A superb Book, ideal for the beginner through to advanced collector, a wealth of high quality images and a very readable and interesting narrative on German military history. A Very detailed history of the regimental stein that is unsurpassed. This is a must have for any Regimental stein collector. Also very nice quality paper, printing and binding, seldom seen in modern books.

Regimental stein collectors whether new or well versed will benefit greatly from this book. Mr. Heiligenstein has laid the information out in a logical and orderly fashion. Making it extremely easy to use. The manner at which Mr. Heiligenstein has chronologically presented the history of the regiments, and the principals involved was fantastic. The person purchasing this book will quickly be assisted by years of research and experience put to print by Mr. Heiligenstein. In addition to all of this. The stein illustrations with their double view frames is a novel idea. The stein collector who attempts to collect steins without this book in his reference library is in trouble. Trust me on this, I was there!

I have read Mr R. Ron Heiligenstein's book Regimental Beer Steins. As a regimental stein collector I find that his book gives great insight to the origination and the on going understanding of the regimental stein. His individual photographs and comments on each allow the collector to seek out and gain an understanding of their own collection visually. Mr. Heiligenstein does not spoon feed the reader but he does supply the information that the collector needs to advance his knowledge of rgimental stein collecting. The book is not only educational but is attractive to display for all to see. It is my opinion that Mr. Heiligenstein's book with it's wealth of knowledge should be an addition to all stein collectors reference material.

Anyone even slightly familiar with the beliefs, practices and culture of the LDS church in the time of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and with LDS beliefs, practices and culture today will note a number of differences.

It turns out that the period from 1900 to 1930, which is the subject of this book, was a watershed of cultural change for the Church. Before 1900, polygamy was a pillar of the social organization of the Church. Women were widely believed to acquire the priesthood authority of their husband through endowment and marriage. The Word of Wisdom was counsel, not systematically enforced -- and more than one early prophet thought that the most important element of the Word of Wisdom was the injunction not to eat meat! And so on. By 1930, in all these (and other) respects, the Church looked like the Church of today.

Whatever you think of the changes (personally, and polygamy aside, I find the Church of the nineteenth century pretty seductive), the history is interesting. The book is well written, the authors' viewpoint objective (i.e., not hostile to or critical of the Church, and also not fawning salvation history). Add it to your Church History library today.

My daughter bought this book for a church history class at BYU. When she was done with it, I began to browse, and got hooked. It provides an "institutional memory" for the interworkings of politics, social events, and the church at the turn of the century. That institutional memory applies amazingly well to the present time of rapid growth and change in the church.

Thomas G. Alexander is a Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr. Professor of American History at Brigham Young University, and Stephen J. Stein is a Chancellors' Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University.

This historical and sociological study of Buddhism in the U.S. from 1844 to 1912 provides insight not only into American Buddhism but also into American culture in the Victorian period and the interactions between new religious movements and the values and beliefs of the dominant culture. The book is academic but not obtuse, and it's relatively engaging.

Tweed explores in detail the ways in which European-American converts to and sympathizers with Buddhism in the Victorian period both dissented from the dominant culture and also consented to it, and he observes that to be successful, a new or transplanted religious movement needs to be different but not too different from the dominant culture. Tweed argues that Buddhist adherents and sympathizers shared a number of basic Victorian American values and beliefs that Buddhism, as it was then understood, seemed to contradict: theism; individualism (a label that Tweed actually uses for two distinct things: the belief in a substantial and immortal self and an emphasis on self-reliance); optimism (a belief in the basic goodness and inevitable progress of individuals and history); and activism (an emphasis on moral action to uplift individuals and reform societies). In contrast, Buddhism was seen as atheistic, nihilistic, pessimistic, and passive. Although some Americans attracted to Buddhism were able to reject theism and the belief in a substantial self, very few were able to relinquish their commitments to optimism and activism, and they rejected interpretations of Buddhism as pessimistic and passive. Tweed finds that two major sources of Buddhism's appeal during the Victorian period were the perception that Buddhism was more compatible than Christianity with science and the perception that Buddhism was more tolerant than Christianity and Victorian culture toward religious and cultural outsiders.

