5. Course Text

This text, Nature of Geographic Information, is presented in an open source content management system called Drupal (for information about Drupal, visit http://drupal.org/). One advantage to presenting the text in Drupal is that we can enable registered students to comment and ask questions directly on text pages. Another advantage is that Drupal allows us to publish the text openly, for the benefit of anyone who has access to the Internet, regardless of their ability to pay tuition or buy an expensive printed textbook.

Login

Anyone with a Web browser and Internet access can view this text without logging into this Drupal site. Only registered GEOG 482 students can log in. While logged in, registered students can post comments to text pages and subscribe to pages to be notified of future posts. To log in, click on the "Log In" link on the left sidebar. Log in with your Penn State Access ID and password.  While GEOG 160 students cannot login to post comments, they are able to read any comments posted to the course text pages.

Start Here

• Orientation - familiarizes registered students with the learning environments used to conduct Penn State courses

Resources

(or Resources 482 for GEOG 482 students only)

• Introduction - text title, author information, and introductory statement
• About the Instructor - contact information and a brief introduction to the course instructor (GEOG 482 only)
• Syllabus - the course syllabus (GEOG 482 only)
• Academic Integrity Guide - policies and guidelines to help students avoid plagiarism
• ANGEL - link to the ANGEL course management system
• Library Resources - links out Penn State library resources specific to Geography
• Help - links to helpful contacts for registered Penn State students and other users

GEOG 482

• Links to Chapters 1-9
• When you click on a Chapter link, links to the pages that make up the chapter are revealed.
• Navigate between pages using the links at the botoom of each page, OR select a page from the GEOG 482 menu on the left.
• Each chapter includes an overview page, checklist page, multiple content pages, and a summary.
• Chapter pages permit commenting by registered students. More information on commenting is included in the Communication page later in this orientation.
  

Recent Comments

• This area in the left sidebar displays links to the latest comments posted to pages of the course text.
  Clicking on an entry will take you to the section of the Course Text where the comment was posted.
  If you wish to subscribe to the Course Text comments in something like Google Reader, the feed URL is
  https://www.e-education.psu.edu/natureofgeoinfo/crss

Printing Options

• Note the "printer-friendly version" link in the upper-right of each page.
• The "printer-friendly version" links compile pages or chapters into a single HTML document. The link on the first page of each chapter compiles the entire chapter into a single HTML document.

Offline Version of the Course Text (GEOG 482 only)

• In the "Offline Course Text" folder under the Lessons tab in ANGEL you will find each chapter of the Course Text compiled into a PDF document file. As well as being able to work from these version of the chapters without being connected to the Internet, you are encouraged to download and save them.