Directories Books

I slogged through half a dozen tactful, dignified, dripping-with-sincerity guidebooks, where you have to read between the lines to discover if the college in question is snobby, dope-infested, riddled with dirty bathrooms, or populated by spoiled princes and princesses. This is the ONLY guide I've found that gave us a good feel for the personality of a given school, and the only one my high school junior actually enjoys reading. Use it with Fiske's, or Peterson's, or other guides--but use it.

Let's up front state my bias: My undergraduate (Lehman College in the Bronx, NY) and graduate (Queens College in Queens, NY) schools were not part of the 328 mix. Also excluded was my son's school Clayton College and State University (the comprehensive IT degree is no animal party degree) in Georgia. Guys those urban schools were great and from what I know remain highly regarded.

Pitch aside for my alumni. This is overall a comprehensive easy to follow reference book that lays out the choices from a variety of perspectives. Besides the obvious overview of each school, the guide includes listings by best value, drug/alcohol free, and overall education, etc. The authors also rank schools by attendance (class presidents, valedictorians, etc.), animal house, and outside the box, etc. Titles of sections are obvious. The data comes from survey responses by counselors, attending students, and recent graduates (no wonder they didn't ask me about good old Lehman) as well as personal observations from the authors (the intelligent sidebar guide comments are worth the cost of the book).

Though the survey tool may not be reliable in a strictly statistical sense, THE UNOFFICIAL, UNBIASED GUIDE TO THE 328 MOST INTERESTING COLLEGES 2004 is a tremendous reference for high school juniors and seniors and their parents and anyone thinking of transferring to another school or an adult returning to school. The key is the ease of following the categorical break out that facilitates an individual customizing a selection for their needs.

Harriet Klausner

This is an excellent source of information on the subject. I view it as a professional second opinion to the better-known 'The Best 351 Colleges' from the Princeton Review. Actually, both guides have a near identical structure and methodology. They both rely on extensive surveys of students who went to these schools. So, you get excellent qualitative feedback on what the schools are like. You also get a lot of quantitative information, including range of SAT scores, acceptance rate, student yield, etc... Both guides have numerous lists including best academics, and a lot of other similar lists ranking schools along a single factor. Also, they essentially cover the same pool of colleges.

While 'The Best 351 Colleges' does a better job at rating all schools among several factors such as: Campus Life, Academics, Selectivity, Financial Aid; 'The Unofficial Guide' provides much valuable qualitative information.

For my part, I really feel that you have to acquire both guides. If you would give these guides an overall personality, The Best 351 Colleges is more of a quantitative left brain type of information source. While the Unofficial Guide is sometimes more creative. The two co-authors, Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili, give their own 'biased' opinions within small text box on every single college they review. Somehow, their short humorous sound bites are very helpful. They give you the essence of what the school is like. Sometimes, just by reading their short quotes, you can readily tell whether a school is for you or not.

The way to use these guides together is to read the reviews in both guides about the schools you are interested in. If the two reviews give you the same impression about a school, you can easily assess if a school is right for you.

When it gets interesting, is when the two reviews differ. I ran into such a case, with Lewis & Clark, a liberal arts college in Portland. Within The Best 351 Colleges, I got that Lewis & Clark had a very liberal college culture that pervaded both the student body and the teaching staff. But, in The Unofficial Guide, Lewis & Clark was described as fairly apolitical. In such a case, that is when you have to do more research on the Internet. If you go to Studentsreview or Epinion, you will see comments from students who went to particular colleges. In the case of Lewis & Clark, I got that The Unofficial Guide's review was closer to the truth. Liberal political activists who went to Lewis & Clark were disappointed about the lack of political activism on campus.

Additionally, the co-authors of The Unofficial Guide have to be commended on their very healthy approach to college selection. They promote that the college fit is much more important than the college name. I could not agree more. Thus, one will be far more successful if they are very happy at Kenyon College, because of a great match between their own temperament and the college culture, than being miserable at Harvard, because the fit was not so good.

I am giving this book 4 stars reluctantly becasue it really sould get only 3.5 stars. It did not live up to its title of "328 most interesting colleges." This is because it fails to tell me why each college listed in this book is interesting. Howver, it does provide information very similar to, though not as good as, "357 best colleges" by Princeton Review.

What should have been done in this book is to add a section for each college that briefly describe the aspects that make that college "interesting."

