Adriaans, P., & Zantinge, D. (1996). Data Mining. Harlow, England: Addison Wesley. This small (158 pgs.) volume is about the discovery concept and process in large databases. After disregarding the second chapter, this is a very useful introduction to discovery within databases and data warehouses.

Arkin, W. M. (1997). The U.S. Military Online: A Directory for Internet Access to the Department of Defense. Washington, DC: Brassey's. This book of 1,500 distinct electronic sites comes well recommended: "Nobody knows the ins and outs of the American military establishment better than Bill Arkin" (Seymour M. Hersh). This 240 page book is effectively organized by Department and by States. The first chapter is especially useful, and the acronyms list will be useful to those not familiar with the military's pervasive language shortcuts. The author recommends visiting Updates, but the site was not ready during my visit. An exceptionally valuable book for military resources, including online documents.

Baker, R.H. (1997). Extranets: The Complete Sourcebook. New York: McGraw-Hill. This is the start of the digital age, and that means distributed information. But opening up your server to the world has serious risks; consequently, many companies, like Federal Express, are exploring an alternative to both the InterNet and IntraNets. This 576 page book explains the difference, and how to build one, including requisite topics of firewalls, secure sockets, etc. This book covers the theory and explains how; you will need your own skills.

Bradley, N. (1997). The Concise < SGML > Companion. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Serious digital publishing requires more than html. Yet the transition to SGML is no simple matter. This small 324 page book is a useful introduction to the concept, benefits, and use of this standard, platform independent, and widely used language. The author provides an introduction to the book, which includes a section on html, an extensive glossary, and a very useful index.

Bradshaw, J.M. (Ed.) (1997). Software Agents. Meno Park, CA: AAAI Press. It has been said (not in this book) that, "Agents are computer programs that can read and write KIF in a distributed setting. Like bots, they retrieve and index information and respond to stimuli on the World Wide Web, Usenet, and the panoply of MUDs." That definition is much too narrow for the authors in this book. The nineteen chapters herein are divided into three categories and are written by some of the leading thinkers in software development. Novice or not, if you are interested in agents, this 480 page book worth a look. Read information about the text and chapter authors here.

Brown, D, Freeman, V., Hall, B., & 13 other authors listed alphabetically. (1997). Adobe Web Design and Publishing Unleashed. Indianapolis, IN: Sams.net. This is no small book. Its 1,075 pages and CD-ROM provide extensive information, and should be considered an online Adobe reference tool for Photoshop 4, PageMill 2, Acrobat 3, PageMaker 6.5, and Premiere 4.2. This book is important because as the Introduction says, "There have been two publishing revolutions in the twentieth century....The first was the advent of desktop publishing....The second is the interactive publishing phenomenon, especially the World Wide Web." Seven of the 15 authors list WWW pages. This book, including eight appendices, is well organized with lots of graphics. This is a less than helpful site for the book.

Cearley, K. (1996). HTML 3 Interactive Course. Corte Madera, CA: The Waite Group. Since the World Wide Web began in 1994, the growth of personal, educational, organizational, and business homepages can only be described as phenomenal, and that growth will not abate in the foreseeable future. Given all but rudimentary homepages, knowledge of html and related software programming is essential---But how much? The range is wide and includes, html, CGI, Perl, OLE, SGML, VRML, etc. For anyone who does not want to spend the time to learn everything, this book is ideal because no one book can cover it all. Nevertheless, this 582 page book (with CD-ROM) covers the basics, discusses most of these topics, and includes "enrollment in the eZone--a complete Web-based Internet learning center...certificate of achievement...Ask a Mentor...online quizzes...[and] Audit Other Interactive Courses." This book, divided into 9 chapters, with each chapter divided into 8 one-hour lessons, is well written, and worthy of your consideration.

Christensen, C. M. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Remember when Sears was number one in catalogue sales, DEC created the minicomputer market, Priam owned the hard drive market, S.S. Kresge was the world’s second largest variety store chain, and U.S. Steel and Bethlehem commanded the steel industry. Does this mean that the executives in these and other companies were poor? Not at all; they merely focused on their customers and the best information available. It was the wrong strategy, and this book explains why “some very capable executives in some extraordinarily successful companies, using the best managerial techniques, have led their firms toward failure,” and that customers often are poor sources for innovation. Recommended.

