Professional Training Books

this seller is excellent with respectable behavior as the book is very clean and arrived in a reasonable time .
thanks a lot and i recommend everyone to buy from him

i've been a big fan of step up series since the day i studied for step 1. so when comes to step 2 preparation, i have no doubt that this is one of the books that i decide to purchase off the local bookstore. i found out the information presented in this book is okay for broad knowledge and general understanding. when comes to specfic disease management, the book lists many tests under that disease and u have no idea what would be the best initial diagnostic step/or even best management for that particular disease. the book also contains numerous typos and careless mistakes that could be lethal had this book been your only primary study resource. overall, i strongly recommend this book to be used only when u have read blueprint series and decided to gain an overall perspective of what the common dzs are portrayed.

I am not going to medical school but I am going to pharmacy school in the fall. The college I will be attending recommended this book. I'm glad they recommended it because now I am prepared with some more useful study skills. Not only does it give advice and tips on study skills and test taking strategies but also about stress management, how to work in a group, who you should study with (depending on your personality type and learning style -which this book tells you), how to defeat negative thoughts, some time management, and more. I am pleased with this book.

I will be starting med school this fall and I'm trying to prepare myself for the overload of information as best as possible. This book was very informative but a bit long (easy to loose focus at times) and I'm not sure how helpful the section on the boards (the USMLE) is since the test has changed from a two day paper-and-pencil exam to an 8 hour computer-based test (Everyone has told me that the First Aid for the USMLE series are the best books for board prep). In the Oklahoma notes, you start out by taking a modified version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (a psychological instrument). The results of this test went a long way towards explaining my personality and what my previous study skills where lacking. I discovered how to study better, take better notes and problem-solve based on my type. Next were different strategies for learning and retaining information for the long haul-from the next exam, to the boards, to residency and beyond. I learned terrific ways of taking notes, annotating text books, pre-reading for class and condensing the large amount of information from lectures and books. The time management sections offered very easy and realistic advise. All in all, I'm glad I bought this book because I learned many new things. However, I would strongly recommend the following book over this one if one had to choose: How to Excel in Medical School. It is easier to follow, a faster read and takes you subject by subject. If you have enough time and money, buy both!

This book has begun great conversations in our school with our teachers. It has allowed teachers to talk about the ideas about numeracy through a friendly lens of literacy. The book is written in a manner conducive to inviting readers to reflect on their own practice in light of the ideas shared in the book. We have loved it and will continue to offer ongoing conversation time as we develop our numeracy instruction strategies.

This book is an easy read for getting started on making connections between reading comprehension strategies and math strategies to enhance math instruction in the elementary classroom.

This is a very interesting and helpful book for beginning teachers, or teachers who wish they ran a more effective classroom. This book is full of practical tips that you can implement right now, and is written in a very user-friendly format with lots of graphics and main ideas in bold. This is a great book.

An excellent book, Harry K. Wong's The First Days of School changed my teaching style forever. It changed my life!

If this volume is assigned, as it was in my case, our opinion doesn't matter. I find Highlights Magazine for children to be a more penetrating look at ANYTHING than this revenue generator. Good luck, sorry if you, too were required to buy it.

...outdated, very few useful ideas, centered around elementary education, and an absurd tone of cheerfulness mixed with condescension.

When I was a new teacher I really hoped this book would prepare me for running a smooth classroom but it just steered my thinking in the wrong direction and ultimately it probably did more harm than good.

This books "popularity" is simply due to the fact that it is a fad book within administrative circles. This is because Wong goes out of his way to argue that teachers who criticize inservice and professional development activities are just bad teachers.

Very eye-opening. A truly great read for any caring educator. Time-tested and researched techniques, procedures, and rules. Even a chapter on dressing the part. Well worth every penny. I have two copies.

It goes in better depth with hands on labs to work with while you learn or fine tune for the test.

The book is very well written and provides almost full coverage of the exams objectives.
The practice tests on the cd are mostly actual exam questions.
I passed the exam with 968 using this book as a primary study source.

This book is worth the price simply for the practice test software. I didn't use the text too much, just when I wanted to look specific items up. I passed this 70-270 exam about an hour ago with a score of 763, and I know I couldn't have done it without this practice software. It contains about 400 questions with explanations. I used this as a companion to an instructor-led training, which really fell short of what you need to pass the exam. I'm a newbie to IT, just recently obtaining by A+ and Network+ as well. So, if I can do it, anyone can...

