Subject: Electronic Document Preparation and Management

1. Subject:Electronic Document Preparation and Management Presenter Ms. Reid

2. Circular Letters/ Mail Merge

3. Circular Letters A Circular letter is a standard letter that contains identical information that are sent to several recipients. Circular letters often contain forms or cut-off slips and are normally created using the mail merge wizard in Microsoft Office Word.

4. Mail Merge Mail merge is a word-processing tool that allow individuals to easily personalize circular letters, form letters, labels and envelopes. In order to complete a mail merge the following must be created: Main document or form letter – this contains the text or graphics that are the same for each letter.

5. Mail Merge cont’d 2. Data source – the files that contains the information to be merged or placed into the main document. It is usually a table containing the list of recipients’ names and addresses.

6. Mail Merge cont’d Merge document – this is the act of combining two (2) documents to create a new document. When the documents are merged, the data source replaces the main documents merge fields. The merge document therefore contains a letter for each recipient listed in the data source.

7. Form Letters A form letter is also a standard letter that is used repeatedly to reply to clients, customers, members or the general public requesting similar information.

8. Guidelines for preparing circular and form letters If the letter include a cut-off slip to be filled and returned, the guidelines listed below must be followed: the cut off slip/form must end one inch from the bottom of the page. The cut-off slip/form must be separated from the letter using a continuous line from margin to margin.

9. Guidelines for preparing circular and form letters 3. The symbol of a pair of scissors may be inserted to the left or centre of the line. 4. Leave two (2) line spacing after the separation line. 5. The blank spaces to be filled in should be drawn using continuous full stops or underscore.

10. Guidelines for preparing circular and form letters 6. Leave at least two (2) line spaces below the letter before creating the form. 7. The writing lines should be done in double line spacing. 8. Three (3) line spacing should be left for the signature.

11. Guidelines for preparing circular and form letters 9. Leave at least ten single line spaces for the insertion of the personalized recipient information in the letter. 10. There is usually no reference.

12. Summary Questions What are circular letters? What is mail merge? What three (3) things are needed in order to complete a mail merge. State four (4) guidelines that should be followed when preparing circular and form letters.