Recommended Reading

Title

The World Wide Web has evolved from a passive "publish and browse" environment to one where individuals have the power to collaboratively create value and compete. At the organizational level, this means that invention, production, marketing, and distribution of goods and services is becoming de-centralized. This relentless change has the power to create great wealth - and also to destabilize many existing business models.

Is mass collaboration a blessing or a curse? This book explores the possibilities.

0-374-29288-4

(Newer, updated version available)

Friedman's original book by this title took the world by storm. He very eloquently told us all that the world had changed in profound ways. This revolution came about as a result of new technologies that allowed the individual to play a role on the world stage. Connectivity offers a vehicle for anyone to find a voice, establish commerce, develop community, and even (re)order society.

Title

Huge media conglomerates are buying up more and more of today's modern press. That means fewer and fewer people control what gets published or seen. Whose interests are really being protected?

This book is a compilation of essays by nearly two dozen journalists who were banished from the press for refusing to falsify their investigative reports in favor of outside interests. See what these reporters really uncovered in stories such as TWA Flight 800, the War on Drugs, a civilian massacre in the Korean War, a foreshadowing of 9/11, and more.

Title

ISBN-10: 0787952257 (paperback)

ISBN-13:978-0787952259

This book introduces Caffarella's Interactive Model of Program Planning. This model asserts that program planning can be accomplished in a non-linear fashion, based on the depth, breadth, and scope of the program.

The author takes the planner through such topics as identifying program ideas and building a base of support, developing objectives, designing instructional plans, devising transfer-of-learning plans, preparing budgets and marketing plans, and evaluating programs. An excellent resource!

Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation (reaction, learning, behavior, and results) have been used for decades. In this new work, the original author and his son explore the issue of transfer of learning. They assert that learning that is not applied back on the job has failed to achieve its purpose.

Kirkpatrick takes a holistic approach, carefully addressing issues of strategy, leadership, culture, and systems. He cites two keys to achieving transfer: support and accountability. Support includes proper conditions, systems, and resources. Accountability starts at the top (management) and continues through to the learners/workers themselves.

This is an excellent resource for trainers, instructional designers, and leaders who wish to employ sound principles in their training practices.

Title

Companies everywhere are embracing the idea of e-learning, but few seemingly have given much thought to the science behind the craft. Evidence-based research is largely conducted in academic settings and is often difficult to transfer, or even translate, to the business world. Clark & Mayer present much research and numerous easy-to-understand principles that can be used to develop e-learning courses and activities. They give multiple examples and counter-examples to remove much of the guesswork from the e-learning development process. This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the development or evaluation of e-learning products.

This text very clearly details how to design, develop, and evaluate instruction. The Dick and Carey Systems Approach Model is used to take the reader step-by-step through the design process. This edition is suitable for developing classroom (face-to-face), distance learning, and other instructional methods.

For those unfamiliar with conducting a needs assessment, please see the listing above for Analyzing Performance Problems as a possible companion to this Dick & Carey publication.

Title

This book defines affluenza as "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more."

If you're struggling with the pressures of life and work, then this book can help you on the road to a more satisfying and sensible kind of lifestyle. It offers valuable insights into why Americans are so obsessed with material possessions - and how to get off the merry-go-round of consumerism. And it's very painless!

In this groundbreaking work, Goleman argued that we should consider more than mere IQ to determine human intelligence.

Using examples from brain and behavioral research, he showed how those of high IQ can sometimes fail, while those with high emotional intelligence (EQ) can be very successful. Further, he offered hope that these critical factors can be nurtured and strengthened throughout the lifetime to benefit health, relationships, and work.

Overloaded? Stressed? Never enough time? Are you doing what you feel you have to do, instead of what you'd like to do?

This book discusses where overload comes from, what it looks like, and most importantly, what to do about it!

Who's the smartest person you know? Is that the person whose advice you'd seek if you had a problem?

In this text, Surowiecki asserts that the collective wisdom of any crowd will be able to come up with appropriate solutions better than even the brightest of its individual members. This is an interesting hypothesis, which flies in the face of much conventional wisdom. Yet, the author offers numerous examples to support this claim.

A worthy read!

Title

ISBN-10: 0385483279

ISBN-13: 978-0385483278

Title

Designing a Web site? Then this book is for you!

Steve Krug offers hundreds of valuable tips on how to make your site easy for the user to navigate. After all, it doesn't really matter whether your company president thinks it's logical. What really matters is whether your customers can find their way around! If not, they won't be back!

While the Web designer will undoubtedly find some valuable tips in this book, it is truly written for the person tasked with re-designing one or more existing sites. Goto and Cotler offer a comprehensive core process that will work "for all types of teams, all kinds of companies, and all kinds of budgets."

The book has tips, techniques, checklists, surveys, worksheets, forms, and case studies. A companion Web site is also offered for the very latest in re-design info. Great reference!

Recommended Internet Resources

This list was accurate at the time of posting. Please help me keep it up-to-date by reporting non-workable links or other obsolete listings at karen@karensummey.com. Thank you!

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