Copyright: 'Speed Reading with Lamb' by Datasaurus Ltd.


Contents

Introduction

About

AutoCue

Gauge

Go to a Page

Menu Bar

Pages

Speed Reading


Introduction

This software is designed to help you read paper and electronic text faster, whilst retaining a higher percentage of what you read.

The book is a light-hearted one, written in the States during the Prohibition. About tells you more. I have preserved the original spelling and layout.

If you dont like the book but want to try speed reading, pick another plain text file and use that with this software instead. Select Pick New Book from the file menu.

Steps in learning.

1. Familiarise yourself with the software by trying all the buttons and the options on the menu bar.

2. Select a reading speed by pressing the arrows at the bottom of the screen; this will start the autocue. Try about 300wpm to start with.

3. If you get interrupted, or need a break then press the ignition key to stop the AutoCue. Pressing it again will restart it.

4. After reading a chapter or two, read one of the lessons and try the suggested techniques.

5 At the end of each chapter, select the test for that chapter and answer the multiple choice questions.

6 When you've read a few chapters, have a look at your results. You are aiming at 80% or more. Once you've reached that figure, increase your speed by 100wpm and try the next chapter.

7 Once you've finished the book, or you've run out of time, read the After Lamb lesson. It makes some suggestions for the future.

8. If you don't have access to Lamb at your normal workstation, why not print off the lessons?

9. Select PC Health from the menu bar to remind you of your rights and obligations when working at a PC.

Have a nice day.

David Warner, Datasaurus Ltd.


About

The Stray Lamb, by Thorne Smith was published in America in the twenties. It is a superb, whimsical comedy that has given my family a great deal of pleasure - I hope that you, and your children will enjoy it as well. The world has few comic authors who can write well; Thorne Smith is one of those few.

Thorne Smith wrote a number of other comedies and one serious novel, which, he says himself, is his funniest. As time goes on, I hope to republish these other works on floppy disk.

Selecting 'About' from the Menu Bar will tell you a bit more about Datasaurus and its products.


AutoCue

Using the ignition key will stop and start the auto-cue; this will start turning pages every so many seconds. You can set the speed by using the arrow keys beneath the speed gauge. The speed is expressed in words per minute (WPM) as shown in the panel by the gauge. You'll find that 300 WPM is a typical starting speed. With practice, you should be able to get up to 800 WPM.

Select Speed Reading from the Lamb menu to learn how to improve your reading technique and to do the comprehension tests after each chapter.

The sliders on either side of the Lamb window show you where you should be on a page at any given time.

After each page there is a short delay to allow you to rest your eyes and focus on the first line of the new page. Do not start reading until the sliders start moving.

Remember to take the retention tests at the end of each chapter.


Colour
Changing the Text Colour.

Selecting this option from the Edit menu will allow you to change the colour of the text. Experiment with different colours to find the best text and paper colours for your machine.

Don't forget that reading from a screen is more tiring than reading from paper. You might prefer to print some of the book.


Copy
Copying Pages of Text.

Select Copy from the Edit menu to copy a page of text to the clipboard. You can then use the text to brighten up your own letters.

The text is not copyrighted - only the software is. This means that you are free to use the text in any way you please.


Exit

Exit Mr Lamb.

Choose Quit from the File menu,  to close the book. When you open the book again, you will find yourself at the point you left. Your personal preferences, e.g. paper colour, and scores will have been preserved.

To quit and wipe out your name, preferences and scores, select 'Quit and delete user' from the File menu.

Tip: As with most Windows' software, you can also use ALT + F4 to close Lamb.


Font
Font Changing

Selecting this from the menu bar will allow you to choose another font. For speed reading you should choose one which is clear, like Arial or Garamond. Choose a comfortable font size. The default is 10, but you'll need a bigger one than this on many screens.

Lamb will do its best to size its window to accommodate all fonts - but you may find that it cannot resize itself to cope with some exotic ones. If you find that you're missing the end of lines or the last line on a page, just drag out the right or bottom borders.

Lamb always chooses bold for clarity.


Gauge
Gauge.

Use this to set your reading speed. It governs that rate at which Mr Lamb turns the pages.

See also Speed Reading.


Goto
Goto a page.

Click on the EPage number at the bottom of the screen to call up this page number grid. Click on the grid to move around in the book.

Examples...

If you want to go to page 100, Click the 1 in the leftmost column, a 0 in the middle column and a 0 in the rightmost column. You will then be taken to EPage 100.

To go to page 99, click 9 in the middle column and 9 in the right column.

To go to page 5, click 5 in the right column.

Press cancel if you decide not to go anywhere.

