Author Description

The most successful new handbook published in over a decade, The New Century Handbook is the only comprehensive college handbook to be developed with the assumption that students are writing using word processors and are using the Internet as a fundamental source for their research writing. It is the first college handbook to thoroughly integrate an awareness of and instruction on the benefits of computer technology to the writing and research processes. The handbook offers, first and foremost however, a thorough treatment of the writing process, the research process, and grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. The text emphasizes that effective writing, with or without computers, is based on sound rhetorical principles. The authors of the text are major scholars in all of the topic areas covered in the handbook, giving The Century Handbook an authority that is unparalleled among major college handbooks. The Second edition continues to offer up to date and accessible coverage. Chapters on writing explain the various stages of creating a paper, and also incorporate instruction on how students can use word processors to create better developed, well-written essays. Likewise, the research section acknowledges students' varying experience with computers and the Internet, so it illustrates how to find and evaluate print and electronic sources to formulate thoughtful and carefully documented research papers. The chapters on grammar and mechanics offer a complete reference guide and include tips on how to work with grammar- and spell-checkers. The second edition is the first fully integrated web/interactive text in the handbook market. Packaged inside every student textbook is a FREE Interactive Edition CD-ROM―a valuable resource and learning tool for students. Throughout the text, icons in the margins indicate where multimedia assets can be found on the CD, and where additional material can be found on the companion website, that expand on the topics discussed in the book. The CD includes dozens of video and audio clips, interactive exercises, and hotlinked URLs to web resources. The website includes coverage which both supplements and complements what is in the handbook, detailed illustrations of HELP box procedures, chapter review assessments and much more.