Cobb, S. (1996). The NCSA Guide to PC and LAN Security. New York: McGraw-Hill. The digital world is fraught with dangers like hackers, snoops, viruses, and other less human-sponsored risks (fire, flood, etc.), and this book (a modified second version is a good introduction to such topics.   But more, the eleven appendices provide a wealth of information about a wide array of related topics. NCSA claims to be the "premier provider of security, reliability, and ethics information and services...."   The information included here should be known by all PC owners.   A 3.5" floppy is included.

Colby, M. (1996). Special Edition Using SGML. Indianapolis, IN: Que.   SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is the parent of all markup languages (like html and VRML).   Mr. Colby, an SGML consultant in San Diego, considers this book to be a complete reference source for all aspects of SGML, and its 590 pages and CD-ROM may just fill that bill.   Although this book is an introduction to SGML, it is not for the novice.

Dayem, R. A. (1997). PCS and Digital Cellular Technologies: Assessing Your Options. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. Perhaps no technology in the World's history is growing faster than wireless communication. Consider your options--mobile radio, paging, cellular car phone, cordless phone, PCS, etc. This book serves as a good basic introduction to these topics with sufficient graphics to assist. But, it is not for the complete novice.

December, J. (1997). World Wide Web 1997 Unleashed. John is long known on the InterNet for his summary of InterNet tools, his well-managed list of computer-mediated communication, CMC, and his annual updates to this book. This 1,226 page book (with CD-ROM), can be considered as an "encyclopedia" of the InterNet by someone who understands it and can explain it in non-technical terms. There are 44 chapters and 5 appendices that are useful for the novice or expert. The CD-ROM, for PC or MAC, includes a wide varitey of client tools (chat, ftp, etc), developmental tools, servers, and two books (Intenet Explorer 3 Unleashed, and Netscape 3 Unleashed, Second Edition) for both platforms. If your day typically includes the InterNet, then this book is worthy of your consideration.

Dobyns, L. & Crawford-Mason, C. (1991). Quality or Else: The Revolution in World Business. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. In June, 1980, NBC TV showed a video called "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" That video initiated a wide recognition in the U.S. about the value of quality, and its impact on our everyday life. Since then, innumerable books, articles and videos have been produced with the quality theme. This small paperback (300 pages) is written by the author of that 1980 video, and thus provides valuable insights about our quality progress. It introduces the views of Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, and others. The Motorola company serves as an example of an American success story after it instituted the principles of TQM. Highly recommended.

Egan, B. E. (1996). Information Superhighways Revisited: The Economics of Multimedia. Boston, MA: Artech House.   This edition is a rewrite of his 1990 book about broad-band network technology and their economic factors.   According to the author, most of his earlier predictions were correct, notwithstanding those related to the breakup of the local phone monopolies.   This book is a coherent presentation for any generally informed reader, and is packed with tables, charts, and graphs.

Endres, A. (1997). Improving R&D Performance the Juran Way. New York: John Wiley & Sons. The first sentence in the forward is, "Based on my experiences at Eastman Chemical Company, I am convinced the Total Quality Management (TQM) is the most powerful management process available to modern managers." In seven chapters and 258 pages you are informed why and how. The value in this book is its novel approach to reinvention in the R&D arena.

Fernandez, J. (1997). MIME, UUENCODE & ZIP. New York: MIS:Press. This is the book for anyone who sends attachments by e-mail and either is curious about such topics or has been frustrated by not understanding such topics. It's a small paperback with a PC 3.5 inch floppy that contains WinZip, PKZip, and Funduc: Shell Extension. Judi explains what compression is, why it is necessary, and covers a wide variety of related topics like StuffIt, computer viruses, and how to protect against them. She maintains a homepage of tips, as well as one about her books, this one included.

Freedman, D. H. & Mann, C. C. (1997). At Large: The Strange Case of the World's Biggest InterNet Invasion. New York: Simon & Schuster. In March, 1991, computer students at the Portland Center for Advanced Technology at Portland State University (Oregon), announced to the SysAdmin that, "We have been broken into."   Thus begins one of the most fascinating true stories about computers, the InterNet, competing InterNet access philosophies, the tools and thinking of crackers, SATAN, and the FBI. This book relates the events "from March 1991 to December 1992, [when] a single intruder penetrated a staggering number of supposedly secure networks. Among the government sites were the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Bureau of Land Management--through which the infiltrator gained access to computers controlling every dam in Northern California."

