Paul (and everyone else) --

First -- thanks to anyone and everyone who wants to share ideas and resources. This kind of helpful collegiality is terrific.

Paul's right -- many publications now restrict free access to their articles to first week of publication. If you see an article you want to share with your colleagues (in the study tour forum), please do the following:

(Most of you already have the first several steps down, but just in case...)

1. Highlight (or select) the text of the article (often it's easiest to do this after clicking on the "printer-friendly version of the article" -- this gives you the text without all the ads and other stuff on the typical page).

2. Copy the highlighted text by either pressing ctrl +C (Windows) or command + C (Mac). Of course, you can also use the edit menu at the top of your browser (click on edit, then on copy).

3. Open a text editor (all Windows machines have Notepad and Wordpad located under Start/All Programs/Accessories) or word processor.

4. Paste (ctrl + v or command + v or using the edit menu) the copied text into your text editor or word processor window. Please be sure to include the source and date of the article. You may also wish to include the web address where you originally found it.

5. Save the new document (ctrl + s or command + s or file | save). Use a simple name such as how-to-save-article. If you are using a text editor, the document will automatically be saved as a text file. This is best since every computer can open text files quickly and the files are small. If you are using a word processor, you'll need to select "text" from the "save as file type" list under the "save as" box. Just click on the down arrow and you'll get your choices. This is a kindness to your readers. Not everyone will have the same word processor and its format, but everyone will be able to open text files. Text files cannot contain viruses and are absolutely safe to open. Most people can also open rich text format (rtf) and, thanks to Microsoft's domination, doc format documents.

Now that you've saved your file (it's on your hard or floppy disk), it's time to attach it to a forum message.

1 Open a new browser window (click on file, new, window) and go to the discussion forums (http://portal.international.ucla.edu/asiainstituteforums)

2. Locate the proper forum and thread (topic). Remember that it is best to place your posts in established threads (e.g., ethnic minorities, family, economy....). Click "reply".

3. Type in your subject line. It might be the article title or topic. Type in your own message. Explain what's in the article, why we might be interested in reading it, and, if appropriate, the teaching application of the article.

4. Below the box where you type in your own message is the "attach" dialogue box. Click on "browse" to locate the file (the one you just saved). Select it and click open or select. The location of the file will be shown in the attach dialogue box. When you click "post" your message and the file will automatically be uploaded to our web server. Both will be available to your colleagues.

To open a file attached to a message, just click on the file icon (it is supposed to look like a vise squeezing a file). Most of the time it will open automatically. On some computers you will need to choose which program to open it with (text files can be opened with text editors like Notepad or any word processor).