Word Processing with Nota Bene

The special power of Nota Bene is based on its unique market orientation toward the academic population of computer users, those who want to employ computers to their fullest capacity and who want their research and writing as effortless and precise as possible.

NB's word-processing features are too rich to cover in a single document. For a fuller understanding of their capabilities, several sample files are included with the program. Sample files contain the extension "smp" and are found in the folder: NBWIN\DOCUMENT\SAMPLES. In particular, look at two sample files: ACADEME1.SMP AND ACADEME2.SMP. In addition, you should make use of the on-line help, which offers the most comprehensive guideline available.

The material on this web page has the more limited purpose of introducing you to some of the very basic features associated with academic, multilingual writing.

Compatibility with other Word Processors

NB is fully compatible with documents created by MS Word, Corel WordPerfect, and dozens of other formats. NB users can both read and use documents created by those programs and write and save to the formats of those programs. Importantly, included in the compatibility capacity is the ability to save in RTF (Rich Text Format). Any Windows program can read RTF files (regardless of the little "W" icon that may appear next to those files - that's just the results of Microsoft simply appropriating the RTF file format as if it were a Word format).

This has the significant effect of giving you the capacity to use any document, including any notes, you already have, even if it was prepared by another word-processing program. Conversions from other programs are normally automatic.

Academic word processing

Academic word processing refers to the layout requirements of documents written by students and faculty - academic writers - for the purposes of submitting to the rules and conventions of academic styles.

Styles

“Style” has become a common term in the pervasive jargon of computers. “Style” has a special context in the academic setting: it means the matrix of rules for layout governing the very many components of a document — article, research paper, book, etc. Each of these components is called an element and it is the compilation of all the elements that comprises a particular style. Thus, we have the Chicago Manual of Style, the Modern Language

Association Style, the Turabian Style for Writer, the Style of the American Psychological association, and many others representing different disciplines. Virtually all fields in the Humanities and Social Sciences use a variant of the CMS or the MLA or the APA (even Turabian is merely a derivative of the CMS, which is considered the most comprehensive style, encompassing the whole gamut of manuscript preparation and production, starting with the most elementary stages of writing on paper, all the way to the rules that should be followed by the book binderies.

Elements of style are too many to list, but they include margins (left and right), vertical spacing, horizontal spacing, variable placement of heads according to head levels, running headers, point size, printing modes (bold, italic, etc.) for different sections or words.

The list of elements and their parameters goes on and on, and the particulars vary with the specific style one is required to follow, according to professor or editor. All these rules place the contents of your documents within a framework which, in turn, provides visual and contextual consistency for the reader. Indeed, the reason why an article or a book looks a certain way and is pleasant on the eye is because of the consistency in the application of the rules. We will use the CMS because it’s the most often used framework in History journals and books. However, NBW’s exceptional emphasis on academic needs is most clearly exemplified in its ability to change a document formatted to one academic style manual into a different one with only a few clicks of the mouse. Thus, if, after submitting a manuscript to a journal requiring the CMS, you have to resubmit it to another journal requiring the MLA style, a couple of clicks should do it down to the last footnote.

NB comes with several sample files to introduce users to the program, generally, and, more specifically, to its different and specialized features. To learn the rich conveniences provided in the context of academic writing, including styles, now is the time to open the files “Academe1.smp” and "Academe2.smp. Study carefully their contents. The files are located in the folder:

NBWin\Document\Samples

Do not make any changes in the files. Print them first to have thecontents in front of you.

When you’re done with the sample files, you will have a pretty good idea of how NB will make the most complex issue a simple activity. What follows in this document has more to do with issues of user interface, foreign language editing (Spanish and Portuguese), numbering and cross-referencing — activities that are quite common in academic writing.

