Chapter 6 - Presentation

Chapter 6 - Presentation

1. Characteristics of Documents

   • Character
     • letter, number or symbol
   • Paragraph
     • used for long documents
     • may have a pre-defined style
       • through house-styles
   • Section
     • portion of page where formatting can be set
       • line numbering, no. of columns, headers and footers
     • can add section breaks
   • Frame
     • word processors not frame based
       • if paragraph is deleted, everything moves up
   • Header and footer
     • header- text in the top margin of every page
     • footer - text in bottom margin of every page
       • usually contains page number, date
     • can change header and footer for part of the document
   • Footnote
     • briefly explain a word or phrase
       • not in main body of text
     • reference number placed by word/phrase
     • explanation at bottom of page, with ref. number

2. Mail Merge

   • Allows you to send personalised version of the same document to many people
   • 1. Data source is made
     • containing all information to include in document
   • 2. Standard doc/template produced
     • with merge fields
   • e.g. Dear <title> <lastname>
     • title and last name are fields in database or spreadsheet
   • 3. Data source and template are linked+merged
     • software inserts data from fields in data source
   • 100 records = 100 documents made
   • Advantages
     • only one letter needs to be made
       • speeds up mass mailing
     • only one document needs to be checked for errors
     • data sources can be used for other mail merges
       • saves time by not having to make a new data source each time
     • data source only needs to be checked once
     • standard template can be saved and reused
   • Disadvtantages
     • changing data source will cause errors
     • data source needs to be kept up to date
     • not EVERY letter will be checked.
       • large mail merges are likely to have some errors
     • can be complex/require training
     • seems like junk mail/ mail is not truly personalised