MOUS Essentials 2000 Introduction Essentials courseware from Prentice Hall is anchored in the practical and professional needs of all types of students. Each title in the series reflects a "learning-by-doing" approach that encourages you to grasp application-related concepts as you expand your skills through hands-on tutorials. The MOUS Essentials series has an added focus - preparing you for certification as a Microsoft Office User Specialist. The Specialist designation distinguishes you from your peers as knowledgeable in using Office products, which can also make you more competitive in the job market. The Specialist program is available for many Office 2000 applications at both Core and Expert User levels. You can learn more about the Specialist program by reviewing Appendix C "Preparing for MOUS certification" and by visiting the http://www.mous.net web site. How to Use this Book You have selected a book providing a comprehensive approach to learning Excel, with emphasis on skill sets designated by Microsoft as Core or Expert for purposes of certification as a Microsoft Office User Specialist. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the icons used in this book and its conventions. If you have questions or comments, visit the related Prentice Hall MOUS Essentials Web site http://www.prenhall.com/mousessentials Each MOUS Essentials text consists of modular lessons that are built around a series of numbered step-by-step procedures that are clear, concise, and easy to review. Brief explanations are provided at the start of each lesson and, as needed, between steps. Many lessons contain additional notes and tips. A MOUS Essentials book may contain anywhere from 15-21 projects, three appendixes and a glossary. Each project covers one area (or a few closely related areas) of application functionality, and is divided into lessons related to that topic. For example, a project on improving the appearance of a worksheet includes lessons on formatting numbers, aligning cell contents, changing font and font size, applying bold and italic, adding color, adding borders, using Format Painter and removing formatting. Each lesson presents a specific task or closely related set of tasks in a manageable chunk that's easy to assimilate and retain. Each element in a MOUS Essentials title is designed to maximize your learning experience. Here's a list of the MOUS Essentials project elements and a description of how each element can help you: Required MOUS Objectives Table. These tables are organized into three columns: Objective, Required Activity for MOUS and Exam Level. The objective column lists the general objectives of the project. The associated MOUS requirements for each objective are listed in the Require Activity for MOUS column. The particular exam levels Core or Expert of those activities are listed in the Exam Level column. Look over the objectives and MOUS requirements on the opening page of each project before you begin, and review them after completing the project to identify the main goals for each project. Key Terms. This book includes useful vocabulary words and definitions, specific to the application. Key terms introduced in each project are listed in alphabetical order on the opening page of the project. These key terms then appear in bold italic within the text and are defined during their first in the project. Definitions of key terms are also included in the glossary. Why Would I Do This? You are studying Excel to accomplish useful tasks in the real world. This brief section at the beginning of each project tells you why these tasks or procedures are important. What can you do with the knowledge? How can these application features be applied to everyday tasks? Microsoft Office Core Objective Icon. This icon indicates that a lesson or exercise relates to a specific MOUS Core-level skill. The icon displays at the most general level. For example, if all components of a lesson relate to a core MOUS objective, the core icon displays next to the lesson title rather than by individual steps or notes within the lesson. If all end-of-project exercises in one category (Skill Drill, Challenge, or Discovery Zone) relate to a Core MOUS objective, the Core icon will appear next to the description of the general exercise category rather than by each exercise within the category. Microsoft Office Expert Objective Icon. This icon indicates that the associated lesson or exercise relates to a MOUS Expert-level skill. The icon displays at the most general level, as described in the previous section. There may be a mix of core and expert objectives within a project. Some Objectives are both Core and Expert as well. Lessons. Each lesson contains one or more tasks that correspond to an objective or MOUS requirment from the opening page of the project. A lesson consists of step-by-step tutorials, associated screen captures, and the sidebar notes of the types described later. Though each lesson often builds on the previous one, the lessons have been made as modular as possible. For example, you can skip tasks that you've already mastered and begin a later lesson, if you choose. Step-by-Step Tutorial. The lessons consist of numbered, bolded step-by-step instructions that show you how to perform the procedures in a clear, concise, and direct manner. These hands-on tutorials, which are the "essentials" of each