I finishing my PhD in Cognitive Psychology, and I am new to the field of training. My purpose in reading training books is to discover whether or not I would like to pursue being a trainer, or at the very least use the information to help me in my current field. So, you can take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I know that ASTD is the big professional association for trainers, so I was surprised and disappointed in the limited usefulness of a book sponsored by them.

Other books present design and delivery in a more thorough manner. You can skim this book in a few minutes and get the key points. Whether this is entirely due to the lack of substantive content or due to the book's format is debatable, but I am thinking more the former than the latter.

The key points that are useful are not adequately backed up by sufficient supporting detail or research. I don't think the "Delivery" part should necessarily be backed up by research, but the "Design" part surely should. I would like to know why the techniques they suggest should work and how cognitive processes relate to those techniques. But my thinking that this is important may be more due to my own background, rather than a real flaw of the book. However, even if that is true, I have found other books that do give sufficient supporting detail and/or research.

The other books I recommend instead of this one are:
- Beyond the Podium by Rossett
- Developing Training Courses by Hassell-Corbiell
- Web-Based Training by Horton
- Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development by Alessi and Trollip
- Building Expertise by Clark

A quick reference for all things related to Training Design & delivery. However, the coverage is surprisingly deep and some of the chapters are all you'll ever need to know about the topic.

Whether you want an overall picture of Training Design & Delivery or a beginner on his/her first steps and even when you become an expert, you'll find yourself referring to this book again and again.

The Handbook is divided into three section;
1) Instructor Based - Covers such topics as instructional systems design, using technology and games during training and evaluating training programs.
2) Design & delivery of Technology Based Training - If you want a more comprehensive coverage of e-learning, then you should refer to the newly published 'Handbook of e-learning.' However, this section remains quite valuable since it covers some of the other media.
3) Design & delivery of Self Directed Training - If they will learn on their own, then these are all the resources and tools you will need.

This Handbook, together with the 'ASTD Handbook of Training & Development' are essential reference for all Training & Development professionals. I predict that they will also be joined by the 'ATSD Handbook of e-learning' quite soon!

"Bright Gem of the Western Seas" is a compilation of newspaper articles written by James Carson for the San Joaquin Republican from January 17 to May 29, 1852, and reports on the Tulare Valley by George Derby. The articles written by Carson occupy the bulk of the volume, and are by far the more colorful and illuminating.

Mr. Carson holds a minor place in California history, having been an early inhabitant, gold panner, and explorer for whom some landmarks are named. He is not writing as someone concerned with his place in history, as a Stanford, Ralston or Hearst might have been. He is just telling it "like it is," or at least as he sees things to be.

And that is what makes this work so interesting. It is anything but politically correct. He speaks of the native Indian population in fairly disparaging terms that, I gather, were typical of the time. He defends the lynch mobs. Conversely, he complains of the racist Foreign Miners Tax as discouraging the immigration of Chinese miners. Go figure.

Better yet, don't try to figure it at all. Just take him for what he was . . . a man of his time. And, if you have an interest in California history and, especially, the Gold Rush, you'll probably enjoy having this book in your library.

Nothing is better for historical reference to the mood and texture of a particular time than the public writing of that time. This is, I agree, politically incorrect and quite telling. If you want to know what was seen, heard and felt by the people in California in 1846, (a year before the Mormon Pioneers got to Utah,) and 1852, then give this a read. Go and rent, "Paint Your Wagon," and make a night of it.

Except for Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, which is disorganized and verges on the incoherent, almost all of Murdoch's explicitly philosophical writing is here. So if you are going to be working on Murdoch's philosophy, this is a resource you need to have. However, if you're new to Murdoch's philosophical writing, you might do better taking a look at The Sovereignty of Good; it's got three of her best four essays, and it's a whole lot shorter and easier to find your way around in.

Murdoch's essays each shine on their own, but collected here you get the full, accumulated brilliance in one volume. She is a needed voice in the post-modernist wilderness --- assuring the careful reader that there are works, though they may be formalist or outmoded or dated, that are worthy of the veneration and study of future generations. And, just as there are works of art that are "good" and that are superior to others, there are also actions and thoughts and moralities that are better than others. Her style is lucid and affecting and is never pedantic --- you are enthralled and rapt while you are being educated. Literature, like the other arts, is a form of communication that never ends. Art speaks to each generation; but some specific works of art transcend time and are contemplated anew by different human minds. Murdoch takes your chin and points your eyes towards these works, and you can see the eternal verities and the truths that shine out from them.

