Chapter 6: Making the Most of Research Services and Reference Tools

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Overview

Word adds resources to your reference library without taking up an inch of shelf space. By default, when you install Word, you also install several standard reference tools, including research resources, a dictionary, a grammar guide, a thesaurus, a translation tool, and a document statistics tool.

The greatest advantage that reference tools in Word have over traditional reference books is that you can access and customize the Word tools while you work—without stopping midsentence, digging out your trusty encyclopedia, dictionary, or grammar guide, flipping through pages, and then modifying your text after you find the answer to your question. In fact, you don't even have to close or minimize your Word window. Furthermore, Word reference tools enable you to apply information you find—such as spelling and grammatical changes—automatically, thereby speeding up your word-processing tasks even more. Once you learn how to use Word reference tools properly, you'll find that they can be extremely handy. In this chapter, we focus on getting the most out of the electronic research and reference tools that are readily available every time you work in Word.

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