LECTURE 1 - INTRODUCTION TO UNIVERSITY COMPUTING FACILITIES
This first session is intended to give you a brief tour of the principal facilities available on the University network. These notes are designed to give you some advice about navigating your way round the system. But do remember that in the constant drive to keep things up to date or more accessible the system is frequently modified and this may mean that you need to adapt the way you do things from time to time. It is likely also to mean that these notes may not stay up to date very long. The best way to keep up to date with the system is to look frequently at the BUCS (the University computing service) daily bulletin which you can contact by clicking on the Computing Services entry on the University Home Page. The structure of the course is summarised in the course outline, which you will receive during the first class.
1.1 Overview of the Network
The University network links a large array of PC's on campus including the Library, teaching rooms 1 W2.25 and lE3.9 plus the Faculty lab, 3E3.1. The network provides a wide range of resident software and gives you communication links via e-mail and the world wide web to outside. It also allows you direct access to the Library catalogue and many other internal resources. The Library printing facilities are also available directly from most terminals.
You will have your own file store space on the network (on drive h:) where it is a good idea to keep backup copies of any work you do, in case you lose a floppy disk containing that precious essay you have spent hours writing.
The networked PC's do not have accessible hard drives so the alternative to storing work on drive h: is to use floppy disks in the a: drive. It is a good idea to buy a couple of floppy disks for this purpose if you haven't already got some. They can be bought in many places on campus such as the Library, the Students Union shop, the Computer Shop (next to the Library) and the Grocery Shop.
If you bring disks onto campus from outside please be very careful to avoid introducing any viruses to the system. For a fuller list of computing guidelines and regulations view the BUCS home page via the University Home Page.
Software availability on the network is summarised in the BUCS Software Overview.
The University network runs Windows XP as the operating system on most terminals. If you have your own computer it may run some other version of Windows such as 98 or ME and you may find that files you create in these other versions will not run properly on Windows XP. The important thing is to anticipate which kinds of system you will want to use and avoid creating files of a type you will not be able to transfer later. Remember that if you are using something more recent, it may be best to save files in the standard University format so that you ensure compatibility with the University system and thus with printing capabilities and the systems of those to whom you send documents.
You might want to keep in mind that there are various incompatibilities between different versions of the same software package, and the Microsoft software we will be using is no exception.
1.2 Main Facilities
After you login you should be confronted with a screen containing a set of icons which will take you to the various bits of software residing on the system. The pattern of these icons, and the operating system the computer is running varies across computers. In most cases it should be pretty obvious how to navigate your way around the possibilities. It is certainly worth spending a bit of time experimenting to find out what's there.
You should see a number of icons including Microsoft programmes (such as Word and Excel), Internet Explorer (for World Wide Web access via PC the University's Home Page) and Mulberry (for e-mail access). You may need to use the Start button at the bottom of the screen followed by Programs if you cannot find an icon for the software you want to run. Programmes are updated as new software becomes available. Some of the software which we will use is only available to members of this department, and you will have to go through an additional log-in process to use packages such as Minitab and Microfit.
1.3 This first session
This first session will give you a quick tour around the system, covering the main bits we will be using later in the course. The network does have its own on-screen introduction. To access this go to the University's Home Page and select Computing Services, and then select New User's Guide.
Amongst the material we will cover briefly in this session:
The University's Home Page, which is an extremely useful tool that opens up lots of pathways including:
links to the Home Pages of staff members and University departments, including the Department of Economics and International Development
searching the World Wide Web (known as “the web” or “the net”)
Access to library and computing services
Mulberry and Webmail e-mail software.
Specialist statistical software used in the department – this will be introduced during the course.
1.4. File Management
An important skill to develop is a logical approach to storing your files. This requires that you know how to create, name and move files and folders. Windows Explorer makes these processes fairly straightforward. The best introduction to them is to use the Help facility in Explorer. When you have opened the package select the Help button on the drop-down menu. Then select Help Topics and from there choose Files and Folders. Follow the instructions in the various sections to get the hang of things.
You will probably find it useful to create a series of folders in the space you are allocated on drive H: perhaps using one for e-mail storage, another for various course units, another for your CV and personal files and so on.
1.5 Word Processing
The package for basic word processing on the network is Microsoft Word. I will be assuming that you are reasonably familiar with Word or something similar. If you are not then you will need to do some work on it to get up to speed and be sure to attend the Support Sessions. Another possibility you should explore if you are not familiar with Word is the SORTED undergraduate training course programme.
You will in any event find it useful to know how to use the laser printers in the Library and Learning Centre. Click for information on the location and use of printing and help facilities.
There are two things that are particularly useful when producing documents with significant economics content and you should be sure to be comfortable with both. The first is use of the Equation Editor. You get to this through the Insert then Object then Microsoft Equation route. This will be demonstrated in the class, but you should practise it if you are not familiar with it.
EQUATION EDITOR EXAMPLE
The formula for the standard deviation of a sample of observations is:
The second useful skill is the use of copy and paste facilities for moving material, especially graphics and tables, between Microsoft applications. Much of your analytical work will be done in, or accessible through, Excel. It can then be pasted into Word for essay purposes or into PowerPoint for presentations. The normal procedure is to have the Excel file open at the relevant place then to highlight what you want and click on Copy. Then in Word or whatever go through Paste Special and then Picture to get an appropriately-sized version.
