South University Digital Bookshelf Tutorial

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION Given that we are in an age of digital information, it is imperative that students learn how to use technology and multimedia resources effectively. We have integrated digital assets as an essential part of the South University experience. We are integrating your textbooks as ebooks in your online classroom. This ongoing process will help to make your classroom resources more easily available to you. If your current course doesn t have ebooks, or has a combination of ebooks and hard copies, we are working to provide everything as an ebook. You will eventually be able to access all reading materials via links in each of your courses. Although you can choose to purchase a hard copy of your textbook, this is completely optional and at your own expense. Digital textbooks have various benefits. You will no longer have to shop for a textbook, or worry about an outside vendor not delivering your book before the first day of class. Instead, the ebook will be available when you gain access to your online classroom. The cost of your ebook will be billed via a digital resource fee along with your tuition. You will not incur costs outside of tuition and the "digital resource fee" that has already been added to your account. Depending on the course, ebooks are generally less expensive than a printed textbook. Another benefit of an ebook is that it is portable. You can download the book onto a computer and take it anywhere without the added bulk. Many sophisticated tools are included as features in your ebook, such as a search feature, highlighting, and note-taking capabilities. Additionally, an ebook can contain customized content that has been created from multiple textbooks just for your specific course and program. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create your Digital Bookshelf online account, how to access your ebooks, and how to use the ebook functionality. Let s go ahead and get started. CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT We begin in your online classroom. Now I am going to navigate to "Readings and Assignments" on the left-side navigation bar. For Week 2, in this example, I can see that I am required to read the Chapter 5: Creating Documents with Microsoft Word 2007 chapter from the required textbook. If you notice, this chapter assignment is a link. So, to begin, click on the link for the chapter that you would like to start reading. Please go ahead and click on the link the first reading assignment. Great job, now once you click on the link for the chapter you would like to read, a pop-up window will appear and the message will read "Please wait while we connect you to your ebook." The duration of this connection process will depend on your internet speed and connectivity, so please be patient.

2 2 You will then arrive at this screen where you must create your account. Simply enter the fields listed and click "Continue." In this tutorial I will show you how to complete this form. Do note you will need to recall the information at a later point from this form, so please do not forget specifically the address and password that you enter. Let me demonstrate. In the first field, enter your address. And then enter your password of choice, and verify that password. Then, choose a security question from the options provided in the dropdown menu, and then enter your personal answer for that question. Now there are a few things to note before we move on. The first and most important is, again, you will need to recall this information at a later point, so do not forget the address and password that you have entered on this form. Also note that this screen will only appear the first time you attempt to access an ebook. Every other time moving forward that you attempt to access your book via the online classroom, you will be taken directly to the book. This will also be the case in each subsequent course. Now, if you already have created a digital bookshelf account, perhaps for a class at a different campus, it is very important that you enter the same and password here. This will allow the digital bookshelf to match your pre-existing account to your ebooks via the online classroom. And if you do have an already existing account and you enter an address that already exists in the system, but an incorrect password for that account, you will be presented with an error message. If this occurs, you can request the password for your pre-existing account be sent to you by . Once you retrieve your password, attempt to access your ebook again. To complete the account creation process, simply click Continue. Go ahead and click Continue to move to the next screen with me. You will then be presented with a License Agreement. By acknowledging this license agreement, you are agreeing to accept responsibility for improper use of the materials. Please make sure that the box next to Accept... is marked, and click continue to complete this form and move on to the next step. To move along in this tutorial, go ahead and click the Continue button. And here we are! Welcome to the South University digital bookshelf and your ebook! ACCESS YOUR EBOOKS Now that we have created our South University digital bookshelf account, and accessed our ebook, let s talk about how to use the bookshelf and all the functionality that it provides. Navigating your ebooks To begin, let's talk about how to navigate in your ebook. As you can see, there are three main navigation areas. In fact, navigating your ebook is similar to navigating your online classroom. In the top navigation bar, we ve provided some tools, including a search field, a button to make highlights, and a link to report any problems with your ebook. And you will also find the textbook title here.

