Professional Training Books

These books really helped me pass the tests. If you want to LEARN, not just pass, these books will help. :)

Not only does this kit provide excellent study material, but it will also prove to be an invaluable reference afterward. For people (like me) who cannot afford the instructor-led courses, this kit provides the necessary training to not only pass the exams, but also to be a good network engineer. Use one of the study guides just before the exam, but use this kit to gain a thorough understanding of the material first.

I purchased this training kit mainly because it contained a 120 day evaluation copy of NT. I thought that working with NT would be much more beneficial than just reading about NT. I didn't get very far into it before I ran into some problems with the software. From what I did read, the information provided seems relatively well organized and informative. There is a caveat.

If you're thinking about buying this training kit because it contains an evaluation copy of NT (like I did) I would STRONGLY suggest that you make sure your system can run NT Server. It's MORE than the processor or the amount of RAM you have. Check Microsoft's web site for a complete hardware compatibility list.

If you ignore this warning and have problems with the enclosed software, don't expect much (if any) help from Microsoft.

I used the Networking essentials book from this kit and flew the exam, everybody told me that I was over studying. For workstation and server I changed tack and went out and got examcrams. Read them one day, passed the next, forgot about it the day after. I'm now up for enterprise and I am reverting back to the MS-press for the way it drums in the detail. Passing the exams is one thing, knowing the subject is another. If you want to remember what you study way down the track use MS press, if you just want a paper qualification don't waste your money. Justify that before you purchase.

Once again, I passed 2 out of the 4 of these test, using the mspress books, and some help from the transcender folks. The reading is tedious, but once through it, the cool things that you learn far outweigh any hard feelings experienced throughout the reading, I mean, think about it, this is the straight shot from the horse's mouth, you can't get any closer. I would also recommend windows nt tcp/ip network adminstration, it goes perfectly with the networking essentials,

I did not received the book, I order, still waiting to get the book.

I had to purchase this as it is required for a class, but even our teacher admits that the book is not that great. It's a very boring read, indeed.

After purchasing the instructor's manual to check my answers, I found errors in every chapter!! From spelling to incorrect percentage amounts. I found myself editing the entire time to find their errors which contradict their text. When I got answers that were not an option in the multiple choice exercises, I would reference the book and the textbook would say I was correct, and the workbook did not. Not worth the money or the time. Extremely exhausting.

This book is fanastic and provides up-to-date information on the health insurance industry. Its great for learners and old timers too. Gives a very broad spectrum of the health industry and easy to comprehend. I recommend this book to anyone as a teaching/learning tool.

Medical coding and billing continuously evolve in large part because insurance companies and providers have conflicting business goals. An effective biller must go beyond simple claim submission and discover the reasons for underpayments and denials, to solicit missing information from both providers and payers, and follow up on every claim until its full payment.

Rowell's and Green's Guide provides an ideal introductory didactic set of materials covering everything from history of health care reimbursement, major insurance companies, and federal health care legislation, to basic knowledge of national diagnosis and procedure coding rules, to complex topics, such as V-codes, and diagnosis code linking. The text is replete with examples and exercises, helping students understand and remember the needed materials.

Yuval Lirov, Practicing Profitability - Billing Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinics and Chiropractic Offices: Collections, Audit Risk, SOAP Notes, Scheduling, Care Plans, and Coding

this book is a great review for usmle step 3. the question disc is a great way to apply the material. this disc has great answer explanations. The book is packed with relevant information. i cant remember seeing anything on the exam which wasnt covered in this book. The first time around may take 1-2 weeks but after that the read is quick. This is a great one stop shop if you are a few years past your intern year or have been out for a while. it has almost all the info you need for STEP 3.

this book can be a very good supplement for step 3 preperation. I would recommend reading it. It can be reviewed sveral times due to its special format in a short period.

I think this book has too much detail with the topics it includes and it misses many pathologic diseases that are included in other reviews. I would definitely not use only this book for review.

This book lacks any depth to help you study. Would not use as a sole study guide.