My advice for exam prep: Take as many practice tests as possible, read and understand the explanations, and practice on your own system=pass

This kit is ideal for anyone wanting answers to their certification questions. Great detail, the only thing that could improve is if they took the exam for you.

Typical of the Microsoft Press books, the XP book covers most of what you need to know to be successful passing the 70-270 certification exam. You can't just read it, but should plan on performing all the exercises and make sure you understand what you are doing. If you want to know everything you'll need, then utilize the references identified in the second section. Windows XP is by no means dead as the corporate demand for Vista just isn't there. Anyone working in IT support should know all about Windows XP. Good Luck

Choosing the right metaphor is one of the best ways to assure your ideas (if you have any) will endure. Rosabeth Moss Kanter (or her editors) have failed by confusing evolution and learning.

A species evolves by having the old individuals that make up the species die or divide. Individuals don't evolve. Individuals can only learn.

I am always concerned when someone misuses a metaphor, particularly when it figures prominently in their work. If they can't get THAT right, what else have they gotten wrong?

The ideas in the book seem tired to me as well, but I would like to leave you with the above thought as an example of critical evaluation of a books "cover" or title. It is a particularly useful skill for readers who are considering investing time and money on a book before there are reviews.

Author Kanter is the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at Harvard (or was when she wrote the book), She has been named as on eof the 50 most powerful women in the world by the TIMES of London. Based on more than 300 inteviews and a global survey of more than 700 companies, the book Evolve! is a study in e-culture, strategy and community. Written back in 2001 -- the book still deserves to be on the shelf of every business exec or entrepreneur in this continually evolving new economy (and at the bargain price it's available on Amazon.com -- add it to your collection now). Kanter talks about talent, change (not just cosmetic) and social evolution...community takes a big role. Perhaps the one element she could have covered better is content-- since so much of what we see today is user generated content and content that is 2-way interactive. Commerce is not a one way street anymore....still the book covers many basics I'm sure you did not learn in B School and it gives insight and strategy into the why's and e-culture and how the Internet fits into the corporate structure of today and tomrorow...or perhaps how it is shaping it....The index is very good and can be used as a reference for making presentations at work or in developing your next-gen digital commerce start-up!

This book is to some extent out-of-date. It is written in the dot-com era. And there is indeed a lot of hype on the young start-ups' heroic characteristics such as speed, flexibility, and courage that traditional large companies couldn't compete with in the short run. Today, we all know that these characteristics didn't stand the test of time in a ruthless competitive landscape.

But I'll still recommend this book for a special target audience: People, who are working on an e-business project for a traditional corporation will still get much inspiration from Moss-Kanter's book. Also in retrospect, I find that her best sections in the book were those on describing the tough change management processes that she found in successful "old economy" firms like Williams-Sonoma, Honeywell, and Reuters. In all these companies, a strong conventional company culture made it extremely difficult for the e-business team to navigate towards success. In 2005, many companies have still not made much of their business model online.

This is also a very important book for me personally. I read this book on a vacation to Cyprus in May 2001 just before taking on a long 3-year assignment as an e-business manager for a large industrial firm in Denmark. I experienced most of the difficulties that Moss-Kanter describes in her book.

I find the merit of this book in the very colourful case stories of traditional organizations' struggle with e-business initiatives. The author conducted more than 300 interviews of both traditional companies and dotcoms, successes and failures alike, in a research project before writing this book.

As you may know, Harvard professor Moss-Kanter is a leading expert on change management. Her chapter on the "change wheel" is in a class of its own.

Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

This review is not so much about the book but rather about the author. I had the chance to have Rosabeth Moss Kanter as a Professor for a semester last year while doing an MBA at Harvard. She has an extraordinary personality, full of passion, full of colors and surprises. A fresh, insightful and pragmatic perspective of the world. A Grand lady who constantly evolves with her time. In my opinion, that's why her books, and Evolve! in particular, are so well written and so inspirational for all of us. Grand books are the reflect of Grand personalities. I cannot wait to get her new book "Confidence".

I thought the naration was terible on this CD, author was not to the point. More of a one sided observation presented as a story rather than a complete analysis.

As a recent medical school graduate, I believe this book is the best there is for developing a sound fund of knowledge for the MCAT and for learning great tips/tricks on test taking that will last you for years to come.

