Books and stuff

REQUIRED

• AP Stylebook

• A good dictionary and thesaurus

• A three-ring binder with dividers to hold your notes and handouts

• A creative spirit and an open mind

• A USB flash drive (also known as a thumb drive or jump drive) to transfer files. Shop around for sales. Try the ASU Computer Store, Costco, Office Depot or Fry’s Electronics.
     good: $30 to $50 for 256 meg
     better: $40 to $70 for 512 meg
     best: $60 and up for 1 gig

For PCs, usually insert on front in USB port
For Macs, insert in USB port in box or on left side of keyboard

Be sure to wait for the flash drive to finish loading before removing it from the computer. Otherwise, your data might be lost or corrupted.

You cannot try to hit a home run. It just happens.
               —Mark McGwire

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

• Macromedia Creative Suite: Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand and Fireworks (about $250 at the ASU Computer Store) if you want to work on projects at home. You can buy an earlier version for less on eBay. Otherwise, you’ll have to use the ASU computer labs. Or you can buy Dreamweaver on its own.

• You can download a free trial version of Dreamweaver or Photoshop for 30 days.

• For $25 a month you can subscribe to lynda.com and do practice tutorials of Photoshop, Dreamweaver and more.

• Books (Link to “Resources for Web Workers” by Mindy McAdams)

• Resource list

• Online Journalism Review, a free online trade journal you should keep up with. Several articles are usually added each week; the site also offers access to online news updates and other interesting tidbits. Please add it to your Favorites or Bookmarks list, and sample its offerings regularly

• Photoshop 7 (about $270 at the ASU Computer Store). You can buy an earlier version for less on eBay.

• Creative Suite (Photoshop 7, InDesign, Go Live, Illustrator and more; about $390 at the ASU Computer Store). You can buy an earlier version for less on eBay.

• Online Journalism by James C. Foust (Scottsdale, Arizona: Holcomb Hathaway, 2005). Shows how to apply journalistic skills to the Internet.

• The Non-Designer's Web Book (3rd edition) by Robin Williams and John Tollett (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2005). Although a bit elementary, it’s popular with beginning Web designers.

• Monthly Focus Guide (in magazine section of bookstores). Comes with a CD video tutorial.

• HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS (Visual QuickStart Guide, 5th edition) by Elizabeth Castro (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2003). Includes good information about CSS and JavaScript.

• Photoshop 7/ImageReady for the Web: Hands-On Training (H.O.T.) by Lynda Weinman and Jan Kabili (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2002). The best information on using Photoshop for Web design. Although the book is expensive, you can sometimes find it online at a lower price.

• Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Hands-on Training (H.O.T.) by Garo Green and Abigail Rudner (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2002). The book and CD will walk you through a Dreamweaver project. Shop around online for a better price.

• Macromedia Dreamweaver for Windows & Macintosh by J. Tarin Towers (Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2003) or another Dreamweaver book that appeals to you.

• Barnes & Noble sells an inexpensive series of basic primers on Photoshop, Dreamweaver, web page design, Web graphics and so forth. These books are sometimes on sale for half price!

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