Overall, this book is just slightly above average. It is too wordy and many topics it does not cover at all. What it does cover is done nicely. I just wish there was more surgery, ER, ethics

This is an excellent reference book to use with your other A+ study guides. For anyone wanting to get the proper materials to study with, this is one of them you should have.

How can they give u such an useless CD .really a waste of time exploring the CD!!!!!!! the lab_procedure is o.k and diagrams is o.k. the presentation is NOT O.K. exactly like an encyclopedia,as one comment put it.final word--what a damn CD!!!!

I used the book to help pass my A+ tests, but there were several shortcomings. First, some of the info was wrong, such as the Cyrix DLC processor including a FPU. Also, the writing style is worse than an encyclopedia. It's simply too dry to keep your attention, but the book is nice to have around as a reference manual.

The CD that comes with the book is of some value in preparing for the test, provided you unlock it for extra money. The problem is that the test program has bugs that incorrectly graph scores and give error messages during scoring, and some of the diagrams do not match the questions. In addition, some of my answers to the questions were marked wrong when, according to the book, my answer was right. Looking on the web site provided an errata for the book (which didn't mention the Cyrix CPU), but there was no patch to fix the test CD. Talk about a defective product!

Finally, the book is unneccesarily detailed in some cases, such as CPU pins config, but not detailed enough in other cases. Again, its better as a reference manual than an exam prep, especially because of the problems with the CD, which could have been a great prep if done right.

This book must not be used as a sole source for A+ study! Overall, this book will add value when combined with your other A+ certification study guides and references. That added value comes from the lab exercises. However the CD is a waste and is no than a marketing ploy. The graphics are noteworthy but some key concepts are buried in the text.

If you are going to get certified, this is the book to use.

I bought an "out-of-print" business book for a discussion group. When I ordered it, I missed the fact it was a paperback, thinking the price was OK for a hardback. Whatever reasoning was used to determine the price, the book is a ripoff.
The prose is boring, repetitive, pedantic, and there are numerous grammatical and spelling mistakes throughout.
The subject is not given an in-depth treatment. Rather, it is an example of a writer - thinking he/she has professional expertise to sell - would do better to find a new career. No wonder the book is out-of-print!

This book hops on the fame of another recent and very popular real estate book which has a similar cover design and color; however, this one contains nothing new, and does not really deal with prospecting methods - only followup methods for the prospects you already have, or that company marketing is sending you. Small in size, it's hardly more than a pamphlet for an excessive price.

This book goes miles beyond your average leads generation training session. Best of all is that its not full of hype, "you can do it!" type rhetoric. The book lays out an easy to follow set of business and leads generation models that REALLY work. In the current R.E. market, agents MUST have some sort of edge, an advantage. This book provides the model, if you follow it, you get that edge. As a Broker with 42 active agents, I've made this book a mandatory must read.

Just bought this book and finished reading it in less then 1hour. It is not a book about the ABC's of Prospecting, it's about TIME MANAGMENT. I recommend you looking for other prospecting books.

This book is so good that I read it in 2 sittings (would have been 1 but I started pretty late the first night).

Dameon provides an excellent description of his proprietary process for prospecting/lead developing that even new agents (read me!) can understand. He also fully explains Customer Relationship Management and touches on the applicable technology. Note: IMHO - the CRM and tools discussed apply to any sales process - not just real estate.

I especially like that he doesn't focus on "old school" methods like door knocking and cold calling; yet, he gives a very realistic method for filling the pipeline.

What this book does, it does very well. It illustrates the new syntax and methods of AS3, and shows you exactly how to use them. It is illustrated and organized so efficiently that it can function as a "cookbook" reference.

It's a deceptively compact book, very handsomely bound and thoroughly illustrated with color screenshot examples. It is much better printed than earlier lynda-dot-com H-O-T Flash books (cleaner typography, opaque paper for color printing), though inside there's a superficial family resemblance. You get a series of step-by-step, read-and-type exercises, as well as a few supporting video tutorials. It even uses the old "snowboarder" example that the H-O-T books have used for the last three versions of Flash.