project, let you "learn by doing." A short paragraph may appear after a step to clarify the results of the step. Screen captures are provided after key steps so that you can compare the results on your monitor. To review the lesson, you can easily scan the bold, numbered steps. Exam Notes. These sidebars provide information and insights on topics covered on MOUS exams. You can easily recognize them by their distinctive icon. It is well worth the effort to review these crucial notes again after completing the project. Inside Stuff. Inside Stuff comments provide extra tips, shortcuts, alternative ways to complete a process, as well as special hints. You may safely ignore these for the moment to focus on the main task at hand, or you may pause to learn and appreciate these tidbits. If You Have Problems Ellipses. These short troubleshooting notes help you anticipate or solve common problems quickly and effectively. Even if you don't encounter the problem at this time, do make a mental note of it so that you know where to look when you find yourself having difficulties. Summary. This section provides a brief recap of the activities learned in the project. The summary often includes suggestions for expanding your knowledge. Checking Concepts and Terms. This section offers optional true/false and multiple choice questions designed to check your comprehension and assess retention. If you need to refresh your memory, the relevant lesson number is provided after each question. For example, [L5] directs you to review Lesson 5 for the answer. Skill Drill. This section enables you to check your comprehension, evaluate your progress, and practice what you've learned. The exercises in this section build on and reinforce what you have learned in each project. Generally, the Skill Drill exercises include step-by-step instructions. A Core or Expert icon will indicate if a MOUS required activity is introduced in a Skill Drill exercise. Challenge. This section provides exercises that expand on or relate to the skills practiced in the project. Each exercise provides a brief narrative introduction followed by instructions. Although the instructions are written in a step-by-step format, the steps are not as detailed as those in the Skill Drill section. Providing fewer specifics step helps you learn to think on your own. A Core or Expert icon will indicate if a MOUS required activity be introduced in a Challenge exercise. Discovery Zone. These exercises require advanced knowledge of project topics or application of skills from multiple lessons. Additionally, these exercises might require you to research topics in Help or on the Web to complete them. This self-directed method of learning new skills emulates real-world experience. PinPoint Assessment. Each project ends with a reminder use MOUS PinPoint training and testing software to supplement the projects in the book. The software aids you in your preparation for taking and passing the MOUS exams. A thorough explanation of how to use the PinPoint software is provided in the Appendix A: Using the MOUS PinPoint 2000 software. Typeface Conventions Used in this Book We have used the following conventions throughout this book so that certain items stand out from the rest of the text: Key terms appear in bold italic the first time they are defined. Monospace type is used to indicate 1) text that you are instructed to key in. 2) text that appears on screen as warnings, confirmations, or general information. 3) the name of a file to be used in a lesson or exercise, and 4) text from a dialog box that is referenced within a sentence, when that sentence might appear awkward if the dialog box text were not set off. Hotkeys, the underlined letters in menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes that activate commands and options, are a quick way to choose frequently used commands and options. How To Use Student Data Files on the CD-ROM The CD-ROM accompanying this book contains PinPoint as well as all the data files for you to use as you work through the step-by-step tutorials within projects and the Skill Drill, Challenge, and Discovery Zone exercises provided at the end of each project. The CD contains separate parallel folders for each project. The names of the student data files correspond to the filenames called for in the textbook. Each filename includes six characters - an initial letter indicating the application, a dash, two digits indicating the project number, and two digits indicating the file number within the project. For example, the first file used in Excel Project 2 is named e-0201. The third file in Excel Project 14 is named e-1403. The Word document named e-stufiles.doc on the companion website (www.prenhall.com/mousessentials) provides a complete listing of data files by project, including the corresponding names used to save each file. Please refer to the readme file on the CD for instruction on how to use your CD-ROM. MOUS Core Required Objectives for Excel The skill areas covered in the core MOUS exam and the required tasks for those skill areas are listed in Table I.1. MOUS Expert Required Objectives for Excel The skill areas covered in the expert MOUS exam and the required tasks for those skill areas are listed in Table I.2. You have the tools for success - your desire to learn and well-developed materials to support that learning. Let's begin!