Tip: You can press Ctrl+G as well.


Health
PC Health.

Click on this option on the menu bar to learn more about your rights and obligations following the EU directive on workstations.

You can also print the text of the 'lesson'.


Index
Help Index.

Choose this from the 'Help' menu to read this help text.


Lessons
The Lessons.

There are six lessons that you can access from the Speed Reading menu. Work your way through them in sequence, perhaps after reading every other chapter.

When you have read a lesson, try out the suggested techniques when you read the next chapter. When you do the next test, you'll be able to see whether that technique has helped you. Don't give up on any techniques too quickly though.

When you've finished the course, read the 'After Lamb' lesson. This will give you some tips on how to hone your reading skills. Remember that you can print the lessons.


Menu
Menu Bar.

Click Lamb's menu bar to pick the following options:

File Menu

Page One

End of Book

Print

Quit

Edit Menu

Copy Page

Find

Find Next

Text Colour

Paper Colour

Font: Size and Style

Speed Reading

Lessons

Test yourself

Your Results

PC Health

Health & Safety at the Workstation

Help

Index

About

Register

Using Help


Pages
Page Turning.

Use the 'Next Page' and 'Last Page' buttons. Alternatively you can turn on the autocue so that Lamb turns the pages for you. If you prefer to use the keyboard, you can use the PgUp & PgDn keys. The 'Enter' key will also turn over a new leaf for you.

Home will take you to page one and End will take you to the last page of the book. You can also go to the first page by selecting 'Page One' from the File menu.

You can use Search to find a particular 'paper' page number. The 'paper' numbers are those that were printed on the original book. Search for 'Chapter' to go to the next chapter. Note that not all pages were numbered.

When you close Lamb, your page is dog-eared. Next time you use Lamb, you'll start from that page.


Paper
Paper Colour.

This can be changed from the Edit menu.

The colour you choose will depend on how good your monitor is. Pick a colour that is easy on your eyes, grey is a good choice - white is usually a bad choice as it is too bright.

Many people like white text on a medium to dark blue background; I prefer black text on grey paper. Psychologists say that amber on black is good - The choice is yours!


Print

Printing Lamb

If you want to read Lamb in your proverbial bath or sheep-dip, you'll want to print a chapter or two.

Select print from the File menu and choose your options. If necessary, select 'setup' from the print options to switch your printer to portrait, the required state for printing The Stray Lamb.

 Note that the electronic pages will not quite match the original paper ones, but the effect is not unpleasing.

Printing Lessons.

Feel free to print the lessons off to act as an aide-memoire after your course. Select 'Print Lessons' from the 'File Menu' to do this. If necessary select setup from the print menu to switch your printer to portrait, the required format for printing lessons.

Printing PC Health.

Feel free to print the health and safety text. If you have an obstreperous manager, you can always beat him over the head with it. Select 'Print PC Health' from the 'File Menu' to do this.

Printing Results.

If you want a record of how well you've done, a good idea if you're going to keep trying to improve your reading skills, you should print your results. Select 'Print Results' from the 'File Menu' to do this. If necessary select setup from the print menu to switch your printer to portrait, the required format for printing results.


Registration
Registration.

Select this from the Help menu to register Lamb. Registration is good for you, and for me!


Results
Results.

Select this option from the 'Speed Reading' menu to see how well you are doing in the tests. Remember that you can print your results.


Search
Searching.

Select Find from the Edit menu to look for quotes or to move around in the book. When an item is found, you are taken to that page and the quote is highlighted.

Search for the word 'chapter' to go on to the next one. Search for page numbers to move to other parts of the book. Note that not all pages are numbered.


Speed Reading
Speed Reading.

Select this option from the menu bar to do the following:

1. Do the lessons. Read a lesson after every chapter or two and try out the suggested techniques.

2. Do the tests. take a test after each chapter.

3. Check your results. See how you're progressing after a tests.


Tests
Taking Tests

When you have finished reading a chapter, you should try the test that goes with it. To do this, select 'Test Yourself' from the 'Speed Reading' menu.

You will be shown a screen that allows you to choose the test you want. Usually you will want to choose the chapter that you have just read. From time to time you should choose one that you read sometime ago, just to see how long you are retaining what you are reading.

The tests are of the multiple choice type. Click the answer you think is right. You will not be told which ones you got right or wrong; this is so that you can reuse the tests more effectively.

There are 10 questions per test. You'll be given your score and some hints on how to better at the end.

Select resultsresults_topic from the 'speed reading' menu to revisit your old scores.


Using Help
Using Help.

Select this option from the 'Help' menu to get some tips on how best to use 'help'.