Professional Resources Books

Will Cupchik's book is turning my life around. An absoluteMUST READ for anybody with a shoplifting problem, habbit, adiction. Ifthis is you, or anyone you know, please, please buy this book (don't steal it :-)). I wish i had read it years ago. Upon purchasing i found it harder to put down than any book i have ever read. I felt it was wrtitten about me, for me. I have been arrested three times for shoplifting and i can proudly say, i will not offend again and truly beleive it in my heart Thanks Dr Cupchik.

I have worked in the retail security field for years, and found this book to be right on the money. His insight into the mind of the shoplifter is incredible! If you work in security you HAVE to buy this book...

Fair book with very large font. Cupchik makes some generalizations that are questionable. Most of his writing is based on two studies that he has authored with a very limited sample, and these are slammed into a strong psychoanalytic theory for discussion. Although the text is thought provoking, more validation is needed to test his conclusions. Overall, fair book.

This book contributes to our understanding of the complicated relationship between work and family life. Based on an extensive survey of over 800 business school alumni, the book takes the reader on a thoughtful journey looking at the issues facing both working parents and the organizations employing them. Organized around six major themes, two particularly stood out for me. First, the authors make the point that work and family can be allies. When there is support for non-work lives, individuals experience greater well-being in the form of less role conflict and greater self-esteem. Another critical theme is that children are major stakeholders at work. Although others have made this point, Friedman and Greenhaus do a stellar job of describing the behavioral and psychological effects on children of having a mother or father deeply involved in work. Written in a clear and engaging style, this book is valuable to both human resource practitioners and scholars.

The dilemma that working parents all face as they succeed in their careers is how to manage their emerging professional responsibilities with their nurturing responsibilities for children. When family demands escalate, typically women scale back, or opt out of, professional opportunities freeing men to climb the proverbial career ladder. An authoritative new book, Work and Family -- Allies or Enemies by authors Stewart Friedman and Jeffrey Greenhaus, makes the case that it is possible for both working parents to pursue a career and assume full parental responsibilities - and be happy doing it - if both are willing to work cooperatively.

Based upon a pioneering study of 800 business professionals, Work and Family offers startling insights and lessons into how men and women, along with their employers, are dealing with the challenges of integrating parental and professional responsibilities. The book is formed around six key themes: 1) We can have (much of) it all, but it's especially difficult for working mothers; 2) Work and family can be allies; 3) Time is not the major problem; 4) Authority on the job is essential for work-family integration; 5) Women may be better adapted for jobs of the future; and 6) Kids are the unseen stakeholders at work. Friedman and Greenhaus weave these themes through the book in ways that puncture myths (keeping private and professional lives separate) and illuminate new understandings (acceptance of employers to new work processes to complement work-family integration).

The authors offer three principles for integrating work and life. One, clarify what's important. Parents need to be clear with one another as well as with their employers about what they want to achieve in their lives. Two, recognize and support the whole person. Private and professional lives overlap; it is important that individuals integrate the best parts of themselves into all parts of their lives. Three, continually experiment with how goals are achieved. Blending work and family is an ongoing learning process that needs continuous evaluation to meet changing needs.

Work and Family is as much for parents as it is for employers. The war for talent is continuous and escalating. As authors Friedman and Greenhaus demonstrate in their research, those employers who strive to meet employees' needs for an integrated work and life will be rewarded with more loyal and dedicated employees who are happier and more productive. They end up creating a win/win situation for employees as well as their shareholders.

Work and Family is an important work deserving of inclusion in the lexicon of literature concerned with our changing workplace. Parents will find prescriptions for finding answers in their day to day work and life choices. Employers will find lessons that they can apply to their work environment. And researchers will find a fundamental study upon which to carve new understandings of work and life in our culture.

Stewart D. Friedman and Jeffrey H. Greenhaus conducted extensive research with 861 alumni of the business schools at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia. Their research yielded revealing results about the struggle of professionals to manage work and family commitments. However, Friedman and Greenhaus present these results in such overwhelming statistical detail that the average reader is in danger of being swamped. This is especially the case when the data proves principals that most people already grasp through common sense and experience. That said, we ... recognize that the authors have done working Joes and Janes a great service by aggregating numbers to back up the notion that it's getting tougher to balance family and career. As such, this is an important book for anyone in a position to set workplace policy.

