What is Acrobat Reader/PDF?

Our three Web pages post documents for you to download in PDF—portable document format. PDF's can look and print the same no matter what software/computer/printer combination you have. Consequently, this format has won wide acceptance as a way to share documents on the Web. Sites to which we have links, such as the U.S. Postal Service and Vanderbilt Human Resources, also use this file type.

In order to view and print PDF's, you need Acrobat Reader. This is a free plug-in program, downloadable from the website of its creator, Adobe Corporation. (A plug-in is a small helper program that enables your browser, either Netscape or Internet Explorer, to do things it cannot do on its own.)

Clicking the "Get Acrobat Reader" button below allows you to obtain and install this handy little program — just follow the directions on the Adobe page.

(If you already have Acrobat Reader but it is not at least version 4.0, then we recommend downloading the current version. If you attempt to open a PDF file and get a message that mentions "color space," this is a good sign you need to upgrade. Early versions of Acrobat did not support color.)

Get Acrobat Reader

HINT: When you access a PDF, Acrobat Reader will display it in your browser window. When you are finished reading and/or printing it, you may need to use your BACK button to return to the previous screen OR close the document with the X symbol at the upper right corner. This depends on how your browser handles Acrobat.

Use your browser's BACK button to return directly to the page which referred you here, or go to one of our departmental pages by using the links below.

Text link to Acrobat Reader