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SirReadaLot.org


We Review the Best of the Latest Books

ISSN 1934-6557

September 2007, Issue 101

Contents of Issue:

Arts & Photography / Computers & Internet / Graphic Design

Hands-On Digital Photography: A Step-by-Step Course in Camera Controls, Software Techniques, and Successful Imaging by George Schaub (Amphoto Books)

George Schaub, editorial director of Shutterbug and eDigitalPhoto magazines, says, "Digital photography can have a steep learning curve." Schaub, who has spent years teaching digital photography in universities and workshops around the country, has developed a method he feels works well for novices and more experienced photographers. Schaub puts that method into print in Hands-On Digital Photography, a guided and interactive tour to help photographers get the most from the digital photography experience whether they are using an SLR or a standard digital camera. Schaub's approach is to present projects to help readers learn as they work with their camera.

In these easy-to-follow projects, Schaub discusses how digital photography allows greater creativity; file formats and how they affect post-exposure processing; how to choose resolution and compression ratios; exposures for the best digital images; camera menus; RAW file format; in-camera exposure adjustments; and in-camera contrast adjustments. Included are complete descriptions of standard camera functions, explanations of the most common image-processing software features, and examples illustrated with before-and-after comparisons.

Hands-On Digital Photography is divided into three main sections:

  • Understanding the Digital Image explains the basics of picture elements, file formats, color, contrast, RGB channels, resolution, resizing, and resampling.
  • In-Camera Controls helps readers master camera controls, including SLRs, for shutter speed, metering, exposure, aperture and depth of field, color matching versus color mood, black-and-white mode, panoramic mode, white balance, digital filter effects, special effects, and playback diagnostics.
  • Software Controls teaches photographers how to make the most of their images by learning techniques for cropping, adding color, contrast, and saturation.

Each topic contains a lesson, a brief technical explanation, an exercise that puts the lesson into practice, and an advanced option for exploring the topic in greater depth. The lessons lend themselves to being quickly revisited and reviewed, thus facilitating comprehension and proficiency.

Hands-On Digital Photography gives readers all the information they need to make successful photographs.

With Hands-On Digital Photography photographers can get the most from their digital cameras to make every shot great. Schaub’s practical, project-based approach focuses on the camera and getting the best shot possible every time, so beginning to intermediate photographers can spend more time capturing the shot and less time manipulating it. The book will help even novice photographers unlock the full potential of every picture and then realize that potential by being involved in every state of its final creation.

Arts & Photography / History / Americas / Native American

A Northern Cheyenne Album edited by Margot Liberty, commentary by John Woodenlegs, photographed by Thomas B. Marquis (University of Oklahoma Press)

I knew John Woodenlegs personally, and as I read this book, it is as if I were hearing his slightly raspy voice. The unedited captions capture the natural, Cheyenne way of speaking the language. At the same time, Liberty's com­mentary is highly useful, especially to readers who are not familiar with the Northern Cheyenne people. For living descendents, this album goes a long way toward strength­ening their identities as Northern Cheyennes. For anyone interested in seeing a cultural transition chronicled in pictures and narratives, this book is a gold mine. – Richard E. Littlebear, President of Chief Dull Knife College

The story of the Northern Cheyennes in the late nineteenth century is one of tragedy. But as A Northern Cheyenne Album reveals, it is also one of survival.

After suffering incarceration in present-day Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyennes decided they would rather risk death by trying to return to their homeland than languish in Indian Territory. During their epic journey homeward in 1878-1879, they suffered great losses, but a small group of survivors reached its destination in southeastern Montana and eventually won the right to a reservation there. A Northern Cheyenne Album presents a series of never-before-pub­lished photographs that document the lives of tribal people on the reservation during the early twentieth century – a period of rapid change.

The story of these photographs' creation is itself fascinating. In 1922 Thomas B. Marquis came to the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Lame Deer, Montana, to work as a doctor. He became so attached to the area and its residents that he decided to stay. An expert photographer, Marquis cap­tured Northern Cheyenne life in numerous images taken between 1926 and 1935. After 1960, former tribal president John Wood­enlegs, the founder of Chief Dull Knife Memorial College, Lame Deer, and others interviewed tribal elders and, drawing on tape recordings, composed lively captions for the photos. Margot Liberty, editor of A Northern Cheyenne Album, anthropologist specializing in American Indian cultures and the American West, has preserved Woodenlegs' original captions but also added her own descriptions, filling in details of Northern Cheyenne culture and history from a scholar's viewpoint. Of particular interest to historians is the inclusion of more than twenty photographs of Northern Cheyenne veterans of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as well as testimony about Custer's attack on the Indian encampment.

In this intriguing and extraordinary book, rare photographs document the lives of Cheyenne people during the early reservation years. A valuable record of an all-but-forgotten gen­eration, A Northern Cheyenne Album is also an inspiring tribute to the Northern Cheyenne elders whose resilience and adaptability helped ensure the future of their people.

Arts & Photography / Museums & Collections

The Call of the Mountains: The Artists of Glacier National Park by Larry Len Peterson (Settlers West Galleries/Mountain Press Publishing Company)

In these pages you will read Larry Len Peterson's description of people inspired by a landscape that has inspired many to great things. But the power of the landscape to inspire is not over. It has just begun. – David Mihalic, from the foreword

The ‘Call of the Mountains’ is a real call. For centuries humankind has been drawn to Glacier Country. Without a doubt, this land of pristine mountains, alpine lakes, and cascading waterfalls is a national treasure. From the beginning, artists have expressed its wonders in varied and effective ways. Some of America's most outstanding talents have answered the ‘Call’ capturing in print, paint, photography, and three dimensional art the beauty of the land, its animals and native people.

The Call of the Mountains celebrates some of this art. In it, for the first time, the artists of Glacier country are profiled. This volume contains over 250 images, most in full color. A large number of the illustrations presented in the book are by well known artists; while many are by unheralded ones never credited for their work in publications, and many of the images are held in private collections rarely available for public viewing.

Artists represented in The Call of the Mountains include: John Clarke, Edward Curtis, Joe De Yong, Maynard Dixon, John Fery, Norman Forsyth, Philip R. Goodwin, George Bird Grinnell, T.J. Hileman, Louis Warren Hill, Fred Kizer, Frank Bird Linderman, Lone Wolf, Ted Marble, Walter McClintock, Roland Reed, Winold Reiss, Charles M. Russell, James Willard Schultz, Jose H. Sharp, and many other noted authors, photographers, and painters.

Author and collector Larry Len Peterson writes about a landscape that is an inspiration to all that encounter it. He writes about people, but people who, in turn, try to tell the story of a place. It is a magical landscape that causes creative juices to flow. It was magical to the Indians who lived there. It inspired George Bird Grinnell to return again and again to experience and try to grasp it. He wrote of its feel and how it touched the senses and described it as the ‘Crown of the Continent.’ It is a landscape that moved two countries to designate two national parks.

And it certainly moved David Mihalic, Superintendent of Yosemite National Park, who provides the foreword for The Call of the Mountains. His first park ranger job was just for a summer, but it began a career in the National Park Service that led him to Alaska and Yellowstone, the Great Smokies and Mammoth Cave, and full circle back to Glacier. And seeing the art of Charlie Russell, John Fery, and Winold Reiss at every turn were reminders that others had done something more with their inspiration. Seeing them reminded him that he, too, had once been so inspired.

Mihalic in the foreword asks: How many Russell paintings of plains and mountains were painted in the long summer light of Bull Head Lodge? How many Glacier sunsets found their way into Fery's paintings? How much of the Chief Mountain's spirit impressed John Clarke's mind to guide his hands? While the landscape inspires creative genius in artists, the creative ability of this place has inspired nations to create not just Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Park, but the world's first international peace park.

Once one enters the Park not much has changed over the last hundred years. The magnificent lodges and the Going-to-the-Sun road are reminders of a grand past and seem like part of the natural order there now. Hiking and horse trails still lead to magnificent vistas, and the lodge lobbies are still as inviting as ever. Fortunately, Louis Hill, head of the Great Northern Railway, saw to it that the lodges and chalets enhanced the lure of the Park. It's comforting to know that the mountains, streams, lakes, and waterfalls will never be further commercially developed; thanks to George Bird Grinnell, the father of Glacier National Park, who lobbied for years for Park status.

While researching his life for Charles M. Russell, Legacy, a book Peterson wrote for the Russell Museum in Great Falls, Peterson says he came to appreciate Glacier even more through learning about the numerous authors, photographers, and painters that visited him at Bull Head Lodge. This led to studying other artists that left their mark on the Park. He says the story of Glacier is told best through their works.

