Chapter 4
The Companion Website™
A Unique Online Study Resource
As a student, you are no doubt familiar with the various supplements produced in
conjunction with your textbooks. From videotapes to workbooks, these tools are
designed to reinforce the core concepts presented by the textbook authors. In addition to traditional print study guides, Prentice Hall now offers online study guides
called Companion Web sites. To date, over one million students like you have visited
these text-specific resources. The Companion Web sites for photography offer the following features:
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Objectives for each chapter that help you isolate the key elements
A concise summary of each chapter for quick online reference
Chapter specific glossaries to help you identify and understand the terms used
Interactive demonstrations simulating all the most important concepts and skills of
photography
• Q and A with instant feedback in both Fill in the Blanks and Multiple Choice formats
• Thoroughly illustrated FAQ sections that allow you to isolate and remedy your camera, lens, exposure, developing, printing, and lighting problems
• Comprehensive listings of photography related sites on the Internet
• Text specific message boards
• Online chat on photography
• …and many other features
Companion Web sites are easy to use. Their standardized design leads you carefully
from one activity to the next, chapter by chapter. Online study guides not only give
you a better understanding of the core concepts presented in your textbooks, but they
also focus your attention on the most important material in every chapter. The
Companion Web sites for photography also allow you to experience the material in a
way no textbook can offer.
4.1
Locating Companion Web sites
All Companion Web sites can be located through the Companion Website Gallery on
the Prentice Hall server: http://www.prenhall.com. There is a search function available. The sites are consistently named with a path directory in the name of the textbook author. The Companion Website for Barbara London and John Upton’s
Photography, for instance, can be found at http://www.prenhall.com/london.
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These are the Companion Web sites for photography currently available:
Barbara London and Jim Stone
A Short Course in Photography – 4th edition.
http://www.prenhall.com/london2
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Barbara London and John Upton
Photography—7th edition.
http://www.prenhall.com/london
Henry Horenstein and Russell Hart
Photography
http://www.prenhall.com/horenstein
4.2
Getting Started
The pages that follow will introduce you to some features of the Companion Website
format. You can of course also learn about the various menu options on the sites
themselves, so we will concentrate on giving you an overview of some basic functions
and let you enjoy the rest on your own. Everything is easy to use and quite selfexplanatory, so don’t let this comprehensive treatment fool you into believing that
Companion Websites demand some special skills beyond what has already been covered in this guide. They have been designed to make your Internet excursions as
effective and educational as possible and they offer unique features that explain the
practical sides of photography in innovative ways. Visit one of the sites listed in the
box above while you read this short chapter, and you’ll master the Companion
Website within minutes.
Introductory page
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The left-hand frame of the introductory page provides some links that complement
the textbook specific content of the Companion Website.
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Syllabus Manager
Student Success
Your Profile
Help
We will cover the Syllabus Manager and Your Profile on the next two pages. In the
right-hand frame, you Select a chapter from the pull-down menu and click Begin to
start your exploration of the text specific content. The chapters are exactly the same
as those found in your textbook. We will return to the menu options for each chapter
(see Contents Menu) after covering the left-hand frame.
Syllabus Manager
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Every Companion Website integrates the Syllabus Manager. It allows your instructor
to create an online syllabus that you can search for and access through this page.
Your instructor will no doubt announce this in class if she or he has added one. Enter
the last name of your instructor, the instructor’s email address, or your school name
in the Student Login box, and press Search Now to get a listing of syllabi under that
name. The result will appear on a new screen (not illustrated). Make sure you choose
the right section number for your course when you select from the list. Instructors
have the option to password protect their syllabus, so you may be prompted for a
password at this point. Forgotten passwords can be requested from a form on the
same screen.
Your Profile
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Your Profile allows you to create a user profile for the submission of quiz results. By
filling out the fields on the profile page, you can standardize the entries and avoid
repeating them every time you do a quiz and send the results to yourself, your instructor, TA, or anyone else you would care to enlighten with your answers. Please see the
Routing Information box on the Results Reporter page covered after the Q and A content. The file format options are quite easy to use. Send the email as plain text for the
usual typed look, or send it as HTML to retain the formatting you can see on the page.
Your instructor needs to use a browser like Navigator or Explorer to receive the HTML
tags. Ask about her or his preferences if they are not announced. You can also send
the same options as email attachments. Please send yourself a copy to keep a record
of results, and be aware that due to the volume of answers being sent, they are collected and distributed at thirty-minute intervals.
4.3
Navigation
Contents Menu
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If you selected a chapter on the introductory page, you will arrive at an Objectives
page with a new navigation menu for the chapter you chose in the left-hand frame.