Two summers ago, I had a rough list of where I wanted to apply for university. But I had no idea what I was getting into. Then I got my hands on this book and that has affected my whole list. Back then, dream school was Johns Hopkins, then Duke and Rice. Reading through all of those comments about each university, including comments from students, swapped the members of my list around. I figured I'd go for campus visits, and that's when I noticed that a lot of what I had read were definitely true; even the campus tour guides confirmed a lot of the things that were written in here.

Now, I'm at Rice, having the time of my life. My college search was a success; I do not think I could be happier anywhere else.

If what you're looking for is a book that profiles a lot of America's top universities through the eyes of the students; stuff that they do not show you on college viewbooks, definitely get this one. A lot of the things that are in this tome of knowledge are facts about each campus. But I definitely do recommend campus visits as well. Especially overnight visits.

If anybody reading this plans on applying to Rice, definitely go for an overnight stay in the last week of March. That's when student life is at its best.

If you are interested in the Consulting Industry....it doesn't get better than this! This is a great comprehensive guide to the various companies and their focus areas. Great jump start on finding where you belong in the world of consulting.

I found this guide to be immensely helpful in getting the real story - good, bad and ugly - about the consulting industry and the leading consulting firms. I would highly recommend reading this guide.

For individuals exploring consulting positions, this is a must read book. You will learn about corporate culture for the most prestigeous consulting forms in the US. Not all consulting is the same, nor are the firms that employ the top talent. Before you make a move, check the Vault Guide and you will know what to expect. Exellent reference, to the point and worth every penny.

I found this guide to be immensely helpful in getting the real story - good, bad and ugly - about the leading consulting firms. The book also has a fascinating new poll/ranking of the 50 most prestigious management consulting firms to work for. (As might be expected, the consultants surveyed rated McKinsey as the #1 most prestigious and BCG as #2). I would highly recommend reading this guide.

I don't normally write reviews, but I just got this book and had to write. The book has detailed insider accounts of life inside every major consulting firm, including its history, areas of specialization, and tips on the hiring and interviewing process. Highly recommended for job seekers and consultants alike.

WHERE TO WEAR is NOT just for tourists. I've lived in NYC for over 15 years and this is the book I've been searching for. It has every address, phone number and store hour that I could possibly need. It now sits right next to my NYC phone book and Zagat's guide beside my phone! This is a MUST for tourists and New York natives alike!

Without a doubt, the best written, best researched, most informative book of its kind. It includes all the basic information; but contains tons of witty and useful tips. Also terrific breakdowns of where to find what by category and neighborhood. Clearly, Ms. Melhado and Ms. Clason spend too much time shopping...but for our benefit. The best stocking stuffer I found this Christmas. Last-minute updates and website information are very useful. Look forward to each yearly edition!

My girlfriend and I used her copy to shop the after Christmas sales in Manhattan, and this handy little guide was THE BEST! We're just tourists from a few hours south, but I imagine that foreign visitors with even minimal knowledge of English would find "Where to Wear" helpful. Stores are conveniently grouped by district and type/category. We plotted our course through as many designer stores as we could fit into 2 shopping days and thanks to the accuracy in the descriptions, know we saved precious shopping time and shoe leather. I even found a great hair salon for my next trip!

The "Where to Wear" guide is like having your own personal shopper. I appreciate the guide's clever store descriptions, complete with store hours and locations. It's well organized, witty, and comes in a slim, easy-to-shop with, size. The guide's handy catagories, such as "best picks" and "best kept secrets" lead me to some real gems (like a pair of striped Louboutin mules!) This guide is a must for those who want to shop New York.

Heads up you shopping mavens and tourists alike! This is one jewel of a book you all must add to your collection of city guides. It's incredibly user-friendly, chock-a-block full of informational tid-bits and snappy commentary. Not only that but it's like having your own directory of all the stores in NY (addresses, telephone numbers, etc.) and it fits into your hip Fendi baguette, your Sergio Rossi tote or your Matt Nye cross bag! If you ever wonder where to go to find that special little something to fit the bill - this one's for you! It just makes you want to walk around in Melhado's and Clason's mules for a day...

Well done! It's a winner.

The best World's most Comprehensive and Up-to-Date Guide to Broadcasting.

This is a must have for Shortwave Listening. A wealth of information.

for anybody who have a problem to verify listening of the radio.
It is like litle cook book which you must have altough he know to cook.