Whether it was growing up next to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation or being drawn to the compelling, tragic story of the Native Americans, Peterson have always found the art of Glacier more appealing when it involves Indian subjects. Maybe, they are the connection to a passing way of life that all of us nostalgics long for. Whatever reason, the power and majesty of the Kootenai, Flathead, and especially the Blackfeet are no better demonstrated than by the artists of Glacier National Park.

All the artists answered the ‘Call’ in their own unique way. By doing so they gave the gift of art to generations to come. The artists profiled in The Call of the Mountains provide a window to the past in a way that will never be equaled again. This impressive and informative volume brings to life the early artists of Glacier National Park.

Audio / Literature & Fiction / Christian / Mysteries & Thrillers

False Witness [ABRIDGED] (8 Audio CDs, running time approximately 10 hours) by Randy D. Singer, narrated by Adam Verner (Oasis Audio)

Capitalizing on ever-growing concern with issues like identity theft, hackers, encrypted digital and electronic information, and personal security, False Witness by Randy Singer, lawyer and best-selling author of five legal thrillers, could easily come from stories behind today's media headlines.

The story starts when a bounty hunter named Clarke Shealy gets an ominous phone call – a Chinese mafioso has taken Shealy's wife hostage and if Shealy wants to see her again, he must track down a missing Chinese mathematician. The mathematician is valuable because he has discovered an extremely valuable algorithm or computer code that could change Internet technology forever as well as threaten national security. The first half of the novel follows Shealy as he tries to rescue his wife.

Then in the second half of False Witness three ambitious law students from a prestigious law school in the Southeast, working at a local legal-aid clinic, watch as their routine case representing a man named David Hoffman ignites an incendiary trail of deception and betrayal. A member of the witness protection program, Hoffman has defrauded the government and eluded the Mob's pursuit of his stunning secret – he’s got the algorithm.

Because of the intense threat posed by possession of the algorithm, federal agents want Hoffman dead or alive. But the Mob wants him alive, and they are more than willing to obtain the algorithm by whatever means necessary. And the would-be lawyers caught in the middle of this deadly triangle must overcome their differences and work together if they're to survive long enough to graduate.

In this gripping, obsessively readable legal thriller, Singer proves himself to be the Christian John Grisham. … The two halves of the novel tie together seamlessly, and Singer introduces Christian faith with a very light touch. The three students – an African-American ex-jock who aims to be the next Johnnie Cochran, a feisty woman who wants to be a prosecutor so she can avenge her mother's brutal death, and a nerdy but endearing math whiz who wants to practice patent law – are especially well-developed. Indeed, readers may want to meet them again in a sequel. – Publishers Weekly.
A gentle Chinese scientist has discovered a mathematical formula, or algorithm, that could decrypt every Internet encrypting technology. He wants to sell his formula to a responsible Internet firm, rather than to the Chinese or American government, which seem to him equally treacherous, or to a sort of Chinese mafia called the Manchurian Triad. …Great suspense; gritty, believable action; and unnerving scenes of torture make this entry Singer's best yet. – Booklist (starred review)

With a riveting plot, Singer offers up a dynamic legal thriller in a story informed by his own experience with a member of the U.S. Witness Protection Program. False Witness will engage female as well as male listeners who enjoy suspense novels with a message, and yet this novel, Singer's sixth, has more subtle spiritual themes than previous works. With page-turning suspense and heart-stopping twists, False Witness delivers on every level.

Business & Investing / Economics / Current Events / Government / Public Policy

Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Towards Disaster Resilient Societies edited by Jörn Birkmann (United Nations University Press)

I am very proud that the United Nations University is among the organizations that started immediately the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. I wish to thank the authors for contributing to this book and want to invite every interested scientist, colleagues from the UN organisations and professionals from all over the world, to contribute to the work ahead of us. – Prof. Dr. Hans van Ginkel, Rector of the United Nations University, Japan Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

I am pleased to support the work of the UNU-EHS through its Expert Working Group on Measuring Vulnerability. The Hyogo Framework represents the most comprehensive action-oriented policy guidance in universal understanding of disasters induced by vulnerability to natural hazards and reflects a solid commitment to implementing an effec­tive disaster reduction agenda. In this context, the UNU-EHS Expert Working Group is a valuable contribution to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework. I look forward to an increased collaboration between UNU-EHS and the ISDR Secretariat. – Sálvano Briceño, Director, Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Switzerland

A seemingly non-stop series of disasters has shown that societies worldwide seem unprepared for the threats posed by natural hazards. The tragic impacts of these events drew short-term attention from policy makers, the media and the general public, but their response was too late to prevent serious harm. Societies need to measure their vulnerabilities in advance, and make adequate provisions. To do so, they have to understand the complex relationships between natural hazards and the related social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Recognizing and measuring vulnerabilities is the first and perhaps most important step towards disaster resilient societies.

Edited by Jörn Birkmann, Academic Officer at the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Chair of the International Expert Working Group on Measuring Vulnerability, Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards presents a broad range of current approaches to measuring vulnerability. It provides a comprehensive overview of different concepts at the global, regional, national, and local levels, and explores various schools of thought. More than 40 distinguished academics and practitioners analyze quantitative and qualitative approaches, and examine their strengths and limitations. This book contains concrete experiences and examples from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to illustrate the theoretical analyses.

The authors provide answers to some of the key questions on how to measure vulnerability and they draw attention to issues with insufficient coverage, such as the environmental and institutional dimensions of vulnerability and methods to combine different methodologies.

According to Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards, we have to change our approach to disasters. Fre­quency analysis of hazard events, once the start of all considerations, becomes unreliable as non-stationary time series overthrow 100-year return period records every few years in a merciless pace. We do not only need to think the unthinkable, and prepare to face it should it occur, but we need to explore how to be better prepared. Saving people from the worst would require taking the assessment of human (in)security as the starting point of disaster preparedness and management.

It is important to understand that disasters deriving from hazards of natural origin are only partially determined by the physical event itself. The last decades have proven that our primarily engineering approach, controlling and conquering extreme events with infrastructural measures, is not the appropriate answer. Humanity is at the threshold of taking the step from an ill-perceived ‘security society’ into ‘risk society’, acknowledging the limit of how far we can master nature and learning to live with risks.

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) held in Kobe in January 2005 formulated the goal of creating societies more resilient to disasters. The development of a system of indicators of disaster risk and vulnerability that would enable the decision makers to assess the poten­tial impact of disasters and to promote the formulation of appropriate policy responses – while identifying the most threatened areas and social groups – is viewed as a key activity to accomplish this goal (Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015).

The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) invited leading scholars and practitioners to discuss the state of the art of measuring vulnerability, to devise potential research initiatives on how to capture vulnerability at different aggregation levels of society. Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards, is the first summary of this work started just after the WCDR. It examines various methodologies from global indexing projects to local participatory self-assessment ap­proaches. It reviews retrospective studies and takes stock of the efforts to ‘predict’ vulnerability. A critical review of current methodologies of how to measure vulnerability is provided. The book leaves no doubt that there is still a long way to go from concepts and experiments to the full practical use of anticipative vulnerability measurement.

Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards includes five parts, with 24 chapters, which address various aspects and approaches of measuring vulnerability.

The first part deals with the concept of vul­nerability and especially vulnerability indicators. Birkmann introduces different definitions and conceptual frameworks to systematize vulnera­bility developed and used by different schools of thought, such as the di­saster risk community, development research and global change research. The second chapter gives an overview of theoretical aspects and require­ments of vulnerability indicators. Schneiderbauer and Ehrlich introduce a framework for determining vulnerability at different levels. They also address the question of whether vulnerability should be measured for a specific hazard or whether it should be hazard-independent. Thereafter Queste and Lauwe tackle the crucial question of what indicators are needed from a practitioner's perspective.

The second part gives insight into the relationship between vulnerabil­ity and environmental change. The environmental dimension of vulnera­bility is analyzed and outlined by Renaud; then Kok, Narain, Wonink, and Jaeger examine the linkages between human vulnerability and envi­ronmental change. The third part encompasses various approaches to measuring vulnera­bility and risk at global, national and sub-national scale. In the seventh chapter Pelling reviews the major global disaster risk index projects. Ad­ditional information regarding these approaches is presented by authors who were involved in the development of each approach. Thus, the in­tention and methodology of the Disaster Risk Index is shown by Peduzzi, the hotspots methodology by Dilley and the System of Indicators for Di­saster Risk Management in the Americas are described by Cardona. On the basis of the global index projects a European approach of multi-risk assessment is presented by Greiving, followed by a study regarding the measurement of disaster vulnerability at national scale in Tanzania by Kiunsi and Meshack. Finally, Plate proposes a methodology to capture both vulnerability and coping capacity within a single human security index.