Friedman, H. J. (1996). What America Did Right: The Weapon Systems, Events, and Leaders that Brought Us to Victory in the Cold War. New York: University Press of America.   Perhaps a few lines from the book's dedication will provide its best synopsis: "Can anyone conceive of the world today if we had lost the Cold War, anymore than if we had lost World War II?   There are certain unique traits in the American character.   The colonists had them.   Many recent immigrants have them.   It has nothing to do with what makes America great.   These traits include integrity, vision, patriotism, sacrifice, justice, and obstinacy.  Not totally compatible with bureaucracy."   Recommended.

Gardner, W. J. R. (1996). Anti-submarine Warfare. (Volume 11: Brassey's Sea Power: Naval vessels, weapon systems, and technology series). Herndon, VA: Brassey's.   This is a British book, but then again, ASW is ASW.   The photos of past and present systems are engaging, and the discourse is terse but functional.   Perhaps no better military system exemplifies the critical role of sensors for the system concept as does the submarine.   These 160 pages are a worthy investment for anyone interested in C4I or ASW.

Grant, A. E. (Ed.) (1996). Communications Technology Update. (5th ed). Boston: Focal Press.   The 29 chapters are divided into five sections (a) Introduction, (b) Electronic mass media, (c) Computers and consumer electronics, (d) Telephony and satellite technologies, and (e) Conclusion.   Loaded with figures and tables, this completely revised work is an excellent resource for the state of communication technology.

Hahn, H. (1997). The Internet: Complete Reference (2nd edition). New York: Osborne McGraw-Hill.   This is the book for you if you want an authoritative and comprehensive view of the InterNet.   Its 28 chapters and four appendices are seemingly exhaustive and include Usenet, Gopher, Ftp, mail lists, talk, IRC, Muds, etc.   Moreover, the table of contents is detailed, and each chapter contains figures and helpful hints.   N.B., it provides information about sex oriented sites also.

Hethmon, P.S. (1997). Illustrated Guide to HTTP. Greenwich, MA: Manning Publications. This book, covering HTTP/1.1 is not for the novice. Rather it was written for webmasters, HTTP and CGI programmers, and C and C++ programmers who are interested in the InterNet. The included CD-ROM includes the book code as well as source code from W3C and Apache, a complete index of RFCs and STDs, etc.

Hice, G. F. & Wold, S. H. (1995). DMS: Prologue to the Government E-mail Revolution. Bethesda, MD: J.G. Van Dyke & Associates.   By 1988, AUTODIN had been a faithful yet obsolete organizational messaging system for the US Government.   This small (224 page) volume by ten authors describes, in perhaps more detail than you would want, the transition, and its reasoning, to the current Defense Messaging System (DMS).   Useful glossary.

Jager, R. D. & Ortiz, R. (1997). In The Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World. New York: McGraw-Hill. This, from the Preface: "The professor asked, with a wide grin, "So you want to write a book on high-tech CEOs? Well, gentleman, it's a long shot. A huge long shot. And, besides...no CEO knows why he is successful. It's all just luck." Nevertheless, if the names Steve Jobs, Steve Case, Michael Dell, Charles Wang, Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Bill Hewlett, among others, ring a bell, then you may enjoy what they have to say. No pictures, no CD-ROM, no graphs, just words, but you may enjoy what they have to say.

Kent, P. (1997). Discover Windows NT Workstation 4.0. Foster City, CA: IDG Books. Many agree that in the "Pentium World," NT is the future. But NT is not easy if only because it loads with defaults that you may not want. Peter's book is a good introduction for novices, is loaded with pictures and tips, has a comparison chart for 3.1 and NT, and a helpful 45 page "Discovery Center."

Kessler, J. (1996). Internet Digital Libraries. Boston: Artech House.   One of the InterNet's major growth areas is digital libraries, and few are as qualified as this author (master's degree in Information Studies) to discuss the topic. After describing how the Internet went "public," he describes digital libraries in the U.S. and around the world. This small 265 page book also contains four appendices, a glossary, and, as you can imagine, a functional index. Well written and recommended.

Kibirige, H. M. (1996). Foundations of Full Text Electronic Information Delivery Systems: Implications for Information Professionals. New York: Neal-Schuman.   The author states that his intention was to, "examine the information phenomena as it affects human society," no small endeavor.   And in eleven chapters, an Appendix, and a Glossary, he manages to accomplish that--provided that you are reasonably well grounded about computers.