All About Early Care and Education is written by a handful of field experts in a clean and simple format. Make no mistake, the simplicity of this text has not sacrificed quality or content. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, you will enjoy reading this text because of the practical approach to childcare. The black and white soft cover book is advertised as a self-study text and it would be nice to see a review section for each chapter, which this text does not have.

I would recommend this book for use in a vocational school course or program directed at students seeking early childhood certificates or associate of arts degrees in early care and development.

As the cover tells us, it covers all of the CDA (Child Development Associate) competencies. It's easy to read, yet covers theory and application with integrity.

I would definitely get it!

Biosolids management is a research area fairly unknown for the majority of the public and hence it is really difficult to find a good Biosolids text (if any is hardly present!). Considering this, the Author of the book has done an excellent job. The book starts with an in-depth discussions of all the federal regulations/requirements concerning biosolids. In fact, it has heavily borrowed from the EPA biosolids manual -CFR Part 503 rule. Also, all the current biosolids management practices (including incineration/land filling) have been discussed in detail. In addition, all the treatment process in a wastewater treatment plant are given in depth analysis. This book can act as an operators guide for wastewater treatment operators and also a good text for a student interested in biosolids research.

This book is very applicable to any environmental engineer interested in biosolid engineering. Very applicable to current EPA standards and great field reference.

I found this book insightful and well-written. D'Alessandro speaks in plain English, offering an insiders look at what it takes to get ahead in corporate America. I've read more than 150 business books in the last 2 years and this is one of my favorites. As much as we all hate to admit it, your boss has power over your reputation and there are 2 chapters devoted to managing up and what is important to a boss and what should be important to you in developing a career.

D'Alessandro does write about monitoring what you say at all times, a challenge to say the least. It makes sense to think before you speak or fire off email when he points out that every day people are forming opinions of you and you're defining your brand by what you say and how you handle situations.

He also gives no-nonsense advice about how to know when you've outgrown your current position or when to leave a toxic boss. He gives you perspective on dealing with adversaries and reminds you that the more successful you become, the more people will target you for rumors and bad-mouthing.

One of my favorite chapters is "Try not to be swallowed by the bubble." This chapter reminds you that as you ascend the corporate ladder, don't wall yourself off from outsiders. The tendency is to associate only with those at your level or above and you lose insight that is valuable to your organization when you do so.

There are many memorable personal examples peppered throughout this book that made the lessons more applicable, most of which were easy to relate to. D'Alessandro offers many childhood memories of his grandparents that deal with the balance of power in relationships and well as functioning in crisis etc.

Toward the end of the book there is a chapter about dealing with negative press, meaning the media. This is beyond what many who are reading the book will need to worry about, but everything else in the book is quite relevant to corporate life in general for all levels of employees aspiring to leadership positions. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

If you're looking for personal growth applicable to your career other favorites I have are: You are the message by Roger Ailes; The Secret Handshake by Kathleen Kelley Reardon and the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.

PROS:
(1) Excellent concept (your personal Brand).
(2) Most of the value of the entire book can be received by reading the Introduction and the first Chapter (Disc 1).
CONS:
(1) The writer spends a little TOO much time characterizing one's Brand as a set of responses to certain situations, rather than being substantially a reflection who you are.

VERY GLAD I READ THIS BOOK:
In the past I have thought about my "reputation" in businss, but that concept is very subjective, and now I realize it is also incomplete. Re-framing my business-reputation as a Brand helped me realize that to a small extent the rules of business warrant special treatment, and just doing my job well is not the only issue. To a limited extent I *do* need to wear a well-chosen mask in order to play the business game - not good news, not bad news, just true.

A reader should be careful to balance this book with, say, Stephen Covey books, which reinforce that who you are as a person is a large part of your "Brand". Reading only Career Warfare might convince you that your Brand can be molded any way you want, by just saying the right things at the right time, which will certainly not work in the long term!

Reader's style (for audio version): Good

A great overview of how to get the word out about conservation issues, programs and campaigns. Thorough and in-depth. Recommended for anyone in conservation.