As I say, the resemblance is only superficial. The tutorials are much more concentrated than is usual. The chapters and subsections are short--a key concept may be covered and demonstrated in just two or three pages--but this concentration of material can make it very slow-going, requiring two or three re-reads. The few videos provided seem to be there merely for tradition's sake and add little to the tutorials.

I recommend this book but do not recommend attempting to learn AS3 from this book alone. Its virtue is its limitation: the author covers all the basics, seldom digressing from his lessons, so you may feel cramped and distracted if you try to cover more than one chapter at time. What you're missing is commentary and elbow room, a sense of overall context and practical application. For this you should get the Shupe/Rosser book (Learning ActionScript 3.0) and two or three others.

You might also get Todd Perkins's follow-on to this book, '...Beyond the Basics,' also from lynda. Though more advanced, it recaps this book's material very well, and being a series of short video tutorials is easier to follow. Put both Todd Perkins efforts together, and you get one fine five-star tutorial on how to code ActionScript 3.0.

If you are an animator looking to enter the world of actionscript, or you just don't have much development experience, then this book may be appropriate, but for anyone else the useful content could be compressed to the size of a pamphlet.

As for the accompanying CD, I found the content on this to be totally useless, there are much better video tutorials available on-line for free.

The author takes you step-by-step through useful examples that make the learning flow very easily from basic to intermediate. The style is crisp, with just the right amount of humor. Perfect to get your grounding if you are just getting into ActionScript 3.0

I am a regular user of Flash, however ActionScript (other than the really basic stuff) has always been a mystery to me. This book helped me to understand it in a way I never thought possible. I highly recommend it.

I had a really tough time with this book. The explanations are inadequate and often very confusing. I found Learning ActionScript 3.0 by Rich Shupe much easier to understand. This book might be a nice reference for people who have some AS3 under their belt, I haven't tried using it for that purpose, but if you need a way into AS3, this book will frustrate you. Perkins may be good at programming, but a teacher he is not. He's completely out of touch with what it's like to be a creative person trying to learn programming and he has no idea how to bridge that gap. He's a computer geek, not a communicator. Shupe is better.

For me, the real strength of this book is the way the presence of Eleanor Duckworth shines through her writing. I liken it more to the beacon provided by a lighthouse than to a how-to manual that describes rowing techniques. The clear direction that shown through for me was that learning is complex, and that teacher behaviors must be equally complex, but the guiding light is simple: Listen to and respect the learner and respond with your whole person, and the learning that needs to happen will occur, for both partners in the process.

This book is excellent. It is an important read for teachers today. As an educator it is extremely disheartening to see the direction of education being driven today by politicians, rather than parents and teachers. Ms. Duckworth redirects are attention where it belongs, on the students & how they learn. This book gets us (teachers) thinking about the kind of classroom culture we want to create for our children. It is about what we value as educators. Don't mistake it for a quick reference, how-to book. This is not meant to be a outline of various lesson plans to try out with your class. It is more thoughtful than that and more important

This book is packed with the interesting observations derived from much experience.
"Knowing enough about things is one prerequisite for wonderful ideas." P.14.

I agree with all the other reviews, good and bad - which in some sense is in agreement with a point ED makes. We must seek out everyone's different ways of understanding. Ironic. Reminds me somewhat of Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" in this regard.

"(P)eople sometimes use language that goes far beyond their thoughts. Some people can dazzle us with elaborate words when they do not really know what they are talking about." (p. 17). (But remember the Postmodern Generator!) I wonder how much familiarity with philosophy of language educators attempting to understand language learning in children have. A look at the references reveals no sign of folks like Quine, Wittgenstein, or even Chomsky. This alone suggests what benefit there might be in interdisciplinary efforts. Contemporary understanding of the nature of language shared with those who have practical experience teaching children and vice versa. Imagine what Wittgenstein might have said about the section on "Language and Thinking" (p. 16- 18) and on "Constructing What We Know" (p. 18-22) "In order to know something, or to think about something, then, we do not have to use words." or "Logic Is Deeper Than Language"! This is too much fun. One book that discusses a similar comparison is "Wittgenstein, Mind and Meaning: Towards a Social Conception of Mind" by Meredith Williams, as well as in "Constructive Evolution: Origins and Development of Piaget's Thought" by Michael Chapman. It seems that Piaget was influenced only by the earlier Wittgenstein when the later Wittgenstein would have been a much better fit. This seems so apparent to some that aspects of Piaget (genetic epistemology) are a "closed chapter in the history of science." (p. 127 in "Piaget-Vygotsky: The Social Genesis of Thought" by Anastasia Tryphon.