The fourth part focuses on approaches at the local level. It encom­passes a community-based disaster risk assessment tested in Indonesia and presented by Bollin and Hidajat, as well as an overview of different methods to measure risk and vulnerability based on the experiences of the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRC) as explained by Arakida. Villagran de Leon outlines a methodology to measure the vulnerability of different sectors illustrated by examples from Latin America. In con­trast to quantitative approaches, Wisner introduces more qualitative and participatory approaches to assess vulnerability and coping capacity using self-assessment tools. The first results of a study of the UNU-EHS, which uses different methods to measure vulnerability of communities to coastal hazards in Sri Lanka after the devastating tsunami event are pre­sented by Birkmann, Fernando, and Hettige.

Part five deals with specific approaches to capturing and assessing insti­tutional vulnerability, coping capacity and lessons learned. Lebel, Niki­tina, Kotov, and Manuta underline the necessity of assessing institutional capacities to reduce risk using the example of flood disaster risk. The complexities of ensuring preparedness of institutions and the public sector for hazard events are also addressed by Mechler, Hochrainer, Linner­ooth-Bayer, and Pflug who present a model to measure public sector financial vulnerability. The chapter by Billing and Madengruber focuses on the difficulties of measuring coping capacity, while Krausmann and Mushtaq introduce the approach of lessons learned as illustrated by ex­amples drawn from European experience.

Chapter 23 summarizes key aspects discussed in the preceding chapters and Birkmann, the author, draws important conclusions, which could also give some guidance for future research activities and research needs. Finally, a comparative glossary of key terms in disaster risk reduction is presented by Thywissen, who illustrates the various definitions of the same terms by different institutions and experts.

Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards is a unique compilation of state-of-the-art vulnerability assessment and is essential reading for academics, students, policy makers, practitioners, and anybody else interested in understanding the fundamentals of measuring vulnerability. It is a critical review that provides important conclusions which can serve as an orientation for future research towards more disaster resilient communities. Irrespective of the excellent contributions of so many co-authors to this book, not all issues were captured, nor all con­cerns addressed. This book focuses mainly on vulnerability to rapid onset hazard events, whereas the scope and range of vulnerability research are much broader than this.

Business & Investing / Economics / Environment / Public Policy

Labor-Environmental Coalitions: Lessons from a Louisiana Petrochemical Region by Thomas Estabrook (Work, Health, and Environment Series: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.)

In 1984, the oil, chemical and atomic workers began a five-year campaign to win back the jobs of its members locked out by the BASF Corporation in Geismar, Louisiana. The multiscale campaign involved coalitions with local environmentalists as well as international solidarity from environmental and religious organizations. The local coalition which helped break the lockout was maintained and expanded in the 1990s. This alliance is one of numerous labor-community coalitions to emerge increasingly over the past 20 years. Labor-Environmental Coalitions traces the development of the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project from 1985 to the present, within the context of a long history of divisions between labor and community in the U.S. The Project continued after the lockout, thriving during 1990s, expanding from one community to four counties to include 20 local member organizations, and broadening its agenda from the original jobs crisis and pollution problems to address a wide range of worker, environmental health, and economic justice issues.

Labor-Environmental Coalitions explores the dynamics of the Louisiana coalition to offer lessons for other coalition efforts. The book seeks to understand coalitions as a necessary strategy to counteract the dominant forces of capitalist development. Thomas Estabrook contends that the Labor-Neighbor Project, like labor-community coalitions generally, created a unique blend of politics shaped by the geographic nature industry's politics; by the relative openness of government; and by the class experience of labor and community members. The Louisiana Project demonstrates that for labor-community coalitions to thrive they must broaden their agenda, strengthen their leadership and coalition-building skills, and develop access to multi-scale resources. Estabrook argues that for labor-community coalitions to have longer term political impact, they should adopt an explicitly progressive approach by building a broader class and cultural leadership, and by demanding state and corporate accountability on economic, public health, and environmental justice issues.
Estabrook, adjunct professor of geography at Framingham State College, is a worker health educator with The New England Consortium, a hazardous waste worker training project based at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he also does clean production policy research. He has been active in labor-community coalitions since working as an organizer for the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project in the early 1990s.

Building genuine alliances between environmentalists, labor, and community-based movements is essential to improving the lives of working families in American society. In his richly detailed analysis of the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project, Thomas Estabrook exposes many of the challenges and opportunities confronting activists in their efforts to build such an alliance. In so doing, Estabrook provides important insights into the ways in which counter-hegemonic movements can be successfully built and expanded in the context of neoliberal capitalism. This book is an important read for all those concerned with labor rights, economic equality, and environmental protection. – Daniel Faber, Director, Green Justice Research Collaborative, Northeastern University
Labor-environmental coalitions bring together two central components of our democratic tradition and offer a powerful new social-movement synthesis that goes beyond just adding the two together. Thomas Estabrook shows us this through his excellent study of the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project, a milestone in inter-movement cooperation that succeeded in many aspects of factory and community health, environmental justice, tax policy, and community development. His decade of research on the Project is informed by a historical view of earlier efforts in sanitation, community public health, and occupational safety and health, as well as a glimpse at other current organizing. Labor-Environmental Coalitions is an exciting and important contribution to what increasing numbers of people will soon see as an extensive and prominent issue. – Phil Brown, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, Brown University
Thomas Estabrook's Labor-Environmental Coalitions provides a valuable in-depth analysis of a coalition of labor, community, and environmental groups that survived and even thrived in the South for almost twenty years. These are times when labor and community must band together to fight for the health of our land, air, and families. Estabrook s story of the Louisiana Labor-Neighbor Project’s successes and ultimate demise is a must read for all who work for a better and more just future. – Susan Moir, Sc.D., Director, Labor Resource Center, University of Massachusetts Boston

Labor-Environmental Coalitions is a must read; it thoroughly explains labor-community coalitions, offering crucial lessons – valuable understandings – that coalitions are a necessary strategy to counteract the dominant forces of capitalist development. It shows how, if coalitions are to succeed, they must broaden their agenda and strengthen their coalition-building skills, thus broadening their base. The book targets public health and environmental professionals and students, labor historians and activists, political scientists, sociologists, geographers, and other social scientists and general readers.

Business & Investing / Management / Computers & Internet

PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide, 4th Edition, with CD by Kim Heldman (Sybex)

This fourth edition of the study guide for the project management exam, PMP was designed for anyone thinking of taking the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam sponsored by the Project Management Institute (PMI). This certification is grow­ing in popularity and demand – PMI has experienced explosive growth in membership, and more organizations are recognizing the importance of project management certification.

PMP, written by Kim Heldman, a well-known author and speaker, who is currently the Chief Information Officer for the Colorado Department of Transportation, provides the preparation readers need for the challenging PMP certification exam in this study guide. In addition to coverage of all exam objectives, readers will find practical advice including "How This Applies to Your Current Project" and "Real World Scenario" sidebars, as well as coverage for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam. The book provides:

  • Full coverage of all exam objectives in a systematic approach.
  • Practical hands-on exercises to reinforce critical skills.
  • Real-world scenarios that put what readers have learned in the context of actual job roles.
  • Challenging review questions in each chapter.
  • Exam Essentials, a feature in each chapter that identifies critical areas readers must become proficient in before taking the exam.
  • A tear card that maps every official exam objective to the corresponding chapter in PMP, so they can track their exam prep objective by objective.

The book comes with a CD containing:

  • Sybex Test Engine: Readers test their knowledge with advanced testing software, which includes all chapter review questions and bonus exams.
  • Electronic Flashcards to reinforce understanding with flashcards that can run on a PC, Pocket PC, or Palm handheld.
  • Audio Instruction, which allows listeners to fine-tune project management skills with more than two hours of audio instruction from Heldman.

Also on the CD, readers will find the entire book in searchable and printable.

This fourth edition of PMP has been updated to reflect the latest edition of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Third Edition. It assumes readers have knowledge of general project management practices, although not necessarily specific to the PMBOK Guide. It is written so that readers can skim through areas they are already familiar with, picking up the spe­cific PMBOK Guide terminology where needed to pass the exam. The project management processes and techniques discussed in PMP are defined in such a way that readers will recognize tasks they have always done and be able to identify them with the PMBOK Guide process names or methodologies.

PMI offers the most recognized certification in the field of project management, and this book deals exclusively with its procedures and methods. Heldman strongly recommends that readers learn all of the processes – their key inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. She says that if readers are serious about passing the PMP exam, they should use PMP to study for the exam. This book is unique in that it walks readers through the project processes from beginning to end, just as projects are performed in practice. Readers benefit by learning specific processes and techniques coupled with real-life scenarios that describe how project managers in different situations handle problems and the various issues all project managers are bound to encounter during their career. This study guide describes in detail the exam objective topics in each chapter and covers all of the important project management concepts.