Localy not so precise (maybe for litle cauntrys)

All you need to make DXing: info about countries, local & international radiostations of LW, MW & SW; interesting lists, ecc.

As a long time and long distance radio listener, I find this invaluable
to identify radio signals, where they are from and the language being
used.
Leo

If you're not very knowledgeable on how to use, expand, personalize, and tweak Yahoo!, this book is for you! Author Paul Bausch, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that will help you do just that, in ways you never dreamed possible.

Bausch, begins by showing you how to become a Yahoo! power searcher by taking advantage of meta keywords in order to return more relevant results. Then, he shows you some unique ways on how to use Yahoo! Web Services, including monitoring your commute for problems, watching TV schedules automatically for appearances by your favorite celebrities, and visualizing your music collection. The author continues by showing you how to use the hacks to reach out and touch someone. Next, he introduces you to the backdoor that Yahoo! has opened for developers. Then, the author shows you how people are using Yahoo! data in their own applications and have a bit of fun in the process. Finally, he shows you how to get listed and introduces you to other Yahoo! components you can plug into your site.

You can read this excellent book from cover to cover if you like, but each hack stands on its own. Here, the author intends to show you what's possible when you view Yahoo! as a platform and inspire your inner hacker to take a new look at Yahoo!.

Paul Bausch's YAHOO! HACKS: TIPS & TOOLS FOR LIVING ON THE WEB FRONTIER tells how to personalize and use Yahoo! In new ways, from using keyword shortcuts and advanced syntax to get more from search queries to customizing Yahoo! Mail, using its blogging features and file share programs, and even building applications using Yahoo! web services. Everything there is to know about customizing and tweaking Yahoo! is in this book.

This book contains a hundred hacks to get Yahoo to work the way you want it to work. These hacks include tips for getting the results you want from a Yahoo search, dealing with advertiser cookies, tracking your stocks, getting news feeds and news crawlers, using Yahoo groups, programming Yahoo using various languages including Perl, Java, PHP, and VBScript and even how to plot multiple points on map at the same time. Of course the biggest question for many people is how to get your site listed at Yahoo and there is even a tip for that. Yahoo! Hacks is a highly recommended book to anyone who uses Yahoo or wants to know how to really master it.

When Yahoo! was created in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo it was the simplest of web sites. Just a collection of web pages laid out in a simple unordered list, the entire Yahoo! web site was only a handful of pages with only a single, simple use: to list sites on the web separated out by the content they provided. Probably when someone today thinks of Yahoo! the first thing they think of is that it is a search engine. Well the 1st generation of the Yahoo! web site didn't even have that. There wasn't even a form field present, the only thing being a bunch of hyperlinks which navigated to more hyperlinks for the few sites that were in existence back in the day.

My what changes a decade brings.

When you think of the Internet today, probably the first couple of web sites that come to mind are eBay, Google, amazon and Yahoo!. It is safe to say that with thousands of employees and millions upon millions of revenue that Yahoo! is one of the greatest success stories on the web, and to think that only 10+ years ago this site was just a simple list that grew into so much more. Yahoo! has evolved to not only provide a way of searching the Internet, but it is now a portal site that provides News, Weather, Sports, Games... basically if you can think of something that you can find on the Internet then Yahoo! is a great place to go to start your web experience. There is so much to do and so many places to go when you use Yahoo! that it can become mind-boggling and that is where "Yahoo! Hacks" can be used to make your net experience the best it can be.

Providing 100 tips and tricks of how to best use Yahoo! to your advantage, Paul Bausch pulls no punches and doesn't skimp on the details. From learning how to use and customize 'My Yahoo!' to setting up and controlling your mail to setting your own personal TV listings, you can learn how to do this with this guide. From tracking your investments to created advanced searches that remember personalized settings to installing Yahoo! Messenger, you will learn the ins and outs with this book. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discussing all that Yahoo! Hacks has to offer. RSS, blogging, Calendar, sharing photos... the list goes on and on.

After reading Yahoo! Hacks you will soon feel like there is so much to offer from Yahoo! that you could do everything you needed to at one web site and never have to go anywhere else! Now with this guide you can get the most out of your Yahoo! experience and have fun while doing it.

