Navigate to the Document folder

4. Save the document.
5. Name the document My First Document[yourname].
6. Close this document.

Opening a document

When you need to work with an existing document, you have to open it first. Opening a
document places a copy of the original in a document window; the original is left intact
in its location in backup storage.

To open a document:

1. a) Click on the “File” tab and select “Open”

or
b) From the “Menu”, click “file”, then “Open”.

[Ctrl+o keyboard shortcut to open a document].

2. The “Open” dialog box appears. Select the location where the file is
stored.

3. When the list of files/folders is displayed, you can either:

a) Type the name of the files you want to open in the “File name” box and click
“Open”
or
b) Double-click on the name of the desired file.
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Formatting a document

In order to present a neat and well-arranged document, you must format it. To format
means to set the specifications of the document’s appearance. All documents have
default settings. These are the features such as page size, margin size, line spacing, and
font style and size that have been preset.

Character Formatting

Each character (one of the letters, numbers, symbols, punctuation marks or spaces) can
be formatted using the following attributes, all of which can be found on the Home tab:

o Font type and size

o Font style (regular, bold, italic)
o Underline style
o Font colour
o Effects (strikethrough, superscript, subscript, shadow, outline, emboss, engrave
and caps)

Fonts

The word Font refers to the typeface (shape of the character) that you wish to use for a
particular piece of text. Types of Fonts include Times New Roman, Oxford, Batang,
Arial and Abadi. There are literally thousands of fonts, some of which can be
downloaded for free from the Internet.

The Font group on the Home tab

Bold, italic and underline

In a document, it is a good idea to make headings, subheadings and

important phrases or words as visible as possible. Here are some ways you
can do this:

⮚ Bold makes the text thicker. You can bold or emphasize text by clicking the
B on the standard toolbar. Shortcut key: Ctrl +B

⮚ Italic pushes the text into a right slant. You can Italicise text by clicking the
I on the standard toolbar. Shortcut key: Ctrl +I
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⮚ Underlining draws a line underneath the text. You can underline text by
clicking the U on the standard toolbar. Shortcut key: Ctrl +U

You can apply more than one formatting feature to the same character. Alternatively,
you can click any of the buttons and start typing. The formatting will be applied as you
type. Click the button again to turn the formatting off.

Point Size

The point size describes the height of a character. The larger the point size, the larger
the font.

Changing the font type, font style and size

1. Select the text you want to apply the font to, or place your cursor in the section
of the
document where you want the font to start.

2. Click on the “menu” tab.

3. Click the down-pointing arrow in the Font drop-down list.

4. Select the font you want to apply form the list.

Or

1. Pull down the “Format” menu, and then click “Font.” The font dialog box will
appear.

2. The top part of the dialog box is divided into three (3) areas: “Font”, “Font
Style” and
“Size.” To select the font type, use the scroll bar under the “Font” heading and
click on the font you want.
3. To select the font style, click on one of the available options.
4. To select the required size, use the scroll bar in the “Size” box and select the
desired size: 8,
9,10,11,12, etc.

Case change
To start sentences or proper nouns, you need to use upper case letters. By default,
Word types in
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lower case. To type an upper case letter, you can do one of two things:
⮚ Press the Caps Lock key on your keyboard. This will cause all letters to be typed
in upper case until you press the key again. Press the shift button on your
keyboard and hold it down while you press the letter you want capitalized.
You may have text that is entirely in uppercase that you want to change to lowercase,
and vice versa. To do this:

1. Select the text you want to change.

2. Click the Case Change button.
3. A list of different options should display. Select the type of case change you
want to apply.
For example, if you want to swap around the upper case and lower case letters,
select Toggle case.
Keyboard shortcut: Shift + F3 toggles between All Caps, sentence case and lower
case.

Highlighting and text colour

This feature is used in Word to highlight important notes. This is done as
follows:
1. Select the text you want to highlight.
2. Click the down-pointing arrow on the Text Highlight Colour
button.
3. Select the colour you want to highlight in.
4. Word remembers the last colour you used, so you can simply click
the Text
Highlight Colour button [not the arrow] the next time you want to
apply the
same colour highlighting.