PMP provides the coverage readers need for the PMP Exam with complete coverage of all exam objectives. This comprehensive package includes real-world scenarios, hands-on exercises, and leading-edge exam prep software featuring a custom test engine, hundreds of sample questions, including case studies, chapter review in audio format, and electronic flashcards. The entire book in PDF format, which makes it easy to study anywhere, any time, and approach the exam with confidence.

Although PMP is written primarily for those taking the PMP exam, readers can also use this book to study for the Certified Associate in Project Man­agement (CAPM) exam, which is similar in style and the information covered.

Business & Investing / Human Resources Management

Understanding Careers: The Metaphors of Working Lives by Kerr Inkson (Sage Publications, Inc.)

Written by Kerr Inkson, Professor of Management at the University of Otago, Visiting Professor of Management at Victoria University of Wellington, and Honorary Research Fellow at Massey University, New Zealand, the book provides comprehensive coverage of contemporary theory and research in career studies. Understanding Careers includes material from various viewpoints relevant to career studies, including sociology, life-span psychology, differential psychology, social psychology, education, career development, counseling, organizational behavior, and human resource management. In addition, the book covers the key theories and researchers who have shaped the study and practice of careers.

Understanding Careers examines key concepts, illustrating them with career cases, bringing together theory and ‘real life.’ The book uses a unique framework of metaphors to encapsulate the field of career studies.
By using nine archetypal metaphors, considering the career successively as an inheritance, a cycle, an action, a journey, a role, a relationship, a resource, and a story, Inkson views careers through different lenses, with each adding to the richness of the concept.

Understanding Careers presents illustrative case studies – over 50 provocative case studies – including some of well-known personalities, thus theory is illustrated through real-life examples. It also offers an ongoing student case-study project. The sequenced career case-study write-up with exercises related to each chapter, allows students to apply concepts to ongoing cases of their own. There is also an Instructor’s Manual on CD, providing PowerPoint slides, class exercises, and worked-through case studies, available on request from the publisher.

A unique framework to understand the field of career studies. – The Financial Express
Kerr Inkson has made a really valuable contribution. A powerful illustration of how metaphor influences thinking about careers. The book shows how metaphor helps us to understand our own thought-patterns and predispositions and is very effective in integrating the different branches of career studies. Very clear, and well argued. Right on the mark! – Gareth Morgan, author of Images of Organization, Distinguished Research Professor, York University, Toronto

Using an easy-to-read style, this imaginative book offers a wide perspective and an excellent bridge between theory and real life. Understanding Careers is an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Career Development, Personal & Career Development, and Career Management in the fields of psychology, education, and business.

Business & Investing / Management & Leadership

The Swordless Samurai: Leadership Wisdom of Japan's Sixteenth-Century Legend –Toyotomi Hideyoshi by Kitami Masao, edited with and introduction by Tim Clark (Truman Talley Books)

In Japan, the 16th century became known as the Age of the Warring Clans as potentates endlessly fought one another with their small armies of samurai warriors. It was a time of endless chaos and bloodshed, when the only law was the law of the sword, and a peasant boy named Hideyoshi dreamed of becoming a samurai.

Lacking size and strength as well as social status in a class-ridden society, he had to rely on wits alone to realize his ambition.

As told in The Swordless Samurai, Hideyoshi, a keen judge of character, learned to outthink and outmaneuver every foe. By bonding to powerful Lord Nobunaga, and being useful to him day and night, he managed to secure a powerful patron. Much later, Hideyoshi broke all class barriers and ultimately became the most powerful man in Japan. Not only did he become a samurai, he also commanded vast armies and finally became ruler of an entire nation. Hideyoshi far surpassed his childhood ambition – this son of a penniless farmer became one of the greatest military and civic leaders Japan has ever known. Hideyoshi has been immortalized so much that, even today, every schoolboy in Japan is taught the moral that good judgment, keen intelligence, and sharp wits will win out over adversaries almost every time.

What enabled an unschooled peasant to out-negotiate and conquer ruthless samurai generals? How did he recruit and retain thousands of devoted followers?

The Swordless Samurai narrates his methods and achievements. Hideyoshi's leadership and success precepts, more than fifty of them, are embedded in the narrative as Hideyoshi wins many bloodless military victories and analyzes his rise to supreme leadership. His unerring sense of what it took – drive, shrewdness, anticipation, and determination – is readily understandable in the business world of today. The book is edited and translated by Tim Clark, who teaches entrepreneurship at Portland State University and serves as an adviser to SunBridge, a Tokyo-based venture capital firm.

A guide to sage leadership and a political thriller rolled into one, The Swordless Samurai is a must-read for anyone trying to steer their organization down the right path. The pages brim with lessons on how to inspire loyalty, mitigate weaknesses, and build trust. …
But this is also a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of hubris, the downfall of empires and corporations alike. Hideyoshi's story, with its rollicking accounts of bloody battles and ingenious subterfuge, reveals how leaders can accomplish the seemingly impossible, and how they can avoid the darker consequences of success. – Brendan I. Koerner, contributing editor, Wired
By peeling back the curtain on one of Japan's most famous leaders, Tim Clark has given English language readers insight into one of the country's most widely admired and imitated heroes. Hideyoshi is no typical business guru, but his lessons have inspired generations of executives. I spent more than a decade in Japan, and The Swordless Samurai is valuable reading for anyone doing business there or looking for a deeper understanding of timeless leadership principles. – Ken Belson of The New York Times
The wisdom of this sixteenth-century century samurai is astonishingly prescient and pertinent for twenty-first century leaders. Practical wisdom at its best. – Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, USC, and author of On Becoming a Leader

The timeless leadership secrets that Hideyoshi used to reach the pinnacle of power are now available in English for the first time. Destined to take its place beside such classics as The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War, The Swordless Samurai is required reading for all who seek effective strategies for succeeding in business, conflict, and life.

Computers & Internet / Graphic Design / Education / Training / Business & Investing

Digital Game-Based Learning by Marc Prensky, with a foreword by Sivasailam ‘Thiagi’ Thiagarajan (Paragon House)

...systematically analyzed the contexts and events of training and has synthesized a logical framework for digital game-based learning. – ‘Thiagi’ Thiagarajan, from the Foreword

The time has come for digital game-based learning. Thanks to the Internet, video games, and increasingly accessible cutting-edge technology, new learning styles have emerged. Today's workforce is quicker, sharper, more visually oriented, and more technology-savvy than ever. Digital games are now being used to teach babies the alphabet, to help kids monitor their diabetes and overcome ADD, to teach both practical and tactical skills to the military, to teach financial derivatives to auditors and to teach CAD software to engineers. The Nintendo and MTV generation process information more rapidly than ever before, prefer graphics to text, and work on several fronts at once, making them champion multi-taskers. As a result, today's new work force is eager for new challenges. To truly benefit from the digital natives' learning power and enthusiasm, traditional training methods must adapt to the way people learn today. But so far, the traditional mainstream business world has done little to accommodate them, particularly apparent in the realm of training sessions.

The question arises: How to train today's bright young business people for the rules of corporate life in ways that will effectively tap their learning potential – and won't put them to sleep? Written by Marc Prensky, former vice president of Human Resources at Bankers Trust and present founder, CEO, and Creative Director the groundbreaking games2train.com Web site, Digital Game-Based Learning

  • Defines digital game-based learning, explains its advantages and benefits far into the future, where it can be used ­­and how.
  • Presents an innovative approach to teaching and learning, both in the workplace and elsewhere: digital games.
  • Suggests that traditional training step into the 21st century by offering a robust and internally-motivating way to meet the increasing demands of employer and employee.
  • Offers examples of the implementation of these games in the workplace.

Prinsky says he wrote Digital Game-Based Learning as a hands-on guide for anyone who has ever had trouble getting people (adults or kids) to learn things.

From derivatives trading to policies on sexual harassment, here are numerous practical ideas and examples of this revolutionary approach to motivating and educating twenty-something workers. Ranging from the use of simple card games and quizzes to twitch-speed games modeled on such popular PC games as Doom and Quake, Digital Game-Based Learning melds business conventions with the ways individuals learn today.

In addition to an array of training ideas, the book contains the views of experts such as Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, Bran Ferren of Disney, J.C. Herz of the New York Times. Also included are case studies, based on on-site visits, of many companies and institutions using game-based learning tools and techniques.