Mouse AND Keyboard: Click AND Command

Only Nota Bene combines academic writing and research tools with the ability to use both the mouse and the keyboard to achieve desired ends. The NB keyboard is said to be "rich." A keyboard in this sense refers to the key combinations on the keyboard to which a particular program responds. No computer application has programmed more keys and key combinations to effect needed word-processing actions than NB. To see all the keys and key combinations and what they achieve in table format, open the file (but do not change or save it) NBKEY.KEY located in the folder:

NBWin\Users\Default\Custom

In addition, to the exceptionally rich keyboard, NB is the only academic word processor that uses both the mouse and the command line to achieve the same ends. What is a command line? A command line is merely an area of a program's screen in which the user types a command understood by the program, which then executes it. Commands in NB can do virtually anything you want, from printing to searching, to changing text, to entering page numbers, to . . . anything. NB contains approximately 105 commands. All commands, except for 14 of them, consist of 2-letter abbreviations of words; e.g., se for search, ca for call, ab for abandon, fl for flush left, go for go to, and so on. An alphabetical list of commands is presented by clicking Help, Search for help on . . . then type "command line". The advantage of command lines is that they're almost always faster in execution.

But if you're mouse-y, you're free to be that way. Clicking the mouse will get you to the same places, as is true of all Windows applications and thus perhaps more slowly, but certainly more clicky.

You may choose to use key combinations to effect your objectives or the mouse; you'll probably end up using both the speed of keys and the convenience of the mouse.

Essential Function (Fxx) keys

NB uses all 12 F keys, but you will find some of them to be particularly helpful and you will probably be using them regularly.

F9: to the command line

The F9 key brings the cursor to the command line area (visible at the bottom of the screen). Any text already in the command line is cleared by F9.

• press F9
• type command

F10: execute command

• Press F10 to execute the command typed on command line
• press F10 to execute
• command stays on command line until cleared by another press of F9
• command can be edited (no need to retype)
• Press F10 to execute the command typed on command line
  • command stays on command line until cleared by another press of F9
  • move to command line area by clicking mouse inside it and edit it
  • press F10 to execute edited command

Ctrl, Shift, Alt: linguistic units keys

Nota Bene’s commands can be implemented at different linguistic unit levels, ranging from the single character, to the word, to the sentence, and to the paragraph. Combining these keys with other command keys expands the linguistic “space” on which the execution takes place.

• Ctrl acts on words (e.g., Ctrl + right arrow key moves cursor to next word)
• Shift acts on sentences (e.g., Shift + right arrow key moves cursor to next sentence)
• Alt acts on paragraphs (e.g., Alt + right arrow key moves cursor to next paragraph)
  

F11: transpose key

Transposing is the act of inverting the order of text that has been typed in the wrong order; e.g., “hisotry” instead of “history” or “to boldly go” instead of “to go boldly” and so on.

• press F11 to transpose letters
• F11 + Ctrl to transpose words
• F11 + Shift to transpose sentences
• F11 + Alt to transpose paragraphs

F12: quick define key

• F12 defines text in one keystroke
• press F12 to define a whole line
• F12 +Ctrl to define a word
• F12 + Shift to define a sentence
• F12+Alt to define paragraph

F2: precise define

Whether you use the command line or the mouse, there are plenty of reasons for learning the very useful F2 key. With F2 you can “define” or block out text very precisely but without the annoying Windows mouse “overrun.” That’s when you use the mouse to block out text, but the text keeps running away from where you precisely want it: the screen runs away from you before you are ready to let go of the mouse button.

• press F2 when you are ready to begin to define the text you want
• move the cursor to the end of the defined area
• press F2 again
• the defined text is highlighted, ready to be acted on
• after completing action, press ESC to clear the buffer

Accents and diacriticals

NB comes equipped with all the diacriticals needed by Western languages (for users in need of Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic, you can acquire Nota Bene Lingua Workstation). As in other features of the program, you can use the mouse or the keyboard to effect the same results. The indications below dealing with foreign characters are limited to normal usage in Spanish and Portuguese, the languages that, along with English, you are most likely to encounter in this course.

To use the mouse, click on

• Insert
• Latin Vowels & Others...
• desired character twice (or once, then Insert)

If you use the keyboard, all accented vowels, tildes and similar diacriticals are effected by pressing the needed key together with Ctrl and Alt.