Lipnack, J. & Stamps, J. (1997). Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time, and Organizations with Technology. New York: John Wiley. Teams are not new; they have been required for all large or difficult efforts. Now teamwork has changed. Virtual Teams is the third book in a networking trilogy, and Howard Rheingold credits them with writing "the original book on networking years ago." Chapter headings, including the "how to" part, is online. Recommended.

McComb, G. (1997). Web Programming Languages. New York: John Wiley. The Web is here and html is fairly simple. But if you want to design more professional pages, then you will need to know other software languages. This 20 chapter, 609 page book with CD-ROM, provides the basics for the six most common programming languages, which are Perl, UNIX shell, Java, C/C++, JavaScript, and VBScript. It also has an html primer and discusses topics like CGI scripting. The author has a home page which also provides links to a wide variety of WWW resources..

Morgan, M. & Wandling, J. (1996). Webmaster Expert Solutions. Indianapolis, IN: Que. One would expect that any 1,179 page book, plus CD-ROM, devoted to one topic would be more than sufficient.   In this case that is correct.   There are 43 chapters classified into these 10 sections: Writing great HTML, Spicing up the site with SSI and CGI, seven Advanced CGI applications: (Forms, Web Chat, Indexes, Dynamic pages, Commercial, Bulletin Boards, and Multimedia), and Setting up the server and selecting the team.   A useful tool for any webmaster.   The website includes updates and FAQs for certain chapters.

Morris, M. E. S. & Hinrichs, R. J. (1996). Web Page Design. Mountain View, CA: Sun-Soft Press (Sun Microsystems). The fifteen chapters in this book includes three case studies, as well as ample pictures and examples.   If more HTML developers used this book or books like this, the InterNet would be much more user-friendly.

Muller, N. J. (1998). Desktop Encyclopedia of Telecommunications. Including an appendix of abbreviations and acronyms, and a comprehensive index, this thick volume runs to 602 pages, and is packed with useful information in an alphabetical format  [author].

Muller, R. J. (1996).   Oracle Developer / 2000 Handbook. Berkeley, CA: McGraw-Hill.   Dr. Muller is a San Francisco data-base consultant, and this 446 page book, with CD-ROM, provides a useful presentation of this topic that apparently will be a major part of the future InterNet.   Only for the dedicated.

National Research Council (U.S.) Panel on Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Display Systems for the Individual Soldier (1997). Tactical display for soldiers: Human factors considerations. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.   This small eight chapter document provides a rigorous treatment for a narrow topic, but in so doing, it also addresses related areas that are germane to many human factor areas such as situation awareness, stress, and cognitive workload.   The references, organized by chapter, are excellent.   The third appendix provides biographical sketches for the participants.

Osborne, D. & Plastrik, P. (1997). Banishing Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. This topic is fashionably current. Unfortunately, as the authors mention, "Most change programs don't work." Nevertheless, the core of this rational method is called "The Five C's:" Core Strategy, Consequences Strategy, Customer Strategy, Control Strategy, and Culture Strategy. The example from the U.S. Tactical Air Command is motivational and enlightening. Those interested in this topic are invited to visit: this site or here

Page, B. & Holm, D. (1996). Web Publishing with Adobe Acrobat and PDF. New York: John Wiley and Sons.   This 363 page book, with CD-ROM, has four parts (a) why publish with PDF on the web, (b) designing and creating PDF documents, (c) serving PDF from your web server, and (d) beyond the web.   There is no doubt that html is severely limited for rich text formats, and that PDF is one option.   Several appendices provide links to sites using PDF on the InterNet and other resources.

Parnell, T. (1996). LAN Times: Guide to Building High-speed Networks. Berkeley, CA: McGraw-Hill.   The author holds an engineering degree, an MBA, and is the test manager for LAN Times magazine, surely good enough credentials.   For anyone interested in starting or optimizing a small to medium size LAN, these pages, filled with extensive graphics, are the place to start.

Powers, J. (1997). An Introduction to Fiber Optic Systems (2nd edition). Chicago: Irwin.   Professor Powers teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School, and has put together a very useful guide to all phases of fiber communication for students and communication professionals.   Others will find all but parts of two chapters beyond their grasp or interest.