A must-read for both educators interested in interactive educational technologies and for game developers looking to maximize the social impact of their work. – Will Wright, Maxis, creator of Sim City and The Sims

A 'must read' for business managers and HR directors as well. – Mark Bieler, former EVP, Human Resources, Bankers Trust Company, 1989-1999
This is a breakthrough book that looks at learning as a high activity, high engagement and high intensity process. – Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center, Editor, TRENDS e-Letter and Learning Decisions

Recognizing that people respond more effectively to speed, fun and graphics, Prensky's approach melds the engagement of fast-paced video games with serious business content to create engaging training. Digital Game-Based Learning explains what digital game-based learning is, why it is different and better, why it's not just another fad, where it can be used, and how to implement it. Brimming with case studies based on on-site visits to companies who have utilized this revolutionary training methodology, readers will discover new ways to motivate and educate. This timely and innovative book is filled with fascinating and informative examples and information aimed at educators and employers.

Cooking, Food & Wine

The Berghoff Family Cookbook: From Our Table to Yours, Celebrating a Century of Entertaining by Carlyn Berghoff & Nancy Ross Ryan (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC)

What started as a small saloon in 1898 quickly became a Chicago dining institution when Prohibition prompted founder Herman Joseph Berghoff to start serving meals to stay in business. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the Berghoff Restaurant soon became famous for both its traditional German food and its beer.

On February 28, 2006, the Berghoff Restaurant closed its doors after 107 years of service. With The Berghoff Family Cookbook, fans of the beloved restaurant can make Berghoff classics at home, including the Creamed Spinach, German Potato Salad, Wiener Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, Apple Strudel, Black Forest Cake, and many more until now secret recipes from the Berghoff’s kitchens.

The Berghoff story is the quintessential American success story of an immigrant who built a hugely successful business that has stayed in one family for more than a century. Herman left his native Dortmund, Germany, at age 17 and landed penniless in Brooklyn in 1870. Barely 12 years later, he founded his namesake brewery in Fort Wayne, IN. The beer was well-received inspiring Herman to open a cafe in Chicago to showcase Berghoff's Dortmunder-style beer. It sold for a nickel a glass, a dime for a stein, and sandwiches were offered for free. The bar remained open even through Prohibition by selling near-beer and Bergo soda pop and became a full-service restaurant. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 the city issued liquor license No. 1 to the Berghoff and has done so each year ever since.

The history of Chicago's Berghoff Restaurant spanned three generations; it was one of America's oldest family-owned restaurants. To commemorate its culinary history, Carlyn Berghoff and her mother, Jan Berghoff, collected 150 of the restaurant's popular recipes. They paired them up with more contemporary offerings such as the Shrimp Martini, Grilled Vegetables with Red Pepper Aïoli, and Brie and Raspberry Grilled Cheese Sandwiches to create The Berghoff Family Cookbook.

Recipes are presented alongside color photographs and sidebars that offer tips on dressing salads, serving soups, and pairing culinary flavors. The book is written by fourth-generation entrepreneur Carlyn Berghoff, who operates her own catering company and runs two restaurants out of the famous Chicago building at 17 West Adams and two restaurants out of locations at O'Hare International and Midway airports, together with writer Nancy Ross Ryan, founding culinary editor of Plate magazine and operates a consulting company in Chicago.

The Berghoff Family Cookbook offers a personal glimpse into the history of the Chicago landmark, complete with photographs of Berghoff's no-nonsense waitstaff and legendary chefs, the famous mahogany bar, and the chandeliers, as well as old menus and historical items. Jan and Carlyn not only provide mem­ories about the restaurant, but they also offer their knowledge and experience on beer and food pairings, how to host a bourbon tasting, and tips for party planning.

In December 2005 third-generation Herman and Jan Berghoff announced that after 107 years of operation the Berghoff would close in 2006. In the final days long lines snaked outside the building as customers waited for a last meal at their beloved restaurant.

Started as a humble tavern where a mug of the house brew cost a nickel and the hand-carved sandwiches were free ... [the Berghoff] is a place where the president of a bank eats next to a carpenter, where lawyers nurse beers while awaiting verdicts at the federal courthouse down the block, and suburban families on shopping sprees stop for sit-down feasts. – New York Times

It is with fondness that I reflect upon the many wonder­ful meals I have shared with friends and family at the Berghoff. Though it is the end of one era, a new one begins with Carlyn, who shares the same excitement, vision, and family-oriented spirit that made the Berghoff the institution that it was. – John J. Cullerton, state senator, Illinois

More than a collection of wonderful recipes, The Berghoff Family Cookbook is a piece of Chicago history – fans of the famous Berghoff Restaurant in Chicago have what they've been waiting for. Photos sprinkled throughout bring the restaurant's history to life, including menus through the years, its post-Prohibition liquor license, family portraits, and the Berghoff’s famed stained-glass windows and murals. Even people who have never enjoyed the schnitzel or the strudel will enjoy reading the history of the Berghoff family, a fixture in Chicago for more than 100 years.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Kissing in the Kitchen: Cooking With Passion by Kevin T. Roberts (Northland Publishing)

Give me a plate of food, a lovely conversation, a good bottle of wine, a beach or a fireplace, and I'm content. That's my idea of the ultimate date. Of course it didn't start out that way. I think at one time I would've been happy with a warm Budweiser and any warm body. Thankfully my tastes have changed a little, which basically means that I've become what I never thought I would ... mature.…

Breath ... slow down ... life is supposed to be like a good glass of wine. Drink it slowly, and make it last. …You get three chances to make an impression when you've cooked a meal for your date: when you're prepping the meal, when you're cooking, and when you're eating. Once I almost burned down my apartment while cooking a meal for a lovely lady. You think she ever forgot that date? Of course not, especially when the fire department showed up, as well as the apartment manager who was not a happy camper. We had to go out to eat the next night, but I made an impression. I just recommend you make your impression by being creative and considerate and not by cooking with smoke, sirens, and crazed managers. – from the book

Chef Kevin T. Roberts has his own Free FM radio show, The Food Dude, in southern California where he serves up a provocative menu of cooking tips and recipes each week. He is a partner and the executive chef at the East Village Tavern & Bowl in San Diego. As he believes that all men can cook, his first endeavor at publishing a cookbook was Munchies, which came to the aid of hungry men and college students with recipes that show non-cooks that they don't have to run out for greasy fast food in order to survive.

If readers have never before cooked, are novice chefs, or if they just want some new ideas, Kissing in the Kitchen will show them how to do it with style. The book advises guys: Don't plan another drone date without reading Roberts's tips on how to ciao with passion. Roberts offers a candid peek into his dating philosophy, sharing his favorite date movies and romantic songs and reminding everyone in search of love that graciously serving someone with delicious food is an important part of a relationship. For example, Roberts knows what foods are aphrodisiacs and why and shares that valuable information plus recipes for cooking them. To turn a casual date into something more he recommends the sensuous recipes Hot Dates, Hook-up Hamburger, and Sleepover Spinach plus, to keep the love life hot, the perfect combinations for ‘peaceful picnics’ and ‘social soirees’.

As he says, “Whether it is the first date and you have butterflies in your stomach, a special anniversary, or a chance to relight the fire (or you are just in trouble again) the recipes in Kissing in the Kitchen are sure to warm your companion's belly and, more importantly, heart.”

With this book, Kissing in the Kitchen, Roberts, looking to make his mark as a chef by being a role model for younger guys, shows his passion for cooking and romance. According to him, there's nothing sexier than a man who can cook, and his sexy recipes and 4-1-1 Tips provide a fun guide to creating meals for that special person. Pardon me, but if anything can get these guys into the kitchen, the prospect of getting laid will.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Two at the Table: Cooking for Couples Now That the Kids Are Gone by Cherly Fall (Sasquatch Books)

Now that there are only two at the table, leftovers seem to appear out of nowhere. This doesn't have to be the case. Cooking for two requires some planning, a new outlook, and some new recipes. While having an empty nest requires major changes in the way we prepare food, it also can yield some fabulous benefits. It leads to a more leisurely lifestyle and, best of all, having time to reconnect with your spouse or life partner. The kitchen can suddenly go from being the hub of the kid-centered home to the most romantic room in the house. – from the book

For many baby boomers, the kids are now out of the house. Family cooks are no longer cooking for a household, nor are they accommodating fussy eaters anymore. What better way to get reacquainted than over a romantic dinner or two? Cheryl Fall, host of The Creative Life on PBS, which focuses on cooking, decorating and other home and lifestyle topics, offers up 135 recipes for two in Two at the Table. Fall says that she, like so many others, has spent twenty years cooking family-sized batches of everything from entrees to desserts, which is why she has collected materials for this cookbook filled with recipes that feed just two. Two at the Table features:

  • Fun in the kitchen for couples.
  • Breakfast in bed.
  • Serving sizes that will keep readers trim.
  • Palette-pleasing tastes that put the fun back in cooking.
  • Splurging on ingredients – those who have raised a pack of kids deserve it.