Tweed also provides an interesting typology of Euro-American Buddhist adherents and sympathizers in Victorian America: the "esoteric," "rationalist," and "romantic" types.

I do not want to review this book, but I do want to call your attention to the peer review book review that was published in the journal: Archives of Pediatrics in the May journal I believe. Dr. Safer said that this book was unique and belonged on a bookshelf right next to Russell Barkley's book. He said that from a biomedical standpoint it had no equal. The title of the book is Attention Deficit Disorders and Hyperactivity in Children and Adults.

This book is a very complete, yet easy-to-read introduction to ECGs. The format follows the same sort of Question-and-Answer style as Dubin's, yet the approach is more logical. It does not take very long to go through the book. I found several pearls or easy ways to remember things not found in the other introductory books. I would highly recommend this as a first text or as a review for anyone trying to fill in the gaps in their ability to read ECGs.

Rapid Analysis Of Electrocardiograms A Self Study program is an excellent book for those starting in the cardiac or emegancy medical fields.This book starts at the beginning to give the reader a firm foundation to learn and be able to identify the dysrhythmias described and explained in clear easy to understand language.This book also is wonderful for reveiw ,I use mine to double check information.A very informitive guide for new comers and those who have been in the medical field for years.

If you are interested in Thomas Jefferson or Monticello, this is a terrific book. Over 150 of Jefferson's personal possessions are photographed and documented with detailed explanations and provenance of the items. Covered are varied objects such as works of art, china, portraits, scientific instruments, natural history specimens, and personal objects. This book really illustrates how varied Jefferson's interests were. A very fascinating book!

I'm using this book as part of a graduate class in Algorithms. I've got an undergrad in Math and CS and have developed code in C/C++, Java, Perl, etc. The pseudo code in the book is ambiguous from the point of view of either a student of math or a software developer. In either case you have more rigor and you expect to be able to read most of it alone, as it stands. In a "real" programming language you usually find variable names that are more descriptive than a single letter. You may even find a variable declaration that gives you the type, and if you're lucky a comment that describes it further. Math proofs usually start out with an introduction that serves a simillar purpose. The pseudo code in the book doesn't do much of eitehr. It doesn't make as much sense when read stand-alone as a proof or "real" code. The trick is to carefully read the text along with the pseudo code.

Some may say the title is a bit misleading. Sure, you'd want to be very interested in the subject to use this as your first introduction to algorithms, and the analysis and design of them. On the other hand, the book isn't especially advanced. It just covers a lot!

As a textbook, or for self-study, the book excels in clarity, coverage, and precision. It never lets go of the big picture, but still has every bit of detail you would want in an introductory text, with mathematical proofs of interesting properties of the algorithms introduced (and the first 6 chapters explain any mathematics you need).

As a reference, the book is immensely useful. Because almost any other algorithm book has a reasonable size, they must make a choice of what to cover. This book avoids the choice, and is therefore much thicker.

Of course, one book can't cover everything, the authors limit themselves to fundamental algorithms, anything related to parsing, semantic analysis, rewrite-systems, theorem-proving, computational biology, numerical analysis, computer graphics, machine-learning, signal-processing, or a number of other topics is better dealt with in a more specialized book. Still the coverage is unusually broad, and you would be hard pressed to find a more complete reference.

If you only want one book on algorithms, this is the book you want. If one algorithm-book isn't enough, you would still want this one, because it would be hard to even find a collection of books covering the same material. Besides, it will give you more shelf-space for other more advanced texts :-)

This book is outstanding. All the algorithms are given in pseudo code which make the material (and notation) very precise and devoid of any idiosyncrasies which a real programming language might introduce. Although, the book requires fairly decent mathematical background, the more complex math can be skipped on a first reading (to avoid getting bogged down). Of course, you still need to know the basics of discrete mathematics and it will serve you well throughout this book. All algorithms are compact which helps focus on the crux of the algorithm. I didn't see any algorithm pesudo code listing in the book so far which exceeds half a page. The chapters are reasonably independent of each other, although sometimes its obvious when you can't skip ahead. The book is really exhaustive and goes into depth on all major design techniques (iterative, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, amortized analysis, greedy algorithms and so on). The effort required to get through the whole book is definitely worth it, and will make you a better programmmer in the long run.

