By Dale Farris, Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
April 2005

In the exciting book publishing business, there are various special areas of interest in which many publishers choose to focus. For example, some publishers specialize in children's literature, while other publishers focus on other specialized areas, such as science fiction, romance novels, western novels, etc. One of the many specialized areas in publishing is the important field of textbooks. Textbooks are especially designed to meet the exacting needs of educational instructors and students.

However, it is rare to find a textbook that also has cross-over appeal to the retail market. In the case of the Personal Trainer series, O'Reilly has managed to accomplish this very difficult challenge, providing a super set of titles that will be of great value to both the education and the general reader market.

O'Reilly has partnered with a clever group of writers, editors, artists, and designers with CustomGuide, Inc., to produce this superior series of titles that provide step-by-step, interactive learning of Windows XP and all the Office 2003 suite of applications.

O'Reilly's new Personal Trainer Series is based on content from CustomGuide (www.customguide.com), a leading provider of computer training materials. Founded by instructors who grew dissatisfied with the industry's dry course materials, CustomGuide offers courseware for instructors and students, quick references to software bulletins, and electronic learning courses that are fun, flexible, and easy to use.

Generally, textbooks are designed with classroom instruction in mind, which results in titles that tend to have far more full-color photographs, figures, diagrams, or screenshots, along with extensive, detailed, step-by-step instruction that guides students through the various approaches to using the various features that are coded into today's software. This attention to detail, and to making the book most relevant to the needs of students results in a tendency for textbooks to also be priced higher than books that are designed for the common retail market. However, all these marvelous Personal Trainer titles are very reasonably priced, especially when you consider the extensive added attention that went into designing these important titles.

In addition to the many screenshots and figures, you also get in each title interactive training software on the accompanying CD ROM disc. This electronic learning experience is designed to recreate the experience of using the software, as you read through the material in the books. This engaging training simulation will give you hands-on experience that makes the learning even more understandable and even more easier to remember. All the interactive workouts on CD correspond to the lessons in the book. You can quickly navigate to the topic you want to learn. The hands-on simulations reinforce the information you read, for a total learning experience. The interactive simulation software alone is worth the minimal investment in these vital learning tools that belong in all Windows XP and Office training environments.

Variety of Features

In all the Personal Trainer series of titles, readers and students will find these features.

Introduction; Using the Interactive Environment instructions; Extensive screenshots; Tons of figures; Tables; Chapter Objectives; Quick Reference Refresher Tips; Step-By-Step Instructions with Examples; Lesson Summaries; End-Of-Chapter Quizzes (with answers); Homework; Index; Cover Colophon; Personal Trainer Interactive Electronic Software on CD ROM

In addition, all the books have been bound in O'Reilly's now famous RepKover, a durable and flexible "lay-flat" binding. This means when you open the book in the middle, the book will stay open, or lay flat, as you read through the book.

Titles in the Personal Trainer Series

(1) - Windows XP Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editors:
Tatiana Apandi Diaz
Nathan Torkington

ISBN:
0-596-00862-7

Pages:
480

Date:
November 2004 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, Windows XP Personal Trainer includes thirteen (13) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Working With a Window
Working With a Windows Program
Working With Files and Folders
Customizing the Taskbar and Desktop
Customizing Windows
The Free Programs
Working With Pictures and Multimedia
Optimizing and Maintaining Your Computer
Exploring the Internet
Passwords, Logons, and User Accounts
Networking with Windows XP
Setting Up a Network

(2) - Word 2003 Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editor:
Michele Filshie

ISBN:
0-596-00936-4

Pages:
454

Date:
February 2005 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, Word 2003 Personal Trainer includes fifteen (15) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Working With and Editing Text
Formatting Characters and Paragraphs
Formatting Pages
Working With Tables
Working With Templates and Styles
Drawing and Working with Graphics
Performing a Mail Merge
Document Collaboration
Working With Outlines and Long Documents
Working With WordArt and Charts
Working With Other Programs
Working With Forms
Creating Web Pages with Word
Advanced Topics

(3) - Excel 2003 Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editors:
Tatiana Apandi Diaz
Nathan Torkington

ISBN:
0-596-00853-8

Pages:
482

Date:
November 2004 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, Word 2003 Personal Trainer includes thirteen (1) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Editing a Worksheet
Formatting a Worksheet
Creating and Working with Charts
Managing Your Workbooks
More Functions and Formulas
Working With Lists
Automating Tasks with Macros
Working with Other Programs
Using Excel with the Internet
Data Analysis and PivotTables
What-If Analysis
Advanced Topics