The book features such exquisite ingredients as leeks, shiitake mushrooms, and fresh asparagus. With the focus on recipes that serve just two, Fall addresses quantities of ingredients and how to reorganize a pantry for newly minted empty nesters. Two at the Table features a diverse stable of dishes, from starters and salads to savory items and desserts. Some recipes include Seattle Style Broiled Scallops with Vodka Sauce, Confetti Squash and Vegetable Kabobs, Rum and Raisin Cakes, Sunday Chicken and Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb.

Two at the Table is based on the romantic notion, certainly misguided in some cases, that cooking together with one’s spouse and creating new dishes is a wonderful way to connect. Targeting baby boomers, it shows readers how to rediscover both the joys of cooking and being together. The tantalizing recipes in the book are based on basic pantry items along with these few simple but unusual items, so readers can always have the ingredients on hand for a tasty, healthy gourmet meal for two.

Criminology / True Crime

The Mexican Mafia by Tony Rafael (Encounter Books)

It has been called the most dangerous gang in American history. In Los Angeles alone it is responsible for over 100 homicides per year. Although it has fewer than 300 members, it controls a 40,000-strong street army that is eager to advance its agenda. It waves the flag of the Black Hand and its business is murder. Although known on the streets for over fifty years, the Mexican Mafia has flown under the radar of public awareness and has flourished beneath a cover of secrecy. Members are forbidden even to acknowledge its existence.
But with The Mexican Mafia, the Mexican Mafia is getting the attention it has been trying to avoid. Tony Rafael looks at the birth and growth of this criminal enterprise through the eyes of the victims, the dropouts, the cops and the DAs on the front lines of the battles. As the first book ever published on the subject, The Mexican Mafia unveils the operations of this California prison gang and how it grew from a small clique into a transnational criminal enterprise. As the first prison gang to ever project its power beyond prison walls, it controls virtually every Hispanic neighborhood in Southern California and is rapidly expanding its influence into the entire Southwest, the East Coast and even into Canada. With law enforcement seemingly powerless to stop it, the Mexican Mafia is poised to become the Cosa Nostra of a demographically changing 21st century America.

Part courtroom drama, part history lesson, and part detective story, The Mexican Mafia takes a hard look at the history, operations, and structure of the Mexican Mafia. Founded in 1957 by a group of young Los Angeles street gangsters, the Mexican Mafia has grown into a powerful prison gang that for nearly fifty years has eluded public scrutiny and flown under law enforcement radar. The Mexi­can Mafia now controls almost every L.A. neighborhood that has a strong Hispanic street gang presence. Like a corporate conglomerate, the Mexican Mafia has ver­tically integrated its criminal operations. It controls wholesale and retail drug traffick­ing and collects street taxes from a vast network of drug dealers and enforcers.

According to The Mexican Mafia, in addition to its traditional business of drug dealing, murder, and extortion, the Mexican Mafia has expanded its portfolio of activities into infiltrating publicly funded drug- and gang-intervention programs, cor­rupting local politicians, and embarking on an ethnic cleansing policy to drive African-Americans out of neighborhoods it claims for itself.

Based on original research conducted over ten years, Rafael counters con­ventional wisdom and popularly held misconceptions about the nature of gang culture – and the roots of gang violence. A Los Angeles-based writer who has spent the last ten years researching street gangs, he has interviewed scores of active and retired gang members and has been granted un­precedented access to active investigations and major criminal trials. He also examines the often haphazard nature – of police investigations and how criminal prosecutions are successfully brought forward in spite of, rather than because of, the existing justice system.

Rafael's debut book – a study of the Southern California-based Mexican mafia told mainly from the perspective of veteran Los Angeles deputy district attorney Anthony Manzella – is a revealing but flawed work. … Manzella is an interesting enough figure – a dedicated workaholic throwback who doesn't use a computer, or even an electric typewriter. But Rafael gives short shrift to the sociology of the rise of the Mexican mafia. Instead, he offers a final quote from Manzella (‘We know exactly the kind of families that produce criminals. I'd like to go in there and take them out. But we can't do that.’) will leave many with a sour taste that undercuts Rafael's attempts to make the deputy DA a hero. – Publishers Weekly

The gang ‘experts’ beloved of the mainstream media claim that gangs are disorganized and eradicable with government jobs, programs and other social services. Tony Rafael knows better. He shows how entrenched and lethal a threat the Mexican Mafia and other Hispanic gangs are. – Heather Mac Donald, Manhattan Institute Fellow and contributor to The Immigration Solution

Tony Rafael's chronicle of the insidious spread of the tribal and violent Mexican Mafia from beyond the prison into the general culture of the American Southwest is frightening. Illegal immigration, the loss of confidence in assimilation, and the failure of the public to recognize the lethal nature of gang life have all led to entire enclaves under the Mexican Mafia's control. A. chilling warning of a terrible crisis on the horizon for us all. – Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, author of Mexifornia

The Mexican Mafia is a hard-nosed look at the Mexican Mafia, Hispanic street gangs, law enforce­ment, the media, and big city politics. A pioneering work, this briskly written and thoroughly researched book pro­vides sobering insights into the nature of urban crime.

Education / Social Sciences / Research

Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research edited by Cathy Caro-Bruce, Ryan Flessner, Mary Klehr, & Kenneth M. Zeichner (Corwin Press)

Provides teachers, principals, district administrators, and professional development specialists with compelling insight into the workings of a successful action research program, and offers ten excellent sample action research projects focused on increasing student achievement in diverse school settings. – Elizabeth Burmaster, from the foreword

Despite the best intentions of reform efforts, educational inequity continues to exist in public schools.

In schools today, raising the achievement levels of all students and clos­ing the achievement gap between students of color and economically disadvantaged students and their peers must be our highest priority. To meet this goal, we know that there is nothing more important than the quality of the teacher in the classroom.

Action research brings the voices and expertise of those closest to the classroom – our teachers – to our educational improvement efforts. Teachers who examine their practices through action research bring rele­vant, authentic information to our efforts to close the achievement gap and make schools more equitable places for all children.

For both a first-time action research endeavor or one already in progress, this practical guidebook helps practitioners formulate specific research questions, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings.

Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research looks at the issue of educational equity and illustrates how action research can be used school-wide or district-wide to address this challenge. The editors include Cathy Caro-Bruce, educational consultant to school districts with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; Ryan Flessner, supervisor of preservice teachers in the Professional Development School program; Mary Klehr, teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and coordinator of the MMSD Classroom Action Research program; Kenneth Zeichner, Hoefs-Bascom Professor of Teacher Education and Associate Dean in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They have been involved in a highly successful and much studied action research that is used district-wide with a focus on the particular demographics and challenges of their district.

The results of the action research study have created a deep knowledge base and capacity. Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research provides an overview of the key conceptual and structural features for implementing a school-wide or district-wide action research program and includes ten studies on narrowing the achievement gap between racial and ethnic groups. Real stories and studies from classroom teachers serve as examples of authentic professional development and as springboards for discussion and reflection on the process of inquiry and the issues of equity.

As told in Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research, The action research process can take many forms, and there is no single recipe that will work for all teachers or contexts. From its inception, the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Classroom Action Research program has taken a decidedly con­structivist stance toward knowledge, and views the classroom inquiry process as cyclical and open-ended. Action research groups in Madison follow the school calendar, formulating inquiry projects that run from September through May. During that time, researchers meet monthly in practitioner-facilitated sessions to discuss progress, share ideas, and receive collegial support. The aim of these regular meetings is to actively think, talk, and learn together in ways that value and build on teacher knowl­edge and classroom experience.

In general, the action researchers whose studies are included in Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research have worked through a cycle of question development, data generation and analysis, reflective writing, identification of next steps, and sharing what has been learned with others.

Teachers are encouraged to study something that they feel passionate about, and to develop questions that are clearly articulated, focused on their own practices, manageable within the classroom context, will benefit students and others, and will lead to deeper questions. Finding a specific research question can take weeks or even months. Some teachers identify a research focus right away, while others start collecting data on their classrooms before finalizing their questions. A common way we start thinking about a question is through a series of ‘starting points’ ques­tions.

According to the editors, there is no one correct technique for generating data. Researchers work to collect various forms of data that repre­sent multiple perspectives at more than one point in time. Teachers typi­cally analyze their data in standard qualitative ways, such as triangulating information, sorting and coding by themes, looking for patterns in the data, and being alert to the unexpected. Ultimately, data analysis should help classroom practitioners to take productive actions on behalf of their students and to identify the next steps in their inquiry process.

Writing plays a central role in these teachers' work during and at the end of the research process, helping them to articulate their practices and to become thoughtful inquirers about themselves and their students. It also serves as a means for synthesizing learning and communicating with others. Short, end-of-year reports are published in-house, are distributed to all schools in the district, and are posted on the district's Web site. Action researchers are also supported in presenting at local and national educa­tional research conferences and in serving as consultants to other school districts. Finally, over the years a number of teachers have published their studies in academic journals.

