Teaching by Showing – Using Image Editors to Explain Yourself
I realize we are not likely supposed to promote products here on SLAW but I really, really like both IrfanView and the Microsoft Snipping Tool as revolutionizing the ability to visually explain things in an HTML email (and I realize I am likely behind the curve on this one).
I am a visual learner and like to see things in a picture. Since there is often insufficient time for in-person training, it helps to be able to visually explain to someone in an email where to click on a program or what words to input into the database. Both of the foregoing products are very good for doing just that.
For the screenshots below: imagine your user forgets how to find a statute on Westlaw Canada and then check for “citing references” (to see if the section has been judicially considered). It is fairly simply to do a quick narrative in your email: Input your details and click “Go” – see screenshot 1 below. Then click “Citing references” (highlighted in yellow in screenshot 2), etc.
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Like they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words . . . ” (or so I hope).
I, too, make much use of screenshots to do away with the thousand words whenever possible. I find a free program, Jing, really helpful for capturing images from the screen; it lets you mark up your capture with arrows, highlighting etc. And it captures video, so you can record cursor movements and so forth. Works with both Windows and Mac operating systems.