Many people are doing less traditional typing on their smart devices, because they’re very busy texting with just their thumbs or taking advantage of new technology that uses predictive vocabulary and touch swiping. So you may not have had much instruction or practice in the QWERTY keyboarding that harkens back to the typewriter (What’s that, anyway?!). But if you’re creating research papers for classes–and I know most of you are, right?–typing (aka keyboarding) is probably inescapable for now. If you’d like to train all of your fingers to find the keys, or if your typing errors are slowing you down, you may want to work on your proficiency.
There are free web sites that offer instruction and practice with typing skills, such as www.typingweb.com and www.goodtyping.com/ These are .com sites and pesky ads appear. For example, on Typingweb an ad displays while each lesson is loaded. To use either site you’ll need to create a free account, although you can try out Goodtyping as a guest.
Andersen Library also has resources that may help. Search HALCat to find titles such as the ebook Touch typing in 10 hours: Spend a few hours now and gain a valuable skill for life and the print book Glencoe keyboarding with computer applications: Lessons 1-150 (2nd-floor Curriculum Collection Textbooks, Z49.G53 G5 2004–teacher’s edition of a textbook).
You also can find resources about efforts underway to improve typing or replace it with new technology. Search the Library databases to find articles such as “Typing in the age of tablets” (T H E Journal, 2012, vol.39:no.3, pp.22-24), “Typing isn’t all fingers, it’s thumbs” (World Today, 2013, vol.69:no.5, p.10), and “From QWERTY to quirky: New ways to type” (2013, Wall Street Journal).
Please ask a librarian if you’d appreciate assistance with finding materials.