This is what Hack books are supposed to be about!! For all Yahoo! enthusiasts out there who want to learn how to use Yahoo! to the fullest, this is the book for you!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." That quote might apply to Yahoo when you look at all the mindshare that Google has garnered of late. It's almost as if Yahoo is irrelevant and Google owns the search world. Not quite, and Paul Bausch's new book Yahoo! Hacks - Tips & Tools for Living on the Web Frontier reminded me of all the good and incredibly valuable things you can do with Yahoo...

Contents: Search; Services; Communicating; Web Services; Applications; Webmastering; Index

Like all Hacks titles, you have a number of cool tips and tricks that you can do using Yahoo as your technology starting point. In this case, there's 100 of them that cover a wide range of topics. For instance, tip #39 - Monitor Your Commute shows how Yahoo can provide updated traffic conditions overlaying a map of your driving commute. Even better, those traffic updates can be formatted in RSS and put on your My Yahoo page. I did that one right away. Tip #83 - Randomize Your Windows Desktop Background shows how, using Yahoo's web services API and some VBA code, you can create a random Windows wallpaper each day. Just hope you don't choose a search term that isn't "work safe". :) The whole Web Services chapter shows how you can access Yahoo's API using a variety of languages such as Perl, PHP, Python and a few others. Once you get the basic core structure down, you open up a whole universe of possibilities in terms of programmatic integration of Yahoo into your applications. This is really cool stuff...

I've been just as guilty as the next person of getting all "Google"-y eye'd at other search engines and forgetting the site that opened up a whole world of internet realities. Many of the things we take for granted now were ground-breaking ideas that Yahoo was pushing in the early days. Having two strong competitors in the search arena will lead to even more innovative thinking as they play off of each other. I can see how the Yahoo! Hacks title could go into multiple editions without even trying...

Excellent read with lots of code you can use immediately. If you've wandered away from Yahoo for other pastures, perhaps it's time to wander back and see what other options are out there. Yahoo Hacks will expand your thinking as to what you can do with search engines...

I am a Technology teacher for 3rd-5th graders.
I enjoy being a creative teacher-------going beyond what is found in a textbook. This book allows me to do just that.

We have now entered the technological revolution. As a result, it is imperative that educators keep pace with technology. This resource helps teachers do just that. It covers such topic as behavior management, funding resources, diversity, and all basic subject areas, including foreign languages. It is a definite must for educators

This is a great resource for teachers who have Internet access at home or in the classroom. The book lists very useful and educational sites in numerous categories. Some helpful areas included: Classroom Management, Organizations, Research and Reference and Language Arts. Not only does the book give you sites to use with your students, it also reccomends areas that have teacher resources including lesson plans and reproducibles. I ended up book-marking a lot of the sites I visited on my computer for future use and have integrated many others into my classroom teaching. A must have for teachers everywhere!

I bought this book for reference. I teach 8th grade language arts. It is excellent. I highly recommend this as a reference for all teachers. It is divided into content areas and also has sites for teachers who are in school. I have found valuable lesson plans, hints, projects, etc. that will help me in the classroom. A must for any classroom teacher in this age of technology. It also has student sites!

Where in ONE resource can one find such a multitude of self-help and wellness SITES? The author did a fantastic job in including "meaty" sites! Using this book, one can surf sites FROM empowering one's self in health issues, nurturing and lifting one's spirits and learning ways to recover from addictive patterns, TO dealing with issues especially for men or women only, children/family concerns and interpersonal relationships. Since I am of the baby boomer generation, my favorite chapters of the book are the ones that address life threatening illnesses, aging, grief, and death. These are issue I'm having to deal with more and more! Anyone looking for ways to destress and empower one's self will find this book a great tool for gaining knowledge, coping, and self-improvement. Keeping it by MY computer and will surf daily!

Talk about helpful internet sites--this book is amazing! I've only had this self-help and wellness guide for a few days, and already I feel like a new person. I've found sites that offer a wealth of information on total-body wellness, how to find true prosperity (without money), inspirational quotes of great thinkers on personal development and even an online course to help develop miraculous relationships. What more could you need--and it's all here in one book! Thanks to the authors!

Your book is crucial for every member of the family. The sites included in this easy-to-follow source are beyond comparison. The chapters zero in on every aspect of self-help and wellness imaginable, and the best thing about it is that your book can do something for everyone!