Thus, vowels with accute accents are found along the a s d ... row of keys, combined with Ctrl+Alt. The exact key to press is the one that lines up with the desired vowel. Thus, Ctrl+Alt+

• a results in an accute accent over the a (á)
• below the letter e (d) results in an accute accent over the e (é)
• below the letter u (j) results in an accute accent over the u (ú)
• below the letter i (k) results in an accute accent over the i (í)
• below the letter o (l) results in an accute accent over the o (ó)
• n results in a tilde over the n (ñ)

Similarly, vowels with umlauts over them are found along the q w e ... row, combined with Ctrl+Alt. Finally, grave accents over vowels are effected along the z x c row of keys, combined with Ctrl+Alt.
Exceptions to the keyboard layout are normally related characters used in Portuguese. Thus, Ctrl+Alt+

• x results in a tilde over the a (ã)
• 9 results in a caret over the o (ô)
• v results in a cedilla (ç)

Automatic numbering and management

If you have used MS Word, you've probably encountered one of the ways in which that program tries to predict what you need. When it guesses wrong, you are forced to spend valuable time getting the program to do what you want it to do. Automatic numbering (including bulleting) is one of the areas in which this consistent second-guessing is found by many to be most annoying.

Here is some advice to guide your approach to automatic numbering: NB is very much not programmed to second-guess (it can do so under some circumstances, if you want it do, something unlikely among NB users, who like to maintain control over what they write). Normally, if you want something done by NB, you are given full control, you tell the program what to do. Thus, if you are typing a numbered list in you document, pressing Enter does not insert the next number or bullet. Should you want the next paragraph to contain the sequential number, NB will calculate it automatically at your command (either by direct keyboard entry or by mouse clicks).

Counters: what’s behind the automatic numbering mechanism

NB uses the term “counter” to identify the number that is used to number different sections of a document (don’t worry, you read the preceding statement correctly). Think of a counter with a very specific number that the program uses to count certain things as the policeman who keeps track of the numbers of those things (or sections) which it is assigned to monitor.

Take the example of chapter numbers. A book might contain six chapters. The counter that NB uses to account for each chapter is counter 0 (it just does, don’t fret over why). Thus, at the first instance of a counter 0, the section of the document in which the chapter title belongs would automatically be given the number 1. The second instance a counter 0 is inserted in a section where the chapter title is typed, the chapter would be assigned the number 2, and so on. There are much more practical uses of automatic numbering, which you may very well use in routine ways. Take, for instance, tables.

Let’s suppose that you are going to type a table that shows the military expenditure by the government of General Juan Manuel de Rosas for the years 1832 through 1842. NB uses counter 9 to control the numbers assigned to each table. Thus, at the point after which you type the word “Table” and before typing the actual table title, you insert a counter 9, simply by clicking Insert, Numbered Item..., Table. Thus:

Table 1 Military Expenditures under Rosas, 1832-1842

You will notice in your document that your cursor won’t be able to rest on the number proper, but rather skips over it. That’s because we all realize — including the programmers — that today’s table number 1 might end up tomorrow, after editing, as table number 4. Aaahhhh... but it will always carry a counter 9 to keep track of what number the table should have regardless of its position.

The next table you prepare might contain data on food prices in the city of Buenos Aires during a similar period. You would repeat the same process as above. Thus:

Table 2 Costs of flour and meat, City of Buenos Aires, 1832-42

You get the picture? NBW reserves the use of the following counters for the following purposes (all this is visible under the Insert, Numbered Item... dialog):

• counter 0 for chapters
• counter 9 for tables
• counter 8 for figures
• counter 10 for appendices
  and
• counters 11 through 14 for lists of any sort you want to have.

You can define each of these counters as you wish: Arabic or Roman numerals, upper or lower case letters. You can define the style, the character after it, before it, and so on. NOTE: when using an academic manual of style, you define nothing: the style trumps personal preferences (“you can’t be a little pregnant").

And, most important, you invoke the counter for automatic numbering when you want to.

But, to get back to academic writing, exactly how do you keep track of both the contents of certain items, their numbers, and their various locations in the document? I mean, after a while, who remembers the contents or the table number, and exactly what page is that particular table on?; and what do you do when the document changes cause the table number to be no longer has the same as before or is no longer located on the same page as before? Enter the cross-referencing mechanism. Read on.

Cross-references: keeping track of numbered items and their locations

Remember the discussion of tables above? What’s more important: the fact that a particular table has number 2, for example, or its actual contents? In fact, the number is less important than its contents! After all, the number assigned to a table can change at any time: it can be placed below another table thereby raising its number, or ahead of a table, thereby lowering it. But, regardless of number, its contents are likely to remain unaltered. So, it’s content that counts.