You can change the colour of text, which is useful for pointing out
important text. Here are the steps to change the colour of text:
1. Select the text you want to change, or place your cursor where you
want the
colour to start.
2. Click the down-pointing arrow on the Font Colour button and
select the
colour you want to use.
3. As with highlighting, Word will remember the last colour you
applied.
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Paragraph Formatting

A document is made up of a number of paragraphs. A paragraph in Word can be any

amount of text characters, graphics, objects, blank lines or other items, followed by a
paragraph mark. Each time you press “Enter”, a paragraph mark is inserted and a new
paragraph is created. You can see this by clicking on the “Show/Hide” button on the
toolbar.

Applying effects

Superscript and subscript

A superscript character is one that is raised above the normal line. For example, in the
mathematical expression 4x3 + 5x2 + x, the numbers 3 and 2 are superscript characters.

A subscript character is one that is placed below the normal line. For example, the
chemical representation of sulphuric acid is H2SO4. The numbers 2 and 4 in the
formula are subscript characters.

Applying superscript to text

To apply superscript to text you must:

1. Click the superscript button and continue typing. Click the button again to
return to normal text.
2. To apply subscript formatting to text that has already been typed, highlight the
text that you want to subscript, then click the superscript button.
You can also apply superscript formatting to text as follows:

1. Go to the “menu” tab.

2. Click “Format”.
3. Select “Font”.
4. Check the “Superscript” box in the “Effects” area and click “Ok.”
5. Type the character(s) you want to format as superscript.
Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl+shift++

Note: If you have typed the text already, highlight the text first, and then follow the
above mentioned steps.

subscript and superscript buttons

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Applying subscript to text

To apply superscript to text you must:

1. Click the subscript button and continue typing. Click the button again to return
to normal text.
2. To apply subscript formatting to text that has already been typed, highlight the
text that you want to subscript, then click the subscript button.
You can also apply subscript formatting to text as follows:
3. Go to the “menu” tab.
4. Click “Format”.
5. Select “Font”.
6. Check the “Superscript” box in the “Effects” area and click “Ok.”
7. Type the character(s) you want to format as superscript.
Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl+=.

Line Spacing

Line spacing is the distance between lines of text and is relative or depends on the size
of the font on a line. The larger the font size, the larger the line spacing. Appropriate
line spacing improves the appearance and readability of a document. The line spacings
available include single, double, 1.5 and multiple. The default line spacing is single, but
you may want to change that for some kinds of document.

Changing line spacing

1. Place the insertion point in a paragraph, or select several paragraphs. You select by
highlighting by dragging your mouse over text while holding down your left mouse
button.

2. Pull down the “Format” menu.

3. Select “Paragraph”.

4. Select the required spacing by clicking on the arrow under “Line spacing” and
selecting the option from the drop-down list.

Justification and Line Spacing

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A paragraph, a group of paragraphs or an entire document can be aligned with respect

to the margins of the page. Justification can be controlled using the Paragraph group
tab on the Home tab. To align text, you select the text and click one of these buttons to
align it:

⮚ Align text left: this button lines up text with the left margin. The text on the right is
ragged, which means that lines off text can vary in length. This is the default
alignment in Word.
⮚ Center: this button lines up text in the centre of the page so that the right and left
sides are ragged.
⮚ Align text right: this button lines up text with the right margin and leaves the left
side ragged.
⮚ Justify: this button lines up text with the right and left sides so there are no ragged
edges.

Line spacing is used to change the spacing between lines of text. Printed documents are
often easier to read if there are slightly wider spaces between the lines. The standard
line spacing is 1.0. to adjust the line spacing, click the Line Spacing button and select
the spacing you want to apply from the list.

The Paragraph group on the Home tab

Headers, Footers and Page Numbers

A header is the set of text or graphics that appears in the top margin of a page,
sometimes of the whole document. A footer is the set of text or graphics that appears in
the bottom margin of a page, sometimes of the whole document. Headers and Footers
commonly are used to show information such as the title of a document, or the chapter
name and/or author name, page number, current date and time, etc. They are used in
order for you to save time, by not having to repeatedly type the same thing on every
page, as well as to ensure accuracy.
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The Header and Footer group on the Insert tab Home tab

Creating a header or footer

1. Click the Header or Footer button.

[Double clicking on either the top or bottom margin will bring you to the Design tab
where you
can create and format your header, footer or page numbers].