Since I didn't have and extra $1000-$2000 lying around to take the Kaplan course, I decided to buy this book along with the workbook for more questions. The Review book is thorough enough to cover all the topics you need to know without being boring or over-detailed. The little boxes on the margin are really usefull as they help point out important details you absolutely have to know and are great for last minute review. The mnemonics are awesome and I have to admit that I used them from time to time during my first and second year of medical school. The test taking techiniques are what sets Kaplan apart from the rest and are invaluable for the MCAT as well as for medical school. Believe me, you will be using these techiniques for years so learn them well. The questions are pretty much just like the MCAT and the explanations are packed with useful information and great test taking techniques.

The CD is pretty usefull and has a few more questions as well. If you also get the workbook, you'll notice that a lot of the questions are repeated so be careful as you may score pretty high just because you may have memorized some of the answers.

My only complaint is the lack of questions/full length tests. I know this is not the purpose of the book but this is really under-emphasized in this book and even the workbook. I would strongly recomend you spend a couple of extra bucks and get as many full length tests with answers/explanations/grading scale that you can get your hands on.

Basicly, this is a fantastic review book the prepares you well to tackle tough MCAT style questions by building your fund of knowledge and showing you fantastic test taking techiniques. After reading this book, get a bunch of questions to practice them and fill in any gaps in your knowledge base.

This book looks very thorough and perfect for MCAT studies but do not be fooled by the looks. If you want to get higher scores, do use Kaplan material or classes. There are many reasons for this.

I am taking my MCAT in April 2006 and I bought this book. I compared it with the 1997 edition and surprisingly everything is same except the questions after each chapter. The material in this book is just recycled and not updated.

The material is too vague and too easy compared to the actual test. MCAT tests your critical thinking about the subjects and its applications but the examples and problems in the book are very primitive. The material is insufficient and not thorough.

The classes do not help a lot. My friend, Sandip, took this Kaplan MCAT prep class last year and he regretted it. He told me the practice exam are not comparable to the real test. The real test is much harder. They also do not have enough classes.

You should enquire about the class and the book you are using for MCAT with your professors, your classmates, friends and colleagues. You should take Princeton Review class for organized studying and practice exams similar to real MCAT. I also recommend the Exam-crackers. Practice as many sample tests as you can.

Good Luck for you MCATs!

I recommend that you buy a used copy of this book, even if it an older edition, I've heard they don't change that much from one year to the next (but don't go too old). The reason being because you should determine your weak area(s) and purchase the Examcrackers book specific for that subject. Whatever you do STUDY!!! Don't do what I did and just go take it, it ripped me up one side and down the other! I'm taking it again in August. I got the Examcrackers Verbal Reasoning to go along with this one.

The best advice i can give any future pre-meds is to listen to this review. Kaplan is the worst mcat prep out there. First, they recyle their materials every year so it's the same thing never updated despite what they say. Their science is just all thrown in there without telling you what is imperative knowledge. Their verbal practice is horrible and not accurate of the real thing. Also, stay away from their class and if you really need to pick a prep course go with Princeton Review they give you 3x as many classes. Also i would recoomend Examkrackers to anyone studying for the MCAT. It really is the best and you will not be sorry. Stay away from kaplan please . i just luckily got Examkrackers and it made all the difference 11 P, 11 V, 11 B. Trust me go with examkrackers and if you have to take a course cause your like that go with Princeton Review. You won't be sorry.

I did very well on the MCATs, and I attribute a large degree of my success to this review book. While it's important to have a solid base from your classes already, this book will make sure you know every topic covered on the MCATs, including areas my classes had left out (e.g. optics in the physical science section). It covers all sections well, includes test strategies and practice problems/essays, and if you take the time to thoroughly study the book, it will pay off. My only warning is that the practice tests and problems are deliberately more difficult than the MCAT so Kaplan can claim to have improved your score by a vast number of points. For example, they make the math deliberately time-consuming to slow you down (there was no long division on the real MCAT!). I scored a full 7 points higher on the actual MCAT than on the Kaplan test, so don't stress if you're not scoring how you'd like.

So I'm studying to take the Microsoft Excel Exam...this book covers EVERY feature supposedly on the exam...and nothing else. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted a few more examples. It literally is a one-example compendium of every feature on the exam. One practice test, too comes free w/ the book. If you want a quick, quite useful way to study for any MOS exam - this is your book. If you want more detail and explanation, go for one of the Dummies books.

After taking extensive training in MS Excel and Access, this book covers just literally everything you would get in training and then some, but without as many examples and details.