This takes place some 30 years after Lewis and Clark... Excellent documentary of the North American culture just before the BIG change. Its evident Catlin realizes this change and through his travels, he meticulously describes the native civilizations from an eyewitness account. In the final chapter, he makes a bold hypothesis concerning the origins of a particular tribe: the Madans. Fascinating!

George Catlin is certainly a man to admire, as is this book.Catlin lived amongst the Native Americans for many years and writes carefully of his experiences.This is an interesting read and provides another dimension to the subject of American Indians.The book is fascinating in as much as Catlin portrays himself as a wordly man and a friend of the Indians ( And he certainly was)but despite that you can still find evidence of his ignorance within the text.Nevertheless he was a fascinating man who had a fascinating life,his artwork allthough basic in my mind, is well worth a look.My only critiscm of this book is that quite some time is spent describing the scenery whereas I would have prefered even more writing on the Indians themselves,that is my personal viewpoint, others may find that intruiging.The book is full of facts and personal experiences and that in itself adds to the validity of this book as musthave for your collection

This book is a piece that paints a portrait of byron, using facts rather than opinions which make it perfect for studies. It goes into detail about his troubled and disease ridden childhood, suffering most from a leg deformity commonly known as club foot, and later details his escipades as an adult and his final demise fighting for greek independance. certanly worth your time and money.

This volume provides a useful selection of metholodogical and theoretical papers confronting archaeologists studying prehistoric violence. Data from the Anasazi culture of the prehistoric American Southwest have become the focus of heated dbate in recent years. Was their world a violent one characterized by warfare, cannibalism, ritual sacrifice or relgious persecution? Did they practice mortuary customs that might mimic these processes? The scholars in this volume place the study of possible Anasazi violence within a larger context of prehistoric violence in the new world in an attempt to answer these questions. This is necessary reading for all southwestern archaeologists. Other Archaeologists and the general public would also enjoy reading this volume. Well done.

...at every cliche in this book. Ms. Rosenthal and Mr. Dardess quizzed every in law, every outlaw, every aunt and uncle, parent and grandparent available, scribbled on the back of cocktail napkins, woke up in the middle of the night to scratch on the back of a light bill envelope to get all the cliches anyone could ever imagine and some that no one would ever have thought of...the cartoons, (listed as being done by the CRAG and Peter Lavigna) are hilarious, too. A chicken depositing eggs on the highway divider is "laying it on the line" and Bowser in his canine residence while consuming a frankfurter shows us "it's a dog eat dog world" (rimshot!).... Anyhoo, there are hilarious dialogs like "Mr. Arbuthnot and the Meaning of life" and "Mom and Pop And Sis And Junior" arguments that will make you sick with glee and tickled pink on how cleverly several cliches are placed in context of a conversation or two or three...the index alone is a wealth of information. Or a cavern of puns, however you look at it. You will fully enjoy this one. And when you finish, hand this book over to a friend, so he/she can get a kick out of it, also. (You know stacking my reviews with a boat load of cliches is right up my alley. Why did you think I could not resist tossing a few more logs in the fire in 'this' review ...?)

when Hegel's name is mentioned in philosophy, usually people listen. Hodgson shows a side of Hegel that i previously had little to no knowledge of--his spiritual ideas. this book provides insight and understanding to the 'absolute of absolutes' that Hegel incorporates into his modern thought. this merger of philosophical ideas from with the gospel message of Christianity allows one to understand that the complexity of philosophy, especially with Hegel, can be articulated to others for their growth as Christians. this is definitely a worthwhile read about an enlightening topic.

Like many people who saw "Saving Private Ryan" I was interested in finding out more about what happened in WWII. I was born in 1959 and I've seen all of the old war movies. This book brought it all down to a very human level. The men in the trenches tell their own stories and Mr. Koskimaki puts these stories together so that you get a much clearer picture of the day to day actions and heroism that these brave men (and women) survived. I recommend it highly

The story of Vancouver's voyage to the Pacific North West is one of much hardship, persistance and determination. John Naish tells the story of the voyage by cross referencing the journals and diaries of four of the key players in this expedition. Taken individualy the journals are a great read themselves but when used to collaborate or just to fill in blanks it results in a very pleasant read. It takes the reader into the world of 1791-1795 in such a way that we can forget, briefly, what we have today and imagine the world during the times of the French Revolution and the emergence of America as a nation.