2. A list of the different kinds and styles of headers or footers will display. For now,
select “blank”.

3. If you have selected a header, the page will move so the top margin of the page is
displayed. If you have selected a footer, the bottom margin is displayed. In the
blank section in the margin you type the text you want.
[Students will be asked to enter some text in the header and footer of a document].

4. Notice that a new tab appears – Header and Footer Tools. You can use the options on
this tab to format your header or footer.

5. Click the close the “Header and Footer” button to exit the margin and return to the
main text.

You can edit or remove headers and footers by clicking Header and Footer Tools then
Header or Footer and selecting the Edit Header or Edit Footer option, or the Remove
Header or Remove Footer option.

Page numbers are a special kind of header or footer. They number the pages in their
correct order so that when you print the pages there is no danger will mix them up.

To insert page numbers:

1. Click the Page Number button.

2. In the list that displays, select the position on the page you want the page numbers to
appear. Standard practice is to put page numbers at the bottom of the page.
3. The menu option you select will display a further list of options about where you
want the page numbers. Typically, you put page numbers in the bottom right-hand
corner, so you select “Plain Number 3”.
4. Click the Close Header and Footer button to return to the main text.
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Page breaks

Word automatically determines the end of each page, which depends on the page size
you have chosen. These automatic page divisions are called soft page breaks. However,
you may want to insert a page break before the normal end of a page. This type is called
a hard page break. How breaks are displayed will depend on the kind of Word view you
are using.

Inserting a hard page break

On the Insert tab in the Pages group, you can click the Page Break button to start the
current line of text on the next page. The break ensures the text will always appear on a
new page, even if you add more text above it. This is a useful feature if you want to
separate chapters or sections of a document.
[Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl+enter]

Margins, orientation and columns

Margins are the blank spaces around the work area of a sheet of paper, or the distances
between the text and the edges of the paper. There are four (4) margins: top, bottom,
left and right.

Changing the margins

To adjust the margin size, click the Margins button. In the list that displays, select one
of the preset margin settings. Each setting displays the width of each margin. The
standard setting is Normal. To create your own margins, select Custom Margins at the
bottom of the list. This launches the Page Setup dialogue box. Here you can type in
your preferred margin sizes in the Margins section.

Note that the gutter margin is the space allotted for binding.

There are two page orientations:

⮚ Portrait: the long side of the page is vertical; this is the default orientation.

⮚ Landscape: the long side of the page is horizontal.

To change the orientation, click the Orientation button and select the orientation you
want to apply.

To break text into columns, perhaps for a newsletter, click the Columns button and
select the number of columns you want per page. If you select Two, the entire
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document will be restructured so the information on each page is split over two
columns. You read the columns from top to bottom, left to right.
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Indents

Indents can be controlled using the Paragraph group on the Page Layout tab. An
Indent is space between the edge of the margin and the text. You can create an indent
from the left margin by clicking the up arrow in the Left Indent field until you are
happy with the indent space. To decrease the indent, press the down arrow. You can
create an indent from the right margin in the same way by pressing the up and down
arrows in the Right Indent field.

Decrease and Increase Indent buttons

Footnotes and endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes can be controlled using the Footnotes group on the References
tab. A footnote is a reference inserted in the bottom page margin. Footnotes are
additional or incidental information. The text on the page contains a superscript with a
number, and the corresponding number appears at the bottom of the page with the
footnote.

An endnote works in a similar fashion, except it appears at the end of the document.
Endnotes are often used for references. To add a footnote or endnote, place your
cursor directly after the text where you want the superscript. Then click the Add
Footnote or Endnote button. You will be taken to the bottom margin to enter the note
text.

The Footnotes group on the References tab

Tables

The Tables, Illustrations and Text groups in the Insert tab

One method of enhancing the presentation of data in documents is by using tables.

Tables are very useful for displaying statistical and numerical data and can also be used
for keeping text aligned. A table is made up of rows and columns. The intersection of a
row and a column is called a cell.
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Inserting a table into a document

1. Go to the Tables group and click the Tables button.

2. A grid is displayed. The grid represents the number of rows and columns you can
have in your table. If you want a table with two columns and five rows, for example,
select two blocks across and five blocks down.
3. Click again to add the table to the document.
4. You can add data to each cell of the table.