Suited to deeper thinking operations managers and KM
practitioners. Geared to globalised players who have
the resources.

Until we can grasp the nature of knowledge we are foolish
to think we can setup systems to leverage it. The McKinsey
book is one of the very few in KM to specialise in
identifying and measuring the knowledge characteristics
in companies('...the six characteristics that distinguish
it from other assets..'p.21). It is the only one to my
extensive knowledge that provides scientific results from
their survey ('We found a strong correlation between a
company's knowledge index and ...'P.19). Both are worthy
contributions to the literature.

Example of typical chapter :
Chapter 4 is about
'Subjectivity: Reading From The Same Page.'

Breakdown:
Six sub-sections of Strategies to minimise(!)subjectivity.
- major issue.

Sub-Section 1. Build Common Experiences -
-identifiable issues,
-case1-'An automotive company.. (1 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 2. Generate an Open Knowledge Flow Across
Hierachies -
-identifiable issues,
-case2- 'A European capital goods..(3/4ths page)
-case3- '..an automotive supplier..(1/2 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 3. Break the Status Barrier
-identifiable issues,
-case4- 'One global automotive..' (1/2 page)
-case5- 'At Oticon, a Danish...' (1/2 page)
-case6- Full study on Oticon (1 1/2 pages)
-summary
Sub-Section 4. Get the Experts Together
-identifiable issues,
-case7- 'One US investment goods...' (1/2 page)
-case8- 'To expand the Oticon example..'(1/3 page)
-strategies explanations (2pages)
-survey findings/summary
Sub-Section 5. Synchronize High-Level Goals
-identifiable issues
-case9- '..an international conglomerate..' (3/4 page)
-strategies explanations (1/4page)
-case10- 'At an international telecoms equipment..' (1/2page)
Sub-Section 6. Chapter summary (1 page)
Survey Results Pertaining to Subjectivity.
In addition, a chapter explaining First Steps...
preliminary KM questionnaire.

Formatting & Writing Style: No diagrams but survey bar graphs.
Page font and spacing- generous and readable.Almost no bullet
points in the entire book, making it difficult to isolate key
points ! Nice sub-headings, good analogies, illustrations and
loads of mini-case studies spread out with a dozen lengthier
case studies.

Conclusion : Holistic, deeper thinkers will see this as a
valuable resource to develop a company KM framework.

Spiro Raftopoulos

While knowledge has always been an important factor of production (in addition to land, labour and capital), it is becoming a key differentiator as the other three factors are becoming abundant and accessible. 'While the importance of knowledge is, at the very least, widely acknowledged, we are still missing a comprehensive approach to managing knowledge in order to maximize returns,' according to consultants Jurgen Kluge, Wolfram Stein and Thomas Licht.

'Understanding how knowledge works throughout your organization therefore allows you to reap the highest rewards from KM: the ability to adapt successfully through constant reinvention and optimization, to tap into new market opportunities, to jump on the latest trend earlier and more decisively than others, and to innovate,' the authors begin.

The material is based on a two-year survey conduced by the consultancy, encompassing 40 manufacturing companies in the US, Europe and Japan. At least eight interviews were conducted in each of these companies, to assess their deployment of upto 139 KM techniques culled from KM literature. Techniques included incentive schemes and use of IT infrastructure; the degree of application of these techniques was rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Companies were also classified on a performance spectrum (based on financial and process indicators) and divided into categories like less successful and more successful companies. This combination of scores provides a very powerful framework for assessing the differentiating 'knowledge contribution' or 'KM index' of a company, which is one of the very useful contributions of this book.