The structure of Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research:

Chapters 1 and 2 set the context for the presentation of the studies. Chapter 1 situates the equity action research reported in the book within the various efforts of the MMSD to narrow educational inequalities across the district. Chapter 2 provides background information on the district Classroom Action Research professional development program within which the 10 studies were conducted. Chapters 3 through 12 report the individual action research studies of the 10 teachers. Each action research study includes an epilogue, in which the researchers reflect about the impact of their studies on their practice over time. The final chapter looks across the 10 studies and situates them in relation to what other PreK-12 and academic researchers have learned about nar­rowing educational inequalities.

Recognizing the importance of race, class, gender, culture, and ability, the authors provide a window into the difficulties that professional educators grapple with as they face the challenge of teaching all children. This text is both authentic and practical, and demystifies issues of equity that pervade today's classrooms. – Diane Yendol-Hoppey, Associate Professor, University of Florida, Gainesville
Action research of this caliber on the subject of equity is critically needed for all children to have access to the same level of rigor and high standards. This is a must-read for districts who really want to turn action research into action that affects student learning. – Terry Morganti-Fisher, Director of Professional Development, Austin Independent School District

Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research confronts the challenge of educational inequity head-on and shows educators how they can use action research to both raise student achievement and strengthen instructional leadership.

Invaluable for school district leaders, teachers, professional development schools, and pre-service teachers, this resource for system-wide improvement efforts helps schools provide more equitable learning environments for all children. The book is also suited for professional development schools. Both the individual studies presented and the example of a school district investing in its teachers to create new solu­tions to enduring problems of schooling will provide the basis for dialogue and stimulate the creation of other opportunities for teachers to engage in action research in school districts across the country.

Engineering / Civil / Reference

Ergonomics for Children: Designing Products and Places for Toddlers to Teens edited by Rani Lueder & Valerie J. Berg Rice (Taylor & Francis)

Ergonomics for Children is a first attempt to put the lives of children in the context of the society in which they live, to give a comprehensive analysis with explanations, reasons, and design recommendations for the betterment of their lives. Anyone who has responsibility for the welfare of children should become familiar with the contents of this book, to recognize the complexity of their task and to give themselves the background to cooperate in systematic and holistic approaches to their problems. This is not a book just for the affluent West, but for children everywhere. If we are to have a better future world, we must use our knowledge to make it better for our children. – Nigel Corlett, Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham, from the Foreword

Children are clearly not ‘little adults,’ but how do they differ, and how do such differences affect the design of products and places that they use? How can we better help them face new and unique challenges, such as when using new technologies? The questions were simple, but the answers were not.

Combining coverage of a wide range of issues related to accommodating very young children through to adolescents, Ergonomics for Children provides an understanding of how children develop and how these developmental changes can influence the design of products and places for children. Illustrated with photos and other images, the book helps readers find answers to their questions, grasp concepts, and apply them. The content is broken into subsections, allowing readers to start reading anywhere in the book, depending on their immediate need.

The volume is edited by Rani Lueder, President of Humanics ErgoSystems, Inc., an ergonomics consulting firm in Encino, California, and a teacher of human factors and ergonomics in product design at Art Center College of Design and Valerie J. Berg Rice, certified ergonomist, who completed 25 years of active duty in the Army, chief of the Army Research Laboratory Army Medical Department Field Element at Ft. Sam Houston, San Antonio. Edited by these experts with contributions from an international panel, Ergonomics for Children is both broad in coverage and international in perspective. The contributors review the ways in which children develop physically, perceptually, cognitively, and socially and then use this information to provide guidelines for the design of places and products for children.

As explained in the book, for many centuries children have been seen as an adjunct to adults, either as helpers, earners, or little people to be humanized. The last hundred years have seen a gradual change, in schools, in families, and in the environment in which children live. At last they are seen, in general, as children. They have unique requirements, problems, needs, and desires. So it is important that adults design the environment of children so that the children themselves grow, ben­efit, and enjoy their developing lives.

Research in human factors has not always matched the reality of the world we live in, however. It has tended to concentrate on adults, on military requirements, on adult workplaces, and on (male) college graduates as well as on the interface between the public and the world. In spite of the large population of children, school (the workplace of the young) has a relatively small body of ergonomics studies and the ergonomics of play even less. Yet the psychology of childhood is a large field, with huge implications for ergonomics.

Ergonomics for Children provides a user's manual about ergonomics and children for professionals who design products and places for and work and play with children. It cuts across a wide swath of disciplines such as ergonomics, psychology, medicine, rehabilitation, exercise physiology, optometry, education, architecture, urban planning, law, and others.

I am so excited to see this book in press. ... It provides a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the range of factors that should be considered when designing for children. – Wendy A. Rogers, PhD, Past President, Human Factors & Ergonomics Society

... describes how ergonomics principles can be applied to our most precious commodity – children.... Designers of classrooms, playgrounds, museums and products for children must read this book. Children will benefit even further if teachers and parents also read this book. – Stover Snook, PhD, CPE, Harvard School of Public Health

This groundbreaking book surveys the state of ergonomics in design for toddlers to teenagers ... belongs on the bookshelf of every designer, ergonomist and engineer who develops products and environments used by people. – Steven Casey, PhD, author of Set Phasers on Stun and The Atomic Chef and Other True Tales of Design, Technology and Human Error

... addresses every conceivable aspect of designing products and places for children ... the contents are illustrated with some of the most charming photographs of children that you will ever see. – Douglas H. Harris, PhD, Chairman & Principal Scientist, Anacapa Sciences, Inc. Past President, Human Factors & Ergonomics Society

Combining coverage of a broad range of issues, Ergonomics for Children provides a deep understanding of how children develop and how these changes can influence product and place design. Copiously illustrated with photos and other images, the book is user friendly. The breakdown of the content into subsections, makes using the book as a reference tool easy. Edited by experts, Ergonomics for Children is also international in perspective. The book is designed for ergonomists, product designers, manufacturers, technology specialists, educators, rehabilitation therapists, architects, city planners, attorneys, and even parents.

Engineering / Outdoors & Nature / Environment / Home & Garden

Design for Water: Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Catchment, and Alternate Water Reuse by Heather Kinkade-Levario (New Society Publishers)

Water was once abundant and cheap, but the entire world faces the reality of a decreasing supply of clean water. In an era of dwindling resources, water is poised to become the new oil.

Collecting and storing rainwater is not a new idea. For almost 4000 years, cultures throughout the world have used captured rainwater. Wars have been fought and won over ownership of water or the ability to catch rainwater. Continuing this thought today, collecting and using water more than one time can help reduce dependence on existing fresh water supplies. Much of the municipal water that has been purified to drinking water standards is used for tasks such as house cleaning, flushing toi­lets, gardening, and washing clothes or cars when drinking-water quality for these tasks is not required.

To avert a devastating shortage, we must not only look at alternate water sources for existing structures but must plan our new developments differently. Rainwater expert Heather Kinkade-Levario builds on her award-winning book Forgotten Rain with Design for Water. The book is a guide to alternate water collection, with a focus on rainwater harvesting in the urban environment. The book:

  • Outlines the process of water collection from multiple sources – landscape, residential, commercial, industrial, school, park, and municipal systems.
  • Provides numerous case studies.
  • Details the assembly and actual application of equipment.
  • Includes specific details, schematics, and references.

All aspects of rainwater harvesting are outlined, including passive and active system setup, storage, storm water reuse, distribution, purification, analysis, and filtration. There is even a section on rainwater harvesting for wildlife.

According to Kinkade-Levario, Arizona Director of Planning and the president of Forgotten Rain L.L.C., a rainwater harvesting and stormwater-reuse company, in addition to rainwater, there are several affordable and accessible alternate sources, including cooling tower bleed-off water, air conditioning condensate, gray water, and fog collection. Design for Water is geared to providing those making development decisions and guidelines with the information they need to set up passive harvesting techniques. Kinkade-Levario has made herself the leading expert in rainwater collection and its applications through a singu­lar combination of systematic observation, focused academic study, and professional design experience. Her native area is the arid Southwest, where the need for water collection is most obvious and where the art of water catchment has developed rapidly.

Numerous case studies outline the process of water collection from landscape, residential, commercial, industrial, school, park and municipal systems. According to Design for Water, two water sources that potentially need little filtration or purification are rainwater and fog condensate. However, both require specific techniques for collection. Fog collection, while it can only apply to specific elevations and geographic fog-producing features, requires large fog col­lection arrays, troughs, pipes, and water storage tanks. Similarly, the efficient collection of rainwater depends on several factors. First of all, the catch­ment area – the defined surface area upon which rainwater falls and is collected – should be carefully chosen. Pollutants introduced from a poorly chosen catchment area can affect the usability of the captured water. Second, the quantity of water to be collected, known as the rainwater harvesting potential, should be carefully evaluated. Third, the conveyance system that carries the water to storage must be designed, and an initial process of removing pollutants, known as a first-flush diversion or roof washing, must be consid­ered. The water must also be stored and then distributed by gravity or by pumping.