When the tale is selected, the Table Tools tab becomes available. The tools allow you to
modify your table.

Inserting Graphics

Depending on the nature of your document, you may be able to enhance its
presentation by inserting some graphics. Here are the steps to insert a picture or
graphic stored on your computer:

1. Use the cursor to click in the document where you want the picture to be inserted.
2. In the illustrations group, click the Picture button.
3. The Insert Picture dialogue box opens. Browse to where the picture is stored on
your computer.
4. Select the picture and click the Insert button.
5. The picture will be pasted into the document. A new tab, the Picture Tools tab, will
display. Play with the options on this tab to adjust your picture.
6. You can change the size of the picture by clicking and dragging on one of its corners.
7. Return to the text by clicking anywhere in the text. This closes the Picture Tools tab.

Changing the size of a graphic

1. Click once on the graphic. The graphic is displayed with eight selection handles
around it.
2. To reduce or enlarge the graphic proportionately.
a) Click on any of the corner handles.
b) Drag away from the centre of the graphic to enlarge its size.
c) Drag towards the centre of the graphic to reduce its size.
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Tabs

If you want text to neatly line up at some other place on the page, not at
the margins, then you can use tabs. Tabs are points in the document where
text can be positioned. A tab stop is a location on the horizontal ruler that
indicates how far ro the margin that text should begin. A tab marker
appears on the horizontal ruler when you set a tab stop.

Tab stops enable you to:

● Line up text to the left, right, centre, or to a decimal character or bar

character.
● Automatically insert specific characters, such as dots or dashes, before
the tabs.

Types of tabs
● Left tab causes text to flow to the right of the tab stop position as it is typed.

● Right tab causes text to flow to the left of the tab stop position as it is typed.

● Centre tab causes typed text to flow evenly to the left and right of the tab stop.

The horizontal ruler that is located at the top of your document window is
used when setting or adjusting tab stops. The shaded sections of the ruler
indicate the positions of the margins. If you do not see the horizontal ruler
click View then Ruler.

Ruler on the view tab

Setting tabs
1. Go to the Menus tab.
2. Click on Format then select Paragraph from the drop down menu.
3. Select Tabs at the bottom of the Paragraph dialogue box.
4. Set the desired tab
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Changing the position of the graphic

1. Select the graphic by clicking the mouse pointer anywhere within it except on one of
the eight handles.
2. Click and hold down the left mouse button until a small square appears on the tail of
the pointer.
3. The graphic can then be dragged to the desired position.

In the same group, you can use the Clip Art and Shapes buttons to add more graphics.
Clip art is a selection of built-in graphics. If you click this button, a pane on the right of
the document opens and allows you to search for graphics using keyword. For
example, if you type “birthday”, the search will return all clip art related to “birthday”.

The Shapes button provides drop-down list with a large variety of shapes you can add
to your document.

Text wrapping

If you insert a graphic or table into your document, it is a good idea to control how text
wraps around it. Wrapping determines how the text positioned in relation to the
object.

To control the wrapping of text around a table, select the table and right click. Select
Table Properties from the context menu. There are two text wrapping options on the
Table tab in the Table Properties dialogue box.

⮚ None: select this if you want the table to appear on its own, with text above and
below it.
⮚ Around: select this if you want text to display along the sides of the table where
there is space.
You can adjust the alignment of the wrapping by selecting one of the options in the
Alignment section of the Table tab.

Similar steps control the wrapping around a graphic:

1. Select the graphic.

2. Right-click and select Format Picture from the context menu.
3. In the Format Picture dialogue box, select the Layout tab.
4. Choose one of the wrapping style options. For example, “In front of text” allows
you to place the graphic anywhere in the document, even if it obscures text. The
Tight style ensures text wraps around the graphic as closely as possible, without
any text being obscured.

Combining documents
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You can insert text from another document into the current document. This saves you
having to retype text or having to open the other document and copy and paste text
from that document to the current document.