Pros - Covers all the major tests
- Outlined in an easy to read format and allows you to jump around
- The examples provided on the CD work very well with the text
- Provides exactly the same kinds of subjects you would encounter in a more extensive training

Cons - the biggest one is that you really don't know if you are doing the examples right. Unlike the training classes, there are no "Answers" documents to make sure you are doing the step by step processes right. So you never really know if you are applying the concepts correctly or not.

I have yet to take the practice test, so I will update this review.

I bought this to teach a class on MOS. It's very detailed.
Would highly recommend it.

Pretty thorough - I also use the internet site which is free and that is good too.

Short Story Long... I was MCSE certified in the 90's, but through promotions and job transfers - I no longer needed it. Well, I am back at the starting gate again because of organizational restructuring. I started with the MOS certification.

In the 90's Microsoft Press sucked for study guides... Sybex and McGraw Hill were the ones that most people getting certified used. Well, times have changed, finally the company that makes the stuff, also makes the best study guides for it. I highly recommend this book if you want to get your MOS quickly and efficiently. (I will buy more Microsoft Press Study Guides as I make my way down the Microsoft certification path.)

The Leadership Engine, by Noel Tichy, is devoted to describing how great leaders push and lead their corporations toward success. Using case studies and research, this book shows that leader driven organizations are more successful, rather than mere manager led. In so doing, the author shows how leader led organizations have traits that lead them towards achievement of their goals.

Leaders are so intertwined with the concept of reproducing themselves that they become known for their teaching skills as much as anything else. The author points out that former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch, would spend several days a month teaching managers. While rarely showing up on the bottom line of organizations, the development of fresh leadership and the growing ability for junior leaders to make decisions on their own without direct supervision are constantly cited as reasons for success in organizations.

Over the past generation the occupation of consultant has arisen in virtually every field. From businesses, to churches, to university athletic departments, consultants work where there were previously only outside blue or white collar outside contractors. This book makes the case that consultants exist today because people simply do not want to lead. They have chosen to make their work much more complicated that it had to be by refusing to be teachers of those underneath them. And as a result, leaders have no time to research developing trends or to look long term for their organization.

Tichy emphasises that a great leader will teach others to be great leaders, not great followers. It is much easier to gather followers around an organization; people who have a passion to just follow one person's vision for the organization. This is the recipe for failure. The right people are the center of any organization, so therefore goals must be accomplished through taught people who are willing to take smart aggressive risks within the scope of an organizations mission with a constant eye towards integrity and the leading of the hand of Providence.

We're using this book as part of a leadership development program. 30 copies were sent directly to me on time and in perfect condition

The book "The Leadership Engine" by Noel Tichy, discusses how to build dynamic leaders at every level within an organization. The book focuses on fundamentals of winning organizations and the characteristics of these leaders giving insight into some of the greatest leaders stories. Noel Tichy has researched companies like General Electric, Ameritech, PepsiCo, Intel and Focus Hope.

The book is concise in its contents and is good for intellectual reading. Author has made his best attempt to present conceptually his thoughts about leadership engine by proving the facts that "winning organizations are teaching organizations". Senior leaders take direct responsibility for developing and teaching other leaders. Those leaders have great "teachable point of view" as composed by ideas, values and E3 (Emotion, Energy and Edge). Each of these leaders has their own style of teaching and the technique may vary based on the needs of the organization. Great leaders use stories to teach and communicate their ideas.

The term "Engine" as used by author, illustrates the dynamic potential of the winning organization to teach the leaders and develop future leaders. Noel says, "Many management theories don't buy the argument that leadership engine is the key factor in determining an organization's success. They assert that a winning culture, or efficient work processes, or any number of other ancillary attributes are the sine qua nons for success". But he believes that leadership takes precedence over everything else and one reason leadership take precedence is that leaders are the people who decide what needs to be done and are the one's who make things happen. To accept the fact as represented by author, the research should also include mid sized organizations and opinions of middle layered managers.

The ultimate test of success for an organization is not weather it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. The key ability of winning organization and winning leaders is creating leaders. One of the greatest quotes in the book was "Every person in a key position has to see himself or herself as a mini-CEO. They have to conceptualize what has to be done in the same way the CEO has. Then it cascades."

I read Tichy's ideas for the first time in a Harvard Business Review exhibit which he wrote to be inserted in an interview with Jacques Nassar, former CEO of Ford Motor in an issue from 1997/1998. That exhibit was so illuminating I went just right then to get a copy of the whole book in the library. I should've stayed with the exhibit in the magazine...