Rosen, E. (1997). Personal Videoconferencing. Greenwich, CT: Manning Publications. TeleCon XVII, the World's largest conference and trade show on teleconferencing, etc. was held in Anaheim, CA on November 5-7, 1997. Although covering a wide range of topics, videoconferencing predominated, most likely because at the intersection of computers, communicating, and consumer electronics, it stands alone. This book is a useful introduction to the videoconferencing concept and many of the current systems (the Appendix provides specifications for most of the current systems).

Sheldon, T. (1997). Windows NT Security Handbook. New York: Osborne.   If you manage an NT server, and they are growing rapidly, then being proactive about security is important. Tom reports being "in" computing since 1970, and the 21 chapters and 5 appendices in this book cover the topic well. The index is especially comprehensive. The author recommends an online site of NT security resources.

Shenk, D. (1997). Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut. New York: NY: HarperCollins.   If your awareness of too much information is increasing lately, then this book will provide the evidence.   After the author identifies his thirteen "Laws of Data Smog," most often with humorous, serious, or both kinds of well-documented examples, chapters 18-22 provide "Antidotes."   An excerpt is available on line or you can visit the author.

Steering Committee: Workshop Series on High Performance Computing and Communications. Computing and Communications in the Extreme: Research for Crisis Management and Other Applications. (1996). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Between 8/94 and 8/95 the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, at DARPA's request, held three workshops on research issues in high performance computing and communications. NSF, DOE, and NASA, all interested in high performance computing (HPC), also provided input. "Although significant insights were gained....In consultation with DARPA, the steering committee selected crisis management for focused study. Crisis management incorporates preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and oil spills; political-military crises, and related emergencies." This small volume summarizes their findings and implications.

Tilley, A. R. (1993). The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.   Alvin R. Tilley, who died in 1993 just before the publication of this work, was considered the one of the "world's foremost experts in applied anthropometry."   This oversized book contains all human physiological and selected mental measures from birth to adult, as well as, among others, major sections about the elderly, the differently abled, seating, residential space considerations, safety, displays, and the environment.

Townshend, C. (Ed.) (1997). The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern War. New York: Oxford University Press.   Of the 15 contributors, all but 3 are British, but then again violent "conflict is as old as humanity," and practically universal. This richly illustrated volume covers the scope of war from about 1680 through the Kuwait War in 1991 in its widest view.   Modern War encompasses not only the military, but also the "relationship between war and society." This 354 page book has an excellent index and war chronology, and is considered a valuable read for anyone seeking to understand the recent and current social and technical faces of war.

Walker, D. G. (1996). The Art of Technical Writing. Commack, NY: Nova Science. Technical people will like this book because it is short and compact (49 principles in 98 pages).   If you have ever seen a homepage that is poorly written or disorganized, then you will understand why most people can benefit from a good writing book, such as this one.   Very good reference book.

Wellisch, H. H. (1995). Indexing from A to Z (Second Edition). New York: H.W. Wilson. Although not a "how to" book this is as close as the novice can get to the necessary topic of indexing.   This book is an alphabetical discourse having 6 tables, 18 figures, supporting 97 content topics, and having lots of interesting examples.

Williams, M. R. (1997). A History of Computing Technology. (2nd Edition). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press. Computing technology dates back to before the Abacus and this book is an excellent review of the people and events from that time until the 1950s.   If your interests align with mechanical calculators, Charles Babbage, and the earliest computers from Harvard and the Moore school, then you will enjoy this richly illustrated book.   However, if you would like to learn about the more recent developments, such as Seymour Cray's work and the CDC mainframe computers that forced IBM to settle out of court (that took place during the IBM 360 era which is covered), then this is not your book.   Otherwise, a worthy and scholarly reference work.

White, R. (1995). How Computers Work (2nd edition). Emeryville, CA: Ziff-Davis. This is the book to have available if someone, especially a novice, asks you a basic question about how computers work.   Everything from CD-ROMs to printers and scanners is here, and most of it is richly illustrated with large graphics.   You may even learn something yourself.   Good reference book, but obviously cannot cover technology advances since 1995.

Initiated Monday, March 3, 1997.
Most recent update: November 9, 1998.
Disclaimer: These annotations are the personal opinion of the author, and no purchase recommendation, pro or con, is offered or implied.

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