1. Place your cursor in the current document where you want the text to be inserted.
2. In the Text group, click the down-pointing arrow next to the Object button.
3. Select Text from file.
4. Browse to the document containing the text you want to use, select it and click the
Insert button.
5. All the text from the selected document will be pasted into the current document.
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Mail Merge

Mail merge is a feature that enables you to produce a large amount of personalised
form letters, mailing labels and memos without having to type each one individually.
For example, many companies send standard letters to customers in which the body of
the letter is the same but the name, address and a few pieces of additional information
may be different. This type of correspondence can be done easily using mail merge.
Merging requires the use of two files: a Main document, and a data source.

Main/Primary Document

The Main document, also called the primary file or form file contains the letter or other
document that is mean for each recipient. It also contains the merge fields, which are
positioned at the points where the information from the data source is to be printed.
When the mail merge begins, the merge fields are replaced with the information from
the data source.

The data source

The data source, or secondary file, contains the personalized information that would
vary in each document and that is needed to complete the overall document. The data
source can be an existing data source, or you can create a new one.

The information stored in the data source is organized in the form of a table. The first
row, known as the header row, contains the merge fields. A merge field is the name of a
data item that will be stored in data source and later be merged into the main
document. Some common filed names are Title, FirstName, Address, PhoneNo. etc.

Each row after the header row contains the information that is unique to each
document, and is known as a data record. The collection of data records is called a data
file.

Creating a mail merge.

1. Click the Start Mail Merge button and select Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard. This
is the
easiest way to create a mail merge, because a wizard provides step-by-step
instructions for completing the task.

2. A Mail Merge pane on the right opens, Select the type of document you want to
send out, such as Letters.
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3. Click the Next link at the bottom of the pane.

4. If you have the letter open, select Use the current document and click Next.

5. Now you need to give the location of the recipients’ names and addresses. If you
have the list already, you select Use an existing list. You can also choose to type a
new list or use contacts you have stored in a spreadsheet or a database.

6. Assume that you already have a list of recipients, so click Next.

7. The Select Data Source dialogue box displays. You can select the list by browsing to
it, selecting it and clicking Open. Click Next.

8. Find a place in your document where you want the recipient’s information to
appear. If you want an address block to appear, select the Address block link from
the right-hand pane.

9. In the Insert Address block dialogue box, you can set up how you want the
information to appear, such as the way the recipients’ names will be displayed.

10.Click OK when you have finished.

11. Click Next,

12. You can now preview how each merged will look. Click on the forward [>] and
backward [<] buttons to preview each letter with each recipients’ address.

13. Click Next when you have finished previewing.

14. Click Edit individuals if you want to personalise a letter, else click Print to print the
letters.

207-212
15.
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Find and Replace

The “Find and Replace” function is used to find a word or string of characters and
replace it with another word or string of characters without you having to manually
search the document line by line.

The Find and Replace buttons in Editing tab

To Find and Replace you must:

1.Click the Find button.

2. In the dialogue box that displays, type the word or phrase you are looking for in
the Find what field.
3. Click the Find Next button.
4. If the word or phrase is found, Word will go to the first instance of it and highlight
it on the page.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+F [Find]; Ctrl+H [Replace].

You can replace text with other text by using the Find and Replace function. For
example, you may realise that you have spelled someone’s name incorrectly
throughout a document and want to change all instances to the correct spelling.

This is how you replace text:

1.Click the Replace button.

2. The same Find and Replace dialogue box is displayed, but this time on the
Replace tab.
3. Type the text you want to replace in the Find what field, and type the
replacement text in the Replace with field.
4. Click the Find Next button.
5. If you click the Replace button, the highlighted instance will be replaced and the
next instance will be found. If you click Replace all, all the instances will be replaced
at once.

Track changes

The Tracking and Changes groups are on the Review tab. You may not be the only
person who works on a document. For example, you may write a draft assignment and
ask a friend to read it and make some suggestions and improvements. Then it may be
useful to track changes. Once enabled, it marks any changes, usually in red.
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To turn it on, go to the Tracking group on the Review tab. Click the Track Changes
button. To turn it off, click the button again. The marked changes will still be visible.
If you are happy with the changes that were made, you can apply them and remove the
marking by clicking the Accept button and selecting Accept All changes in Document.
You can accept changes one at a time by selecting Accept and Move to Next. Use the
Previous and Next buttons to step through the changes. If you want to reject a change,
click the Reject button and select Reject Change.