But how does one remember the content of a table, or a figure, or a section within the document? Give it a label, one that evokes the contents. To insert a reference label, click Insert, Reference Label, then enter a term in the dialog box, and click Insert. Thus, using the example of tables in the section above, you would enter a label for Table 2 — for example — dealing with food prices. The label might be something like “flourmeatba” to remind you that it contains data on the prices of flour and meat in Buenos Aires. You could insert the label anywhere along the table title, though it is more natural to insert it right after the counter. Thus, the steps from start to finish would be:

• Type the word “Title” followed by a space
• click Insert, Numbered Item..., Counter 9
• click Insert, Reference Label ...
• type a term in the New Label... dialog, such as “flourmeatba” (but without the quotation marks)
• click Insert, Close (NOTE: the label is not visible unless you turn on the Display Format Markers by clicking on the icon along the bottom of the NBW screen).

While the results look similar, you have now tagged the table with both an identifier and a means of identifying its location (i.e., page number), regardless of any changes in the document or in the table number.

Table 2 Costs of flour and meat, City of Buenos Aires, 1832-42

To refer to this table, at any point in the document, above it or below it, you would simply cross-reference it. Here is what to do. Suppose you are typing somewhere in the document the following: “As can be seen in Table “ At this point.

• click insert, Cross Reference...
• click on Counter
• click on down arrow either for the counter number — if you remember that counter 9 is used for tables, or for the item “Table” which brings up the number 9 —
• click on the label name to highlight it, then Insert

The results will look like this (with a green, underlined number, indicating its possibly temporary number assignment): “As can be seen in Table 2”

But what about the location of table 2? where will this table be found? Simply add the text “on page ” and go through the same process as above, except, instead of clicking on Table, click on Page Number. Thus, your text would read something like this:

“As can be seen in Table 2 on page 7 ...” and just keep on typing.

Should document changes affect the table’s number and/or its location, the green numbers will change automatically. You can see how useful this can be, relieving you of housekeeping chores best left to the program.

This closes the loop on automatic numbering and the associated cross referencing.

Beyond word processing: follow that thread

This very brief introduction to Nota Bene has concentrated on some of the basic features dealing with academic word processing. Making sense of this introduction depends on understanding the contents of the files ACADEME1.SMP and ACADEME2,SMP that come with the program (they are located in NBWIN\DOCUMENTS\SAMPLES). These sample files explain in greater detail how the complex interactions involved in academic writing are made simple by this academic word processing application.

But beyond word-processing, how do you get the most out of data that have already been entered either directly into NB or converted by NB from another word processing program? How best to get back all those jottings and notes on lectures and readings you've been accumulating over time when you need them? How best to get returns on the labor you will be investing as you steadily use this program to build your digital academic corpus? The Orbis application in the Nota Bene suite holds some of the answers, and we'll soon get to Orbis.

However, Nota Bene's word-processing mechanism provides the means to follow a thread by taking the user from a given document to specific documents containing realted matters, a kind of following of a train of thought. Version 7 introduced the Hyperlink. With Hyperlink you can write down an idea or name and relate them to associated ideas or names by identifying the file containing them. The user double-clicks on the term(s) and that file is automatically opened. That file, in turn, can lead to other files containing associated data. And so on. In fact, Hyperlink can be used to take the writer to almost any type of file, not only Nota Bene documents. These can include Web sites, graphic data, such as BMP "paint" files, or virtually any native application that is available in the user's computer. This is indicated in the Hyperlink dialog below.

The user types the filename and a brief decription and clicks Insert. The description appears in the document in green. When the user double-clicks on any part of the description, NB launches the program needed to open the file (see green text below):

Hyperlinking will take the user to specific files containing data. But what if the user's needs call for searching broadly, across any number of files, not only for data, but also for data within stipulated relationships? What do you use to find ALL data reflecting on, say, federalism and resistance to central authority?

Enter Orbis.

For an introduction to how qualitative analysis is enhanced by relating ideas, concepts and data like you've never seen before, click on Orbis .