But this seems very good advice: "Words that people hear-and the younger the child is, the stronger the case-are taken into some thoughts that are already in their minds, and those thoughts may not be the ones the speaker has in mind." (p. 22)

As a parent and teacher, I strongly recommend this book to everyone concerned about children's learning. The main point of the main essay is that when children think and come up with their own ideas, it's the same fundamental process that scientists do when they are doing science, what inventors do when they are inventing, what creative artists do when they are creating, etc. Although the ideas may not seem like much to us (and may, in fact, turn out to be incorrect), they often seem wonderful to the children--and we should be supportive of children having ideas, rather than squelching them because it can be helpful in their learning. Moreover, Duckworth believes that children who are encouraged to generate ideas are more likely to grow up to be adults who come up with ideas that are true innovations in science or art, and that the world will benefit from them.

"The Having of Wonderful Ideas", by Eleanor Duckworth, was not quite what I expected. Although I learned from some aspects of the book I expected more "ideas" that could easily be understood and incorporated into classroom activities. I felt that the essays on the many experiments conducted by the author and Piaget were far too lengthy, almost drowning out any real "wonderful ideas". This book is not easy to read, and may leave the reader struggling to read to the end. However, as I stated previously, I did learn a few things, but they came too far and few between the lengthy essays.

The last few chapters were written very well. They were thorough, logical and accurate. The rest of the book was poorly written. The beginning chapters were ambiguous, incomplete, inaccurate and contradictory. I would recommend the last few chapters to supplement your MSCE goals. As for the rest.... It's said that a thousand monkeys banging on typewriters for a thousand years could produce the complete works of Shakespeare. I'll give this book four monkeys and only three months.

The book provides a good overview of SQL Implementation, but is not enough. Read the book (skip it's questions and CD), then study the Transcender exams. Assuming you are not a novice, you should pass. I passed on the first attempt using these two resources.

A good start to passing the exam but not enough. I missed passing on my first try by one question. Grief. Book is weak on triggers which the exam hit heavily. The practice tests are frustrating and contain errors. You'd be better off using a Microsoft Press Book and Transcender

I found this book hard to use. The way they laid out the system and database catalogs was worthless. The examples were sparse to non-existent in the latter chapters (deadline approaching, maybe). The indexing chapters were almost informative enough to be useful. STILL, it's good enough to pass the test.

I used this book as my main source for studying for the SQL Server Implementation & Design exam. However, it does not cover all the necessary subjects, especially record locking. Also this book is full of errors. Be very careful when using their practice exams, you will flunk the Certification Exam based on their answers. I wondered if they ever hired a proofreader. Also the questions on the back of each chapter are something to be desired.

If you use this book, supplement it with the Transcender or Beachfront Quizzer sample tests. If you can get someone to lend you the MS SQL Server Resource Kit, it will make up for what is missing in this book.

If you're looking for a book which will enable you to grasp the concepts of adult learning in the 21 century then The Adult Learner is a must read. Covering the latest perspectives on adult learning this book contains practical information relevant to any field of education. The Adult Learner addresses more than just the theories of adult learning, it provides timely solutions to empower those who desire to transform the learning experience.

Malcolm S. Knowles is the founder of the theory of Andragogy (Adult Education), and I agree with him on many of the points he makes.

The problem is that the book seems to have been written for academics to accept Malcolm's theories, and not written for students who wanted to learn to be better teachers in Adult Education.