Stormwater catchment can be for reuse of the water or, more typically, it can be caught for infiltration purposes. Alternate water supplies such as cooling tower bleed-off water, air conditioning condensate, and greywater can and typically are reused for non-potable uses that include landscape irrigation and toilet flushing. While rainwater collec­tion is the main emphasis of Design for Water, the collection and use or reuse of all of these supplies are recommended for applicability to a new or existing project.

This new book raises available rainwater catchment, stormwater collection, and alter­nate water reuse information to the detailed technical level and broad scope of application required by professional archi­tects, landscape architects, and engineers. It gives us clear writ­ing, abundant case studies, great illustrations, and technical authority. It is organized, comprehensive, and accessible. Through it we see where and how rainwater catchment is being implemented and alternate water reused. We see at work both simple ‘passive’ systems and the technically more demanding, but hydrologically much more complete and efficient, ‘active’ systems. This new book elevates professionals' awareness and capability by providing the information they need. Immediately upon publication, it has the effect and stature of this growing technology's leading technical guideline and profes­sional information resource. – Bruce K. Ferguson, FASLA, Franklin Professor of Landscape Architecture and former Director, University of Georgia School of Environmental Design

This accessible and clearly written guide is the most up-to-date book on the market dealing with alternate water collection, with a special focus on rainwater harvesting in the urban environment. Design for Water provides the necessary guidelines to set up passive harvesting techniques to anyone making development decisions. The book will especially appeal to engineers, landscape architects, municipal decision-makers, developers, and landowners.

Engineering / Telecommunications / Electrical & Electronics

Fundamentals of Communications Systems by Michael P. Fitz (McGraw-Hill)

Fundamentals of Communications Systems provides an introduction to physical layer communications theory with modern implementations and MATLAB examples. This guide covers essential theory and current engineering practice, explaining the real-world tradeoffs necessary among performance, spectral efficiency, and complexity.

Written by an award-winning communications expert, the book first takes readers through analog communications basics, amplitude modulations, analog angle modulation, and random processes. The book then explains noise in bandpass communications systems, bandpass Gaussian random processes, digital communications basics, complexity of optimum demodulation, spectrally efficient data transmission, and more. Fundamentals of Communications Systems features a modern approach to communications theory, reflecting current engineering applications and numerous problems integrated throughout, with software available for download.

The book consists of four parts for modular classroom presentation by Michael Fitz, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles and a member of the editorial board of the IEEE Transactions on Communications. Fitz’s goal in teaching communications is to provide students with

  • An exposition of the theory required to build modern communication systems.
  • An insight into the required trade-offs between spectral efficiency of transmission, fidelity of message reconstruction, and complexity of system implementation that are required for a modern communication system design.
  • A demonstration of the utility and applicability of the theory in the homework problems and projects.
  • A logical progression in thinking about communication theory.

Fundamentals of Communications Systems is more mathematical than most and does not discuss examples of communication systems except as a way to illustrate how important communication theory concepts solve real engineering problems. Fitz’s experience has been that his approach works well in an elective class where students are interested in communication careers or as a self-study guide to communications. His approach does not work as well when the class is a required course for all electrical engineering students as students are less likely to see the advantage of developing tools they will not be using in their career. MATLAB is used to illustrate the concepts of communication theory as it is a great visualization tool and probably the most prevalent system engineering tool used in practice today. Fitz says that the beauty of communication theory is the logical flow of ideas. He has tried to capture this progression in Fundamentals of Communications Systems.

The course objectives for an undergraduate communication course that can be taught from the text are (along with their ABET criteria)

  • Students learn the bandpass representation for carrier modulated signals. (Criterion 3(a)).
  • Students engage in engineering design of communications system compo­nents. (Criteria 3(c), (k)).
  • Students learn to analyze the performance, spectral efficiency and complexity of the various options for transmitting analog and digital message signals. (Criteria 3(e), (k)).
  • Students learn to characterize noise in communication systems. (Criterion 3(a)).

Fundamentals of Communications Systems takes a stylistic approach that is different than the typical commu­nication text. One stylistic technique that Fitz adopts in many of the sections, especially where tools for communication theory are developed, is the use of a property state­ment followed by a proof. His approach is to teach general concepts and then follow up with specific ex­amples. To Fitz the most important result from a class taught from this book is the learning of fundamental tools.

Fundamentals of Communications Systems contains two types of homework problems: (1) direct application problems and (2) extension problems. The application problems try to define a problem that is a straightforward application of the material developed in the text. The extension problem requires the student to think ‘outside the box’ and extend the theory learned in class to cover other important topics or practical applications.

Both for himself and the students he has taught, learning is consummated in ‘doing.’ Fitz includes ‘Miniprojects’ in the text to give the students a chance to implement the theory. The project solutions are appropriate for oral presenta­tion and this gives the students experience that is a valuable part of an engineering career. To aid students who are not familiar with MATLAB pro­gramming Fitz includes the code for all the MATLAB generated figures in the text on the book web page.

Readers can rely on Fundamentals of Communications Systems for a solid introduction to physical layer communications theory, filled with modern implementations and examples. This state-of-the-art guide covers essential theory and current engineering practice, carefully explaining the real-world tradeoffs. The book is written to fit the modern communications curriculum. Prerequisites to this course are probability and random variables and a signal and systems course.

Health, Mind & Body / Alternative Medicine

The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine: The Ultimate Multidisciplinary Reference to the Amazing Realm of Healing Plants, in a Quick-Study, One-Stop Guide by Brigitte Mars (Basic Health Publications, Inc.)

Agrimony, for example, is from the rose family; its common names are cocklebur and sticklewort. It can be made into an apricot-scented tea.

It can be used for asthma, bladder treatment, bronchitis, coughs, cystitis, incontinence, kidney stones, sore throats, and more. As a topical wash, it treats bruises, sore muscles, and hives. Gargling with it helps soothe sore throats. As a flower essence it helps those who appear cheerful but conceal mental anguish behind their humor, and it helps them find inner peace. – from the book

Herbal medicine has been with us since the beginning, one of the many aspects of humankind's symbiotic relationship with the natural world. It is the most time-tested healing tradition in the world, having evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in disparate regions and diverse cultures. In The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine renowned herbalist Brigitte Mars offers a guide to the vast array of medicinal herbs that are now commonly available in North America. The book is a ‘one-stop guide’ to herbal medicine with a glossary of physiological effects, an index of botanical names, and an index of alternative common names of herbs.

Drawing on healing traditions from around the world, Mars, who teaches herbal medicine through Esalen, the Boulder College of Massage Therapy and the Naropa Institute, presents detailed monographs of more than 180 herbs, from the commonplace tea and raspberry to the weedy dandelion and goldenrod to the more exotic ho shou wu and zeodary. The monographs provide a broad range of information about each herb, including their physiological effects, constituents, energetics, historical and current medicinal uses, other common uses, edible properties, natural range, and contraindications. Mars focuses on guiding readers toward the safe, effective, and confident use of plants as healing and preventive medicine.

Mars has been a practitioner of herbal healing for more than thirty-five years. Herbal medicine is not a ‘diagnose and treat’ program, she emphasizes. "It is a holistic approach to maintaining a vibrant, energetic, balanced state of being that is best practiced every day." Weaving herbal medicine with Western medicine enables us to have unparalleled treatment possibilities, she says.

Herbs may be purchased in stores, grown at home, and found in the wild. Mars in The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine offers specific guidelines as to what to look for and what to avoid, how to shop for herbs, how to harvest them, and how to dry them. She encourages people to make their own herbal formulations. She offers suggestions for using single herbs, mixing herbs, or mingling dry and fresh herbs, to make compresses for healing wounds, inflammation, rashes, and skin infections; and herbal blends for baths, eyewashes, facial steams, massage oils, and teas.

The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine is an invaluable companion in the study and use of herbs to achieve health, mitigate illness, and correct physiological imbalances.

Mars has created an authoritative, comprehensive multidisciplinary reference to healing plants available in North America. Mars’ forthright tone, pragmatic advice, and gentle humor shine here, inviting readers to use The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine as a study aid, a reference, and a wide-ranging exploration of the plant realm. Students and experienced practitioners of herbal medicine will find this concise, reference an invaluable companion in the study and use of herbs to achieve health, mitigate illness, and correct physiological imbalances.

Health, Mind & Body / Alternative Medicine / Asia

Traditional Thai