COPY AND PASTE THE EQUATION ABOVE AND SOME TEXT IN WORD
Word is also useful for creating fairly simple web pages. For a useful review of setting up pages on the University network check web pages. If you like, just follow the instructions. BUCS registered users can create their personal web page.
1.6 Presentations
The next component of Microsoft Office we will look at is PowerPoint. This is a package for creating presentations. It is very like Word to use, but is invaluable for creating 'shows' whether in the form of a series of acetates or a computer-driven presentation on screen. The Help menu is extensive and can tell you most of the things you'll need to know.
1.6.1 Getting Started in PowerPoint
Begin by selecting New from the File menu. You can then either select a blank presentation (which is what we will do today) or select a template which gives you a kind of working model. New Slide will give you a choice of format for the first slide. Choose one that just gives a box for a title. Invent a title for a presentation and type it into the box. Then hit the Next Slide icon, which looks rather like a gleaming postcard. Choose an appropriate type and continue the process to build up a complete presentation.
Don't try to get too much text on a single page because the font size is set high and the page will quickly overflow.
The icons at the bottom left of the screen can be used to switch what appears on screen. Outline view, where you start, is just a listing of the text by slide. By clicking on Slide Sorter View you can get a better idea of how each slide will look on screen. To get back to working on a single slide, click on Outline view and then click on the slide you want to edit.
PowerPoint allows various kinds of content to be incorporated, including tables, graphs, pictures, equations and so on. This is usually done via the Insert menu, selecting the Object option and then Equation 3.0 or whatever is appropriate for what you have. Control of this facility is central to building effective presentations. Alternatively you can copy material which you have already prepared in a Word document, and re-format it for easy viewing on a PowerPoint slide.
COPY THE EQUATION AND TEXT FROM WORD INTO POWERPOINT
There are many refinements you can add later. For example you can add different kinds of fading to the transition between successive slides by using the Slide Transition option from the Slide Show menu. You can also add sound or video clips.
1.6.2 Notes
The principal downside to using packages of this kind is that they tend to produce rather standardised output, and this can get boring if you watch a lot of presentations generated by the same package. This disadvantage can be overcome however by using a bit of imagination and ensuring that the content is sufficiently compelling to keep the viewer's interest. The other critical thing to keep in mind is that the material appearing in a screen presentation is really just a prop used by a presenter to get more impact. The overall quality of the presentation will depend on what you have to say and the way you engage the audience as well as the technical style of the presentation itself.
1.7 Using the World-Wide Web as a Research Tool
A good starting point is the handouts available in the library (next to the Information Point), in particular the handout entitled "Sources of Information for Social Sciences'. This provides information about general search engines for economic information such as Inomics ( and BIZ/ED ( online database, journals available on the web and statistical sources. The Department has links to an extensive list of data sources here.
We will talk more about using the web for accessing data in lecture 2. In particular, I want you to familiarise with popular sources on the web for political and institutional variables.
Downloading Course Data
An integral part of the course will be in the use and manipulation of data sets. Most of the class exercises will contain links to relevant data files (these will principally be in either Excel or ASCII format) so it is important that you know how to download such information.
Highlight the data link you want: e.g. click on question 1 (which will be underlined and in colour - see below). This will normally cause your computer to prompt you for a decision about the format in which you want the data. The options normally are (1) download the data directly in the relevant software (usually Excel) and (2) save the data to disk. The first option will usually be the simplest since it has the data already loaded into the software you’re going to use with them. You can then work directly in the package to produce your answer. The second option enables you to download your own copy of the data, either to a floppy disk in drive a: or to your area on network drive h. You can then take the data away with you and work on them at your leisure.
Example
Question 1
Create a folder called EC10004 on your Drive H:
The datafile house prices.xls contains house price data for a time series of 104 observations. Create an “X-Y” chart for the variables North and South and save the updated file to your EC10004 folder on Drive H:
You may have to click on View > Toolbars > Standard if the Chart icon does not appear.
Now create a PowerPoint presentation, which incorporates the chart you have created, add a slide with some explanatory text, and save the PowerPoint presentation to your EC10004 folder.
Creating a Web Page
Personal home pages
Every BUCS registered user has the privilege of creating a personal home page. The content and design is up to you, providing it conforms to the guidelines. A simple way to create a home page is to run the mkhome command on UNIX server mary, midge or ss1. This will create a basic home page (ie name, postal address, phone & fax numbers and e-mail address).To run mkhome from your Windows desktop:
If you have a midge, mary or ss1 icon on your desktop:
- simply click on the icon and at the $ prompt type mkhome
- Click Start-Run... and in the Run dialog box enter telnet midge (or mary/ss1) and click OK
- Enter your username and password when prompted then, at the midge $ prompt, type mkhome.
You can edit your web page by adding links to other web pages or to your own files. To do this click on insert and then click ‘hyperlink’. You can then either click on one of your own files or add the web address of another web page.
Now go on to these exercises:
Link to Exercises for Class 1
References
Judge Computing Skills for Economists, chapters 1 & 2