The top area surrounding the Companion Website logo has Last and Next arrows that
allow you navigate from chapter to chapter. The links below the Chapter heading are
specific to your textbook in photography. The Other Options section at the bottom
contains links to other resources associated with the site, the book, and your course.
We will now look at four items within the textbook specific links section: Multiple
Choice, Fill in the Blanks, i-Chat, and Message Board. The remaining items under this
heading are really the core content that you will enjoy the most, but they require no
further explanation. Sample this part of the menu when you return.
4.4
Modules
Multiple Choice
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You will find a Multiple Choice question module for every chapter on the Companion
Web sites. Multiple Choice in this particular format asks you to select the right conclusion to an opening sentence from four choices. You indicate your selection by
clicking in the round button to the left of your answer. Some Multiple Choice modules
may offer you a Hint button underneath the question number. Please see the Results
Reporter and Routing Information after Fill in the Blanks to view the feedback for your
answers.
Fill in the Blanks
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Fill in the Blanks is of course exactly what the name for this module suggests: A blank
text field where you enter the correct term to conclude the sentence. Insert the cursor in the space provided and type your answer exactly and without spelling mistakes.
Some Fill in the Blanks modules may offer you a Hint button underneath the question number. Once you have completed the module, you Submit (button at the bottom of the page) your answers to the Prentice Hall server. The computer will instantly correct your entries and send an immediate response. This is the Results Reporter
on the next page.
Results Reporter
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Once you have submitted your answers to the server, you will immediately receive a
page with your results. The display is easy to interpret, and it starts by giving you an
illustrated summary of your quiz score. As you scroll down the page, you will find a
response to each individual question, which allows you to find out exactly where you
lost points. At the bottom of the page, you will find the Routing Information covered
next.
Routing Information
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This is the Routing Information dialog box found at the bottom of the Results Reporter
page. It allows you to send the quiz results in an email to the recipients specified in
the bottom boxes. As you might recall, you could set this information in Your Profile
(covered above) to avoid typing it repeatedly. Refer to Your Profile for a summary of
your “send as” options. If you are doing the quiz as an assignment for your class,
always email yourself a copy of the results. There is no backup on the server, so the
results will be deleted once you select another menu option on the Companion
Website.
i-Chat Login
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i-Chat is a live chat environment for Companion Website users. Your instructor may
use it to host classroom discussions with outside contributors, and you may use it to
converse with other photographers across the country about issues and ideas that
concern you. Unlike many chat rooms available online, i-Chat ensures a community
of people that share your interests. Enter the name you want to chat under in the top
dialog box and select a chat type from the pull-down menu. There is a plug-in (see
chapter 3 for information on plug-ins) available to make you more technically eloquent in your conversation. If you use Netscape, you will find a link to download the
plug-in on this page. The other chat clients are Java and HTML based. Try the default
setting first, then Java, and HTML as a last resort. Click Enter Chat Area to start typing and see the next page for a plan of the actual room.
i-Chat Room
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This is the area where the conversation unfolds. Participants are listed in the middle
column, and messages appear in the text area to the left. You type your contributions
in the small horizontal field below the text area. There are several options that expand
on the architecture of a single chat room. Click the small left-hand icon above the text
area to get a listing of all the topics available and the number of participants in each
room. Use the right-hand menu to send a private message, SEND MESSAGE, or create your own chat room for private discussions, CREATE ROOM. Explore these options
as you get more comfortable with the chatting environment. If you need help with any
features, it is available through the small book icon found in the i-Chat menu bar.
Message Board
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The Message Board does not require any special plug-ins or script clients. Simply
select it from the menu and you have instant access to all the messages. It is a convenient way to keep up with a discussion whenever you have time. Previous postings
are threaded, which means that they are grouped according to related messages.
Click on the + side of the All button to display the hierarchy of replies. The Post New
Message button takes you to a Post Message page covered after the Message Display.
To read a message, click on the underlined link listed under the Subject category and
the message will be displayed.
Message Display
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This is how the messages are displayed. Use the arrows below the text to explore a
thread or the hierarchy of messages you viewed on the previous screen. It is easy to
follow a topic by clicking through postings here. If you would like to reply and also
keep the same thread, select the Reply to Message button in the upper right-hand
corner. You will be presented with the Post Message page, and the subject field is
automatically completed for you with this option.
Post Message
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We conclude this brief introduction to the Companion Website by inviting you to
become a part of it. On this Post Message page, you are welcome to ask questions,
offer comments, send replies, or initiate a discussion about issues that concern you
in photography. Fill in your name, a subject heading which may be an existing thread
or a new one, and write your message in the large text area at the bottom. You may
cancel the message at any time by using the Cancel button and post it by pressing
Done—Post Message. Please take advantage of the Companion Web sites for photography to expand on your learning experience. They offer unique opportunities to
interact with the material and to become part of a nationwide community of photographers.