The CORE of the ideas of Mr. Tichy is superb. Really. Building a model (a triangle which is not, for one of the corners includes "emotional, energy and edge" and there's is not the sligthest reference in the book why these are bundle together) where he included values, ideas and the emotional side to introduce the discipline of the storytelling in the organization is a premier work intended to give a method to build those stories (World Bank, 3M, Ford and many other companies with a long tradition of strategic planning are working on this line, prefering it over conventional bullet lists, formats and charts but back in 1997, when Tichy's work arrived it was a weird idea).

BUT that's all! If you expect to learn here how to buid the "teachable point of view" (this is how Tichy christened his baby) forget it. At least an useful one. Many water has gone under the bridges since 1997 and there're many subsequent authors with better techniques to teach you to do so. Nevertheless, Tichy's work is a nice model to keep in mind when you build and use the strategic stories. But as a framework... and I've got that in the little excerpt of the exhibit in HBS.

Last, but not the least... the examples. And this REALLY bothered me. Rather than present the teoric foundations for his ideas, in order to let you to figure out how he get there and then let the reader to develop his own path (like Collins&Porras, Tichy's nemesis, did in "Built to last"), Tichy gives an harangue of two or three lines with his ideas and then throw at you a 3-pages example so tailored-made for the concept you wonder if he's not explaining a coyuntural practice in some organization which he happened to hear about or maybe witness now and then rather than give you some new insights about leadership. And that organization, 70% alongisde 250 pages or so, is GE, 20% is AliedSignal's Larry Bossidy (a GE insider) and the 10% are ocassional references to Ameritech or well-konwn leaders so suitable for the day-to-day environment of XXI century business like Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill. Of course you can learn from any leader, that's what metaphors are for, but it's risky at least to compare the deployment of some set of values and ideas in a company with somebody who broadcast alive in the middle of some war. HOW the leaders deploy their messages (not the build of the message, but the media and the selection criteria they used) is a major absence in this book. And when it comes to learn about diagnostics and measures for the performance of his idea, Tichy olimpically come down from the bronco saying "I think the value market is the best measure to keep track of the performance of the company in the long term". And thats's it: one line and a half and keep going repeated like a mantra (I wonder what does Tichy thinks about some market values like Enron' And by the way, Ken Lay wrote in the back of the book a very nice appraisal of this leadership method to succeed in the market...) Which means if you're CEO in a private held company, a non-profit organization, a multillateral banking institution like IMF, a public company far away from the S&P or Dow Jones or the local chamber of commerce, you can implement these ideas but for measures go to the nearest church.

Noel Tichy was director at mythical Crotonville GE Human Developing Center. And the book become for moments a "Thanks my sweet lord psalms choir" to Jack Welch. Who is, no doubt, the best known business leader worldwide today. And Tichy used his previous book (Control your destiny) about the great man to quote himself a lot of times as authoritative source. But with the teorics of the book, it is at least arrogant to place such an emphasis in this company. I mean, if "winning companies" are the ones who win today, tomorrow and the next day by the inheritance and labor of its present leaders, how Tichy knew it would be the case back in 1997? Jeffrey Immelt hasn't been appointed to the office and you simply can't know, even today, 5 years after the book, if Welch revolution will survive him. Tichy made an example of his method and of a "winning company" out of Coca Cola under Goizueta reign, and you can go to ask about all this revolution to his succesors, Doug specially. Welch might well become a sort of Tom Watson, the head of the company Tichy's beat to death every single opportunity he has to the point you wonder if they fired or offended him in some moment: if he couldn't illustrate some point in the book with some real practice, then he explain it by default showing HOW IBM didn't do this or that and ergo fell down... and GE sure has, no doubt, somewhere around the world, even if he can't prove that, but the wonderful market value of the company is enough proof. And by the way.... if you read "Straight from the gut" by Welch himself, you learn many of Tichy' affirmations about his practices are, to be candorous, descontextualized or mistaken.

In short, a very, very good idea with a very, very bad excution in a very, worse package.

Noel Tichy's "The Leadership Engine" is a practical and easy to read book on leadership. His research is exhaustive and well documented; there are sixty pages of notes and bibliographic citations. Tichy's central theme is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine" that produces dynamic leaders at every level within the organization. He argues forcefully that winning is about leadership and that leadership is the key trait that distinguishes winners from losers. He defines winning as success in adding value, coupled with sustained excellence. For a company or organization to be successful it must have outstanding leaders at every level. In order to have those dynamic leaders at every level, the organization itself must systematically produce them.

