How to Use This CDROM

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If you are even a little familiar with the use of a World Wide Web browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) you will have no difficulty finding your way around this CDROM. If you have never used a browser before, you will quickly master the concepts of hypertext. What follows is an introduction to the way this CDROM is organized and how it works using your browser program. If you are looking for lesson plans and  teaching ideas that support this CDROM, LifeStories provides these documents on our website.  Ensure that you have an active Internet connection, then select the following link:

• Teacher's Guide: Dave Taylor's African Safari

All LifeStories CDROMs contain information that is designed using a well known organizational form - the book. Each of the books on this CDROM is designed using the familiar sections you would see in a reference book:

• Title Page (book cover)
• Table of Contents (the order of topics discussed in the book)
• Body (pages of photographs, maps, and text)
• Index (alphabetical access to subjects explored)
• Glossary (brief definitions of difficult terms)
• Bibliography (resources the author used)

Just like a book, you can "turn" to any page you wish. Instead of flipping through the pages of the book with your fingers, you select pages to view using your mouse. Whenever the arrow turns into a pointing hand, it means that you can click the mouse to view a different page or a larger picture or hear the words read to you! For example, all of the images in each book can be enlarged by simply clicking directly on the picture. When you are finished studying the image, click on the "Back" button of your browser to return to the page you were reading.

There are advantages to having the information contained on a CDROM! You can quickly find information by using the Master Subject Index. All major topic areas are listed within this index. Click on a page number beside one of the indexed words and LifeStories will instantly display a page in one of the books that contains more information about your topic of interest.

At the top left and right corner of each page is a little picture called the "page turner." The words Previous Page and Next Page are included to remind you where you will go if you click there. The page turners in the book called Scavengers and Decomposers look like this:

                                                

At the bottom of every page in each book is a row of numbers. These are the page numbers in the book you are reading. If you select a number by clicking on it, you will turn to that page instantly. The page numbers in Scavengers and Decomposers  look like this:

Select a Page:
1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10  11 

And, below the numbers, you will see the other available sections in that book:

CDROM Index | Title Page | Contents | Index | Glossary | Bibliography | Appendices | LifeStories Online

To get to any page or section, click on the number, word or phrase using the mouse pointer. Remember, the mouse arrow will change into a tiny pointing hand when it is okay to click the mouse! After you have "visited" a section of the book, the word you clicked changes color, usually from blue to purple, to remind you of where you have been. You will also notice that the 4 is larger than the other numbers in the above example. This reminds you of what page you are currently reading. If the page numbers looked as they do above, then you would be reading page 4.

From the bottom of every page, you can quickly return to the CDROM opening page at any time by clicking on the words CDROM Index. From here you can access the master subject index, book summaries, technical information, and, if you are online, online help.

There is only one selection for which you will need an active Internet connection: LifeStories Online. Clicking on these words will link you to our Website on the Internet provided you are connected. The LifeStories Website is an online magazine that provides information such as wildlife information not contained on this CDROM, listings of wildlife resources on the Internet, and new LifeStories CDROMs in the works.

  
  Copyright © 1999
  Dave Taylor & James Cash
  All rights reserved.

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