The Tracking and Changes groups on the Review tab

Spell and Grammar check

Spelling and grammatical errors can undermine the professional look of a document.
In other words, you can look dumb, and stupid if your document contains errors. Word
contains tools that check documents for possible spelling and grammatical errors.
When words are misspelt or not recognizable to Word, they are underlined in red.
Possible grammatical errors or inaccurate spacing between characters are underlined
in green.

This is how you spell check:

1. Click the Review tab and go to the Proofing group. Click the Spelling and Grammar
button.

2. This starts the spell check and opens the Spelling and Grammar button.

3. The first spelling or grammar mistake found in the document is displayed in the top
pane.

4. In the Suggestions list in the lower pane there are suggestions for what the spelling
should be. Select the correct one and click Change.

5. If you do not agree that there is a mistake, click the Ignore button.

Word has a built-in Auto Correct function that corrects minor spelling and grammar
mistakes as you type. For example, it is easy spell the word “the” incorrectly if you are
typing fast. The Auto Correct feature will usually correct this for you. If you want to
find an alternative word, the Thesaurus is a useful tool. You can click the “ignore”
button to ignore the suggestion or click on “Change” to accept it.
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Keyboard Shortcut: F7.

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Password protection

You may have documents that you do not want other people to open or edit. You can
protect documents with a password.

1. Click the Office button / File tab and select Save As.
2. In the Save As dialogue box, click the Tools button and select General Options.
3. In the General Options Dialogue box, you can create a password to open the
document and one to modify it. You can set one or both.
4. When you have finished, click the OK button.

Printing

Your document has been formatted and checked and you are ready to print it. Check
that a printer is connected to the computer and that the computer is properly set up to
communicate with the printer. Fill the printer with paper. Switch on the printer.

1. Click the Office button/File tab and click Print from the menu.
2. In the Print dialogue box, you can select the name of the printer you are using from
the Name
drop-down list.
3. Make sure the All radio button is selected if you want to print all the pages in the
document,
otherwise type in the range of pages you want to print in the Pages text box.
4. Adjust the number of copies you want by using the up and down arrows in the
Number of
copies text box.
5. Click OK to print.
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CATO CD HAS MORE QUESTIONS

 Page 33 of 34

Create a new folder with your name on it, and then type the following document.

Save it as Tobago in your new folder.

Practice Exercise Three : Editing

Create a new folder with your name on it, and then type the following document. Save
it as Tobago in your new folder.

Toobago

Toobago is a small island located approximately 22 miles north-east of Trinidad. The

population is about 50 000 and consists mainly of descendants of African slaves
brought to work the sugar plantations in the 17th century. The native language is English
and the majority of the inhabitants are Christians. The people of Toobago are warm
and friendly.

Toobago is considered one of the jewels of the Caribbean. Nature lovers and visitors
alike can experience the unspoilt lush tropical vegetation that abounds on the island,
which is also filled with a wide variety of birds and wildlife.

The surrounding white sandy beaches with their blue Caribbean waters are ideal for
relaxation and bathing. For the adventurous at heart there is an abundance of water
sports such as surfing, scuba diving and kayaking, just to name a few. The famous Nylon
Pool is found in the waters off Store Bay.This is a safe bathing area with clear blue
water, and is located on a sand bank about a mile from the shore. Not too far off is one
of the largest barrier reefs in the world, filled with a wide variety of colourful tropical
fish.
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Creating solid lines

You can create a solid line by holding down your underscore for a few seconds, and
then pressing enter.

Newspaper Columns

Text columns are a very useful feature when you want to produce newsletters,
newspaper-style documents, indexes or any text that needs to be in continuous
columns – so that when the first column is filled at the bottom of the page, the text is
started in the next column at the top of the page.

Newspaper columns can be created by using the “Column” icon in the toolbar or from
the “Format” menu.

Creating columns using the “Format” menu

1. Pull down the “Format” menu.

2. Select “Columns.”

3. Select the number of columns required by clicking on of the preset; or move the
“Number of columns” section and use the up-arrow to increase the number of
columns or the down-arrow to decrease the number of columns.

4. The “Width and spacing” section allows you to specify the width of each column and
the spacing between them.

5. The “Apply to” box lets you choose between formatting the entire document using
columns or formatting it just from a specified point.