Tichy insists that learning, teaching, and leading are intertwined and admits he is a proponent of transformational leadership theory. Elements of this theory are clearly evident throughout his book. Tichy is also resolute in his belief that leading IS teaching-"they can, they do, they teach"-this point is driven home numerous times throughout his book(1). Winning organizations are teaching organizations. Successful organizations have proven leaders who are both teachers and avid learners themselves. The author emphasizes on numerous occasions that leaders must have a teachable point of view and must create teachable moments for the right kind of learning to occur-the kind that transforms an organization. A leader's "teachable point of view" is a trinitarian view composed of: a) ideas, b) values, and c) emotional energy and edge(2). Ideas are the substance of learning and good ideas are teachable.

Tichy uses numerous real life examples from the business world and even the military to highlight his points throughout the book. His liberal use of relevant and true stories to emphasize the point he is making, is in itself, a subtle illustration of a key leadership trait-being a good story teller. Tichy insists that successful leaders are successful teachers because they use stories and share examples from their own personal life. The author's frequent use of stories makes the book interesting, even captivating at times and minimizes the possibility of the reader getting bored.

The Leadership Engine is an outstanding, well organized, and very readable book; and not just a book, but a useful handbook as well. Tichy includes a 99-page workbook with practical exercises designed to both help the reader assess his or her own leadership and to help the reader develop a "Leadership Engine" in his or her own organization. The workbook is what sets this leadership book apart from the thousands of others in this crowded category. Noel Tichy has accomplished what he set out to do-convince us that winning organizations are teaching organizations. However, for the student of leadership, there is no new ground or profound insights in this book and consequently, I am not convinced that it deserved its Business Week "Book of the Year" honor.

NOTES
(1)Taken from the oft repeated jest by George Bernard Shaw that, "Those who can, do-those who can't, teach." This quote does not appear in Tichy's book.
(2)Tichy defines "edge" as the courage to see reality and act on it.

I bought the New Riders as a boxed set and up to Enterprise the books appeared adequate. Luckily, I combined my studies with Exam Cram materials as well as company supplied Transcenders. In this case my study techniques paid-off because if I just used this book ...I would have blown the test. It skims over many of the most important concepts that are tested on the exam..the testing software supplied was way too light. This is one test I might push for the actual M$ study guide.

Overall this is not an excellent book to use as your main study guide, but I would also suggest using another source of information. The Enterprise exam that I took had several indepth questions relating to the IIS 3 as well as other topics that were gone over only briefly in the book.

Overall a good purchase, as long as it's not your only source and not expensive to own.

Overall this is an excellent book to use as your main study guide, but I would also suggest using another source of information. The Enterprise exam that I took had several indepth questions relating to the IIS 3 as well as other topics that were gone over only briefly in the book.

Overall a good purchase, as long as it's not your only source.

I purchased this book and passed 70-068. The exam is tough. Ialso used cramsession and Microsoft TechNet

I wouldrecommend using this book. If you read the entire book and use the exercises and practice hands on.

This book may be an adaquate study guide for preparing for Exam 70-068, but I don't think it's an excellent one. You'd need use Exam Cram or Transcender exams to get an idea of how the questions would look like in the real test because the Exam Questions at the end of each chapter in this book are too weak and too few.

The contents are not very well organized and some errors are presented in an authorative tone that they are not easy to spot if you don't try it out. Try its comments on the "Forcibly disconnnect remote users ..." option in Account Policy.

I read Sybex (stay away from them) and Dennis Maione's books on Server and Workstation as supplements to Microsoft ILT. Maione's books are an excellent source for a comprehensive knowledge of NT (not just for the sake of passing the test). Though suffering from the same type of Exam Questions, they are very insightful and tell more about "why" rather than "just-do-this-and-don't-ask-why" (which is the impression I got from the labs in MS MOC). In contrast, the chapter on network monitoring in this book is just like repeating what Microsoft says in its Training Kit on the subject (and without the sample exercises in Training Kit). The author's lack of insights, or unwillingness to share them, on the subject are shown in the absence of those Exam Tip and Warning boxes in the margin. However, at least, this is the only study guide I used that covers the subject, which is not a favorite of the real exam but is something that you could be tested on. I had a question on analyzing a sample frame in the real exam.

One reason I use the study guides is to see what insights an author can share with you drawing on his/her experience and expertise and to obtain a perspective different from Microsoft. I don't benefit much this way from this book, although it does cover what you need to study for the exam.