(4) - Access 2003 Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editor:
Michele Filshie

ISBN:
0-596-00937-2

Pages:
3642

Date:
March 2005 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, Access 2003 Personal Trainer includes eleven (11) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Creating and Working With a Database
Finding, Filtering, and Formatting Data
Working With Tables and Fields
Creating Relational Databases
Working With Queries
Working With Forms
Working With Reports
Formatting Forms and Reports
Working With Macros
Advanced Topics

(5) - PowerPoint 2003 Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editors:
Tatiana Apandi Diaz
Nathan Torkington

ISBN:
0-596-00855-4

Pages:
332

Date:
November 2004 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, PowerPoint 2003 Personal Trainer includes ten (10) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Editing a Presentation
Formatting Your Presentation
Drawing and Working With Graphics
Working With Tables and WordArt
Working With Graphs and Organization Charts
Delivering Your Presentation
Working With Multimedia
Working With Other Programs and the Internet
Advanced Topics

(6) - Outlook 2003 Personal Trainer

Authors:
CustomGuide, Inc.

Editor:
Michele Filshie

ISBN:
0-596-00935-6

Pages:
336

Date:
February 2005 - First Edition

Features:
With plenty of detailed diagrams, Outlook 2003 Personal Trainer includes eleven (11) chapters on:

The Fundamentals
Using E-mail
Using the Address Book
Using the Contacts List
Using the Calendar
Using the Tasks List
Using the Journal
Advanced E-mail Features
Organizing and Finding Information
Collaborating With Other Users
Advanced Topics

Target Readers

The targeted readers of O'Reilly's Personal Trainer series of titles from CustomGuide are students at all levels of skill and ages who are learning Windows XP and the suite of applications in Microsoft's Office 2003. What makes these super titles so intriguing is their application both in instructional environments, as well as very useful to general readers. The approach in these books is to provide step-by-step instructions on how to use the software, and the inclusion of the interactive, electronic learning on the accompanying CD ROM disc makes these titles even more valuable.

Any instructor teaching classes on Windows XP or Microsoft Office will definitely want to give serious consideration of this important collection of titles that will most definitely fit well into their classroom learning. Readers not enrolled in formal learning will also find the learning approach of these books to be an extremely valuable addition to their commitment to personal learning.

About CustomGuide, Inc.

Back in the late 1990s, a couple of ordinary computer instructors found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with the computer training industry. Computer books such as the Dummies and Visually series were making learning about computers easy and (gasp) sometimes even fun for individuals—yet the material available to organizations continued to be dry and technical. Content providers were more interested in their own growth and profits than in their customers or the quality of their products. So these ordinary computer instructors decided to do something about it: they founded CustomGuide.

For several years they sweated and toiled, using their personal training and support experience to create a series of high-quality training materials that were fun, flexible, and easy to use. Then they tested their materials thoroughly in the classroom and used student feedback to make their content even better. Finally, CustomGuide's founders took their new courseware to a training conference and released it to an unsuspecting training industry.

They must have been on to something, because CustomGuide quickly became the world's leading provider of print-on-demand computer courseware. Although the company has grown, it continues to have the same vision, drive, and commitment. From courseware, to quick references, to software bulletins and eLearning courses, CustomGuide ensures that all their computer training products are fun, flexible, and easy to use.

About O'Reilly Media

O'Reilly Media is the premier information source for leading-edge computer technologies. The company's books, conferences, and web sites bring to light the knowledge of technology innovators. O'Reilly books, known for the animals on their covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves of the developers building the next generation of software. O'Reilly conferences and summits bring alpha geeks and forward-thinking business leaders together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. From the Internet to XML, open source, .NET, Java, and web services, O'Reilly puts technologies on the map.

O'Reilly Media creates products that they want to use. Whatever form it takes--book, conference, online product--they want anything produced with the O'Reilly name to be useful, interesting, and truthful. And O'Reilly Media believes that there are plenty of intelligent, discriminating people in the world who value those qualities as deeply as they do.

Publisher Contact

Marsee Henon
marsee@oreilly.com
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
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Sebastopol, California 95472
707-827-7000
707-827-7114
800-998-9938
FAX 707-829-0104
www.oreilly.com