This is a book that every ecologist, botanist, conservation biologist, land manager and other environmental professional should read as they work to improve on the critical skills involved in conveying the importance of a healthy environment to "people" values that matter to Joe and Jane Public. For undergraduate and graduate students in environmental studies, ecology, environmental science, environmental policy, environmental management and other related majors, it should be required reading in at least one of their courses.

Right now too many Americans think of environmentalism and conservation as a threat to our economy and quality of life. That is clearly a major communications failure, because the there are in fact abundant ways that conservation can SAVE money, protect the public health, reduce risk of floods, fires, and other such disasters, reduce cancer risk, improve our energy independence and thus national security, and much more while also protecting the health of our environment. Refer to www.ConservationValue.org for some outstanding examples.

Conservationists just need to do a better job of getting their message out there in a way that will resound positively with the public, and this book is a great starting point for learning how to do so.

Even though this book was written in 1997 and is only 87 pages long, it is one of the best books on assessment for a modern teacher, mathematics teacher or other. If math doesn't scare you and you like to figure out analogous practice, it can be a useful general book on student-involved classroom assessment and observational assessment. The writing is well organized, practical, and literate, no jargon. An appendix contains a continuum of math task prototype items of increasing complexity, very useful for designing assessments. I've owned this book for a long time, and used it for classroom and graduate teaching.

I consider this book a creative resource for teachers to use and look at assessment from a different angle. The ideas and techniques used are good sources for use as portfolio tasks. This book makes assessment interesting and at the same time challenging for pupils and teachers.

I made the mistake of loaning this exceptional book to my immediate supervisor who "inadvertently" took the book with him to Hawaii. Believe me, this book saved me time and effort in writing performance reports for subordinates that ranged between exceptional performer to satisfactory worker. Most of all, the book is divided in job performance setting, descriptive narratives, and similiar words that can either make your subordinate float on water, walk on water, or just prodding in the sands. This is a must-have whether you are writing on a civilian subordinate or a military personnel. Do not loan this out to anyone! Encourage them to get their own book, especially, since I eventually began placing notations on areas that interested me or have caught my attention.

"The Definitive Performance Writing Guide" is a book of key words and 'bullet phrases' for performance appraisals. If I ever get stuck for the perfect phrase to describe an employee's job performance, or if I'm writing my 15th appraisal in a row and the song 'Words, Words, Words! I'm so sick of words...' starts tying up my brain cells, this is the book I go to.

This book isn't quite as well organized as James Neal's "Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals", but it covers favorable and unfavorable reviews, while Neal's book neglects unfavorable reviews.

I also think Drewry's phrases have a bit more flair, especially in the "Complete the Phrase" section for "Below Average Personal Performance (Chapter 11). Here are some examples: "...Poor planner. Great hindsight."; "...Inclined to berate others when they fail to meet perfectionist standards."; "...Lacking in social grace and courtesy." While not quite as cutting as, say, "one beer short of short of a six pack", Drewry quite wisely reminds us that, "Unfavorable bullets are deadly. Use them carefully."

Dr. Stadolnik has done us a favor by summarizing previous research and treatment options. He suggests a solid framework for treatment, but points out that the dearth of research in this area has left us with few treatment plans that will work in every case, which is of course what we would all hope for. This is a solid well written book for clinicians, firemen, insurance agents, foster parents and parents who want clear, well written and easily understood information in this often difficult to understand area. Kyle Lassiter, MA, Licensed Professional Counselor

I found this captivating narration of firesetting evaluation a roller coaster ride for the mind. It was a phantasmal display of writing prowess on behalf of the author. It kept me on the edge of my seat and i was compelled to read on and on...

the more time subjects spent online, the more depressed and lonely they tended to be. The report concluded that one hour a week of Internet use led to an average increase of 1% on the depression scale and 0.04% on the loneliness scale. Researchers think time spent on the Internet may be deducted from contact with real people. Participants in a study reported a decline in interaction with family members and a reduction in numbers of friends. No matter how heartfelt, e-mail, chat rooms, and newsgroups have an ephemeral quality compared to real human relationships. How does Internet communication affect mental health? Why? In terms of mental health, what do you think is the best way to use the Internet?

This in clearly the best book available about the Internet for mental health professionals. The author explains the workings of cyberspace in clear and accessible English that even the most computer-illiterate will be able to understand. He also provides an invaluable list of resources specifically tailored to mental health. Excellent job! Bravo!