supply methods to read.table

Hi List,

I would like to optimize some data reading as well as clean up some 
code. The manual tells me to supply methods to colClasses but the manual 
and the methods documentation aren't helping...
Can someone provide me an example please?

Best,
Brian

R version 2.15.1 (2012-06-22)
Platform: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (64-bit)

locale:
[1] C

attached base packages:
[1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  base

other attached packages:
[1] MASS_7.3-18