Tip - Correct page numbering for assignments

Hi again SMers I am really spoiling you guys now, here is a FANTASTIC tip to make assignment writing more efficient and accurate.  

Page numbering causes problems for a number of students particularly since AMC requires both Roman (ii, iii, iv, v...) and Arabic page numbering (1, 2, 3, 4...). AMC has a specific presentation requirement for assignments and provides a sample assignment as an example. Page numbering is one of those presentation issues, if you look at any textbook or business report, you will notice the same format being used.

Hands up anyone who has used the HELP function on their wordprocessing program - hmmm, none of us like doing that - but sometimes we just need to. I know one answer is to send in multiple copies, but this is problematic for Distance Ed who are dealing with hundreds of assignments (about 700 per semester!). The only answer is to find out how to use page numbering. I will provide some basic details, so you may need to use the HELP function. My comments are based on Word 2000, so the instructions may vary for other programs and versions.  

Here we go.

The secret is in using section breaks, that is, we need to divide the assignment into (in our case), two sections. Each section will have its own page numbering, the first section incorporating the title page, abstract and table of contents will use lower case Roman numbers - i, ii, iii, iv.... and the second section that includes the introduction through to the end of the list of references will use arabic numbers - 1, 2, 3, 4... So, position your cursor at the end of the table of contents and click on INSERT, then BREAK, then go the SECTION BREAK and click on NEXT PAGE.

This has now divided the assignment into 2 sections. Now go to the first page of the first section, that is, the title page. Click on INSERT, then PAGE NUMBERS. Ensure the box beside SHOW NUMBER ON FIRST PAGE is blank because we do not want to have the page number shown on the title page. Then, click on FORMAT (on the page number pop up), then click on NUMBER FORMAT, then on "i, ii, iii...". Then enter the number i beside "START AT", because we want the assignment to begin at that number even though it won't be shown on the title page.

Whew, now go get a coffee and a chocolate.

The next stage is to go to the beginning of the second section, that is the page which should begin with the heading of INTRODUCTION. Now follow the same steps as above, except this time click on the box beside "SHOW NUMBER ON FIRST PAGE" because we want a number to be shown on the first page of section 2 (that is, the page which contains the introduction to the assignment). In the NUMBER FORMAT section, this time click on "1, 2, 3... because our second section uses the arabic numerals. Also, insert the number 1 beside the "START AT" section.  

Now, go get another coffee but not a chocolate otherwise you will be getting too hypo.

Just a couple of other little tricks. Sometimes you may find that the lower case Roman numeral of i, ii, and iii may be shown in capitals, this is because you may have a setting that tells the computer to replace i with I. Check this by going to TOOLS, then AUTOCORRECT. Try unclicking CAPITALISE FIRST LETTER OF SENTENCES and/or scrolling down the list of autocorrect words until coming to "i" where the command is to change it to "I" and delete it. Hopefully now the capitalisation problem won't occur.  

The other issue is that the title page of the assignment is actually page i, but as I have mentioned above, just like textbooks and business reports, this is not shown. This means the first page number you will see is page ii which should be on the same page as the abstract.

 OK, I hope this helps, yes it takes a bit going through the first time, but the secret is to develop a template with the section breaks, page numbering title page, headings, content pages and fonts all included. This means some of the details on the title page may need to be changed each assignment but most of everything else remains as is - too easy!!, and it saves a lot of time!

 If the above doesn't work come back on the Forum and one of us may be able to help. However, as a tertiary level student, you too have to be proactive and try and solve the problem, sometimes (only sometimes) the HELP key can be of use.

Cheers

 Stephen