Most NCAA publications -- including the three NCAA Manuals, playing rules and records books -- now are available through NCAA Online.

The formats vary according to the nature of the publication, but interested individuals now may view and download free of charge the content of every significant publication offered by the NCAA.

Simple documents are available through the use of HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and require no software on the part of a user beyond a Web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.

More complicated or larger books, such as the football records book, are provided in a Portable Document Format (PDF). To view or download PDF documents, a user must install Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available at no charge at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

Other information may be available through a database.

"Printed versions of most of these publications still will be available," said David Pickle, NCAA director of communications. "But we are committed to using technology as much as we can to convey information and to save money. This service is a good step in that direction."

Pickle also noted that the service will be useful for the customer who wants a single piece of information but doesn't want to go to the trouble or expense of purchasing an entire book.

The books are available in the publications section of NCAA Online (http://www.ncaa.
org/library/). If a customer wants to download the 2000 edition of NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations, for example, he or she should click on the rules section and then on the "View" button by the cover of the football rules book. The user either can view the contents online or download them onto a personal computer, depending on preference. Although various factors can affect download time, the 224-page football rules book can be downloaded in less than 10 seconds under optimum conditions.

Larger books, such as the Manuals and large records books, are divided into smaller sections to keep download times manageable.

"I hope our customers will find it useful to have these publications available in a digital format," Pickle said. "This might be especially helpful for individuals who use our records books. In those cases, the search function should be helpful if they download onto their hard drive.

"Some records -- such as those involving two-point conversions in football -- are obscure and may be hard to find on short notice. But by using the 'find' function, a researcher should be able to find information quite quickly. The same is true of various research publications, such as the revenues and expenses report that will be available soon. Plus, users can print individual pages or entire sections, depending on their need."

For customers who require a printed version of a publication, ordering information is available by clicking the "Purchase" button.

Books are being posted as they become available for the 2000-01 academic year. In most cases, copies of books from previous years will not be made available digitally.