Unless you have to use this book for a textbook for a class, I would not buy it as your first introduction to Adult Education. I'm not sure which book I would buy, but someone must have written a better one to actually learn the subject!

This book was in excellent shape. I received it sooner than I expected.

Since the term "andragogy" was first coined, several theoretical schools have developed around the topic of adult learning. This book provides a context for Knowles' ideas about andragogy and demonstrates the relevance of his ideas in the 21st century.

A little background: I am not a college professor or corporate HR director, so to some degree there are things in this book that were lost on me for that reason, HOWEVER...

...I am an author, an independent instructor for adult learners, and a college graduate with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications, so I do know something about good writing hopefully. I purchased this book to gain insight into the motivations behind adult learners. Why do some go back to college even when their job does not require it? What motivates them? How do they learn compared to teenagers, etc? What techniques are best in a classroom full of adults? And FWIW I have been able to glean some useful bits of information in these respects. But this book could be so much more, if the authors would simplify the writing style. Get out of your own way and tell the story! Let me explain further...

My biggest problem with this book is that it reads like a college thesis. I always value and appreciate a well annotated work that references other respected works, however this book goes completely overboard. In some chapters, almost every page is a pulled quotation from another work or book. There are so many references as to be distracting to the reader IMO. The original point being discussed (and its relevance to the person teaching adults), is often lost and you have to go back and read again so you haven't wasted your time.

The information itself is sometimes helpful and enlightening, but buried among wordy descriptions, run-on sentences and frankly, verbal pomp. And though I recognize this book is geared towards those in HR development (companies that teach their employees IOW), there are clearly parallel lessons to be learned for anyone teaching adults, regardless of the environment (work, leisure or vocational). I think for instructors like myself this book is simply not approachable enough, though there are some very good nuggets of info to be found and applied to our work. You just have to dig and re-read more than anyone should have to, in order to process that information.

I found this book to be infinitely helpful in toilet training my daughter. Because the author presents four different methods of potty training, she isn't obligated to advocate her method and dismiss competing methods as "wrong". Acknowledging that there are many correct ways to toilet-train a child is something that few authors have the latitude or courage to admit. This book also presents practical, non-judgemental advice regarding which method may work best in different family situations. After reading about all the approaches, I was able to fashion an approach that was consistent with my parenting style and worked well with my daugher's personality.

This book is part of the "Everything" series of books, so you would expect it to have a little bit of "everything" about potty training in it. Unfortunately, I had to read the entire book to find out that the author's clear bias towards infant potty training continues into the sections on toddler training. I was hoping for a less opinionated book, one with more general information.

I think this was a good first book for parents about to tackle potty training. While as some have posted the author does clearly think infant training is best, other methods are also clearly presented and outlined. Use this book as a starting point. It outlines a few major methods. From this you should be able to decide which method you want to use and then focus your next book purchases.

The author clearly believes you should train an infant and not use diapers. But then there isn't a clear plan for training a baby. This is kind of a mix of lots of ideas without a committment to one specific plan. Kind of confusing, not too helpful.

I had to make a comment about those reviewers that gave this book a low rating. Dr. Sonna's approach on potty training may seem different to many, but it is very, very effective. Her so called "bias" is to train kids in a different way than what we are accustomed here in the USA. If you are buying this book it's because you are needing help in this area. Maybe her advice is the advice you don't want to hear, because you've been approaching potty training with no results, and feel you couldn't possibly be doing it wrong. Some of the people who negativiley criticize this book because it's teaching a different approach to toilet train probably would criticize their doctor for perscribing a pill that cures an illness that is causing pain, when all they wanted is a pain killer. If you ever travel abroad you quickly learn that here in the US our kids are toilet trained much later than anywhere else in the world. Her pointers, suggestions, and even, thank God, her humor really help you deal with what is really not a fun and messy issue in child rearing. Throw out your (mis)-conceptions on potty training, open your mind to a different approach, buy this book, and follow the advice. The bottom line is: IT WORKS! And isn't the whole point in buying this book to find a method the works?