3 3 On the left-side navigation bar, we ve provided the table of contents for the book. All the items in the TABLE OF CONTENTS are linked, so you can jump wherever you need to in the book. If you click on the arrow next to any link, it will expand that section and allow you to link directly to specific subsections. And in the center frame, you see the book itself. This is where you will read and scroll through the content. Use the left and right arrow buttons to move from page to page. Search tool Let's start with the top navigation bar. Now, one of the tools that I mentioned is the search tool. Enter any text or concept in the text field provided, and the digital bookshelf will search the entire book for you. Once you ve entered your search criteria, hit the Enter key. The search results will then be presented on the left-side navigation bar. Now, you can click on any of the presented links to jump to the place in the book where that search result is located. Highlighting Let s talk about highlighting. One of the nice features about ebooks is that you can still use them like you would a hard copy textbook. You may like to highlight items that are important and that you want to be able to find easily. You can do the same thing in your ebook. Simply use your mouse cursor to select the text you want to highlight, and then click the "Make Highlight" link on the top navigation bar. The item will then be highlighted in your textbook. Once you create highlights, they are easy to find later. Contents, figures, notes, editing highlights Now, to the left-side navigation bar. You have three features across the top of the left-side navigation bar. These will help you better manage and navigate the content in the book. Click on the "Contents" button, which is the icon that looks like a piece of paper. This will bring up your table of contents. To continue in this tutorial, go ahead and click on the Contents button.

4 4 Perfect! Now again, as a reminder, with the table of contents, you can click to jump to any listed location in the textbook. Let me demonstrate. Next, click on the "Figures" button, which is the icon that looks like a picture. Go ahead and click on Figures in order to continue in this tutorial. This allows you to view figures found in the book. This could be graphics, as you see here, or graphs and charts perhaps. If you use the dropdown menu, you can look for figures in specific parts of the book your options in the dropdown menu typically mirror items found in the table of contents. Lastly, click on the "Notes" button. To move ahead in the tutorial, go ahead and click on Notes. This allows you to manage all of your highlights, attach relevant notes, and more. If you want to add a note associated with your highlight, click "Add Note." Enter the note into the text field provided and then click "Save Note." Now, if you want to change the highlighter color, create new highlighters, or change their designation, click "Change Highlighter." If you simply click on the color to which you want to change your highlighted section, it will change the highlighter color both in your note and in your textbook. If you want to change the titles for, add new, or delete highlighters, return to Change Highlighter and then click on "Edit Highlighters." If you want to delete the highlight all together, simply return to your notes page, and click the "Delete" link beneath the highlighted section. This will remove the highlight and any notes associated with it from your book. And lastly, to easily add a note, delete a highlight, or change a highligher color, simply click on the highlight in the text itself. A pop-up toolbar will appear, presenting those options. Copy and paste text The last functionality that I want to demonstrate for you in your ebook is how you can copy and paste text into a document, and print pages. To copy and paste, simply select the text that you want to capture using you mouse cursor. Then, "right-click" with your mouse, and from the options then provided, click "Copy." You can then paste the content where needed. If you are using a Mac, select the text that you want to capture using your mouse cursor, and then click the "Apple" or Command button plus the "c" button to copy. In your document, click the "Apple" or Command button plus the "v" button to paste. We do recommend using this feature with caution. Copying and pasting content without using

5 5 proper citations to support your use of the textbook material constitutes plagiarism and is explained further in the Student Handbook. Printing In addition to copying and pasting, printing from the digital bookshelf is possible, however, we do encourage you to "be green" and choose not to print ebook pages. Print restrictions may apply at your campus. With some browsers, printing is as easy as right clicking with your cursor anywhere on the page and then selecting "Print" from the options provided. The full book page will be printed. Other browsers may require you to go to File > Print. If you are using a Mac, place your cursor in the page that you want to print and click the "Apple" or Command plus the "p" button. Accessing all ebooks And the last thing to show you is the bookshelf online. Via your current ebook, you can access any other ebooks to which you have access. To do this, simply click on the South University button in the top left corner. To continue in this tutorial, go ahead and click South University. At the South University page, you can jump to a different book by clicking on that ebook link. You will only see the books to which you have access. SUMMARY AND SUPPORT And that concludes this tutorial. Your class has gone "digital. Exposing you and facilitating the use of digital information prepares South University students for the future of learning. Using the South University digital bookshelf and working in your ebook is easy and provides you with functionality to help you manage and find the material. But let me add, that you will not only be able to access your ebooks via the online classroom, as you ve seen in this tutorial, but you will also be able to download your books to your personal computer. Doing so provides you access to your book outside of the online classroom, and for up to five years. You will also find enhanced functionality, like the ability to share your notes with your classmates after you download your book. If you need any support at any time, do not hesitate to contact the dedicated support line at