The authors define knowledge as the 'understanding of relations and causalities' and management as 'conscious and systematic decision making.' Though knowledge can be slippery and nebulous as a subject, it is important not to get distracted by imperfect definitions. Dedicated techniques need to be designed, applied, coordinated and aligned to ensure a successful KM practice.

There are six key attributes of knowledge which must be factored into KM practices:

1. Subjectivity (context and individual background shape the interpretation of knowledge)
2. Transferability (knowledge can be extracted and transferred to other contexts)
3. Embeddedness (knowledge is often in a static and buried form that makes it difficult to extract or reformulate)
4. Self-reinforcement (the value of knowledge increases and not decreases when shared)
5. Perishability (knowledge can become outdated)
6. Spontaneity (knowledge can develop unpredictably in a process)

More successful companies deal with the challenges of subjectivity by ensuring agreement on general rules and values, cross-functional collaboration in product development and order generation, and increased face-to-face communication. For instance, Danish hearing aid manufacturer Oticon ensures that team membership is constantly shifting, as experts shuttle between teams.

Transferability of knowledge can be facilitated by internal and external benchmarking, market research, external alliances, and competitor analysis. Lateral thinking is needed to bring knowledge into entirely new contexts and even from entirely new industries. Japanese auto component company Aisin AW draws lessons actively from the consumer electronics industry mecca Akihibara. A European engine company actively participates in a variety of public research projects where it partners with universities and even competitors.

Best-practice KM techniques for dealing with embedded knowledge include knowledge databases, corporate yellow pages, job rotation, teamwork with suppliers, and co-location of product development staff. Finnish metal group Outokumpu has a solid IT infrastructure to make it easier to find knowledge among its staff. Apprenticeships and collocation with suppliers can help in the automotive sector.

Self-reinforcement knowledge networking practices for jump-starting the knowledge value chain include online training, formal networks with retailers, joint problem-solving, alignment with partner IT systems, and easy access for service data. Amazon.com links book purchases with past customer book preferences; an international conglomerate gets all its employees to write year-end reports containing their successes and outlook for the next year. SAP opened SAP University in 1999; it offers blended e-learning courses, and employees can set up their own sites and present a skill set.

Coping with perishability of knowledge involves continuous training related to standards and design rules, development optimization, FAQs, and clear division of responsibilities. Intel speeds chip development via a 'Copy EXACTLY!' initiative to avoid overdoing customization and ensure that best practices can be precisely replicated across its global chip plants; chip-turnaround time has been cut from 7 years to 2 years. It is important to balance standards with creativity, of course.

Based on the analysis of more successful companies along these six knowledge parameters, the authors have devised a six-dimensional 'KM scanner' audit metric, and have come up with several recommendations for successful KM.

Be precise in your KM objectives and link them to business targets. Leverage push as well as pull factors to holistically grow and share knowledge. Create the right cultural context which nurtures reciprocal trust, openness and cooperation. Employees must be enthused with a desire for world-class performance and lust for knowledge, from within and outside the company. Financial and non-financial incentives should be devised. Avoid micro-management and encourage self-steering mechanisms.

'You must instill in your company a sense of caring for knowledge so that it becomes part of everyday life, rather than something that ebbs and flows as the mood suits. Soon, every worker will become a knowledge worker,' according to the authors.

'Working with knowledge is much more creative, gives a higher sense of doing value-added work and, simply put, is much more fun. Just as no company will probably survive without taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet, soon no worker will survive without actively using knowledge as a tool of their trade, whatever trade that is, and no company will succeed without tapping into the great potential of their employees' knowledge,' the authors conclude.

>>>>>>>>>>

Madanmohan Rao is the author of 'The Asia Pacific Internet Handbookï...

This book describes how cancer patients, family members, and the general public seek health information. The focus is on the Cancer Information Service, an award-winning, nation-wide service that provides the latest, most accurate cancer information through the 1-800-4-CANCER telephone number. Although the book is a bit dated, it provides a useful analysis of what people look for when they call for cancer information, and their satisfaction with it. A 1998 Journal of Health Communications monograph has more recent analyses of how callers use information obtained through the Cancer Information Service.