Book Value

Word & Excel: Exact Solutions
William McDiarmid CGA
From www.cdnaccountancy.com/learning.htm for $39.95

As its title suggests, this 229-page manual is an exhaustive collection of tips that can be useful if you only have minimal knowledge of Word or Excel. There is an 11-page index at the beginning, detailing how to accomplish various functions in the two programs. Leafing through pages and pages of explanations could be overwhelming, but the author avoids this pitfall with plenty of screen shots and large type. He also sprinkles some humour throughout. For example, in Word, the “auto correct” tip reads: “Supposing the acronym for your company is ACN, but every time you type it you get CAN. This causes much cursing. Word automatically corrects some typos but they can be turned off. Lighten up! There is a quick fix.”

The manual does not specify which version of Word and Excel it is explaining, but the tips seem to be applicable to both new and older versions. It’s not the kind of manual that starts with the basics and gradually adds more advanced topics in a logical fashion. If you’re looking to improve your Word and Excel skills, take a look at www.cdnaccountancy.com/learning.htm for the full index of how-to’s and see whether there are any tips that will “lighten up” your life.