Where in ONE resource can one find such a multitude of self-help and wellness SITES? The author did a fantastic job in including "meaty" sites! Using this book, one can surf sites FROM empowering one's self in health issues, nurturing and lifting one's spirits and learning ways to recover from addictive patterns, TO dealing with issues especially for men or women only, children/family concerns and interpersonal relationships. Since I am of the baby boomer generation, my favorite chapters of the book are the ones that address life threatening illnesses, aging, grief, and death. These are issue I'm having to deal with more and more! Anyone looking for ways to destress and empower one's self will find this book a great tool for gaining knowledge, coping, and self-improvement. Keeping it by MY computer and will surf daily!

The perfect reader for southern enthusiast and small town living fans. Does an excellent job of describing, in deatail, the towns and their enviroments. Gives me a years worth of weekend trips at my fingertips. A must read!

This informative volume describes a number of towns that would otherwise surely go unnoticed by the non-Southerner. Basic population, economic and climate data are followed by descriptive sections on recreation, housing, health resources, and the like. An occasional anecdote or personal interview might have added a bit of color, but this is a more complete book than most others about those charming, artistic, or undiscovered places we want to find out about, and it may be the only one of its kind on the South. I am happy to own it.

This is a very handy, concise and yet comprehensive guide to help in your search for that delightful Southern town offers good quality of life and yet within reach of a city's conveniences.

There are useful statistical highlights, Cost Of Living index and web links. The books provide information on the community, eateries, attractions,education,etc.

I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a guidebook to assist in their search for a delightful town to re-locate and live.

Most people spend more time planning where to spend their vacations than they do deciding where to spend their lives (or their retirements). Fortunately for us, the authors of this book have done a huge portion of the legwork for us: finding the best small southeastern towns, evaluating them through a set of clearly defined and excellent criteria, visiting each one, and gathering relevant information to help us not only decide where to go, but to also help us connect to the community once we get there. I would be lost without this book, not even knowing where to begin. The books is also well-written, engaging in style, and easy to use. For example, you can skip sections you're less interested in because there are frequent headers common for each town, and you can also search towns by state, climate, geography (e.g., coast or mountains), and other factors of interest.

...

This book was recommended to me by an architecture student. While not an architect, I must say that this book is one of the most valuable architecture resources in my library. As someone who has always had an interest, this almanac has really allowed me to explore and enjoy my interest in architecture. This book has a lot of information that will be of interest to professional architects, but it goes well beyond that and has something for everyone. There is a lot here that you won't find anywhere else, and its as up-to-date as it gets. I will be adding a copy to my library every year. Highly recommended.

An annual compendium of architecture and design information, articles, and facts, James Cramer's Almanac Of Architecture & Design 2001 offers rankings of the top Architecture and Design colleges; state-by-state registration laws; ratings and rankings of the leading firms; the Pritzker Prize and other major award speeches; the latest state and city "Salary and Compensation" survey results for designers; a comprehensive design competition calendar; the latest records, rankings, and achievement sin design; "need to know" facts on architecture and historic preservation; exhibition schedules for top museums of design; a locator for architecture bookshops; comprehensive and updated award histories, deadlines, and winners; recent obituaries of design leaders; student leaders on education and the profession's future; and an exclusive ranking of the "most visited" historic house museums. Almanac Of Architecture & Design 2001 is a core reference title for personal, professional, and academic reference collections.

A good resource, for a number of reasons. The variety of information the editors provide, from hard building cost data to locations of architectural bookstores, makes this guide useful in many ways. Although the book bogs down in spots with lists that I will probably never use, most of the material is stuff I just KNOW I'll need to look up at some point (such as average architectural salaries, by level and state; that "some point" is when I change jobs again). In fact, I've already referred to it a couple times already, and the year 2000 is still young. Plus, the book enlightened me to the fact that Walter Gropius shares my birthday (how do you compile that knd of stuff? call his house?). Anyway, I can't possibly enmerate all the ways this book is useful. I can say its a pretty good one to have on the shelf.

I bought this book and have not been able to put it down. It has more information packed into it than I had originally thought. The best sections I think are on liscensing laws in landscape architectue, architecture, and the 250 leading design firms in the U.S. I will make my own recommendations to the editors but this is one of the most informative sites that I have visited. The section on journals and magazines is especially helpful. I recommend regional magazines be included such as Architectue Minnesota and Texas Architect. Quality of the paper and print is outstanding. Thanks for this breakthrough book on architecture lists and rankings.

I think it is a much needed and valuable item that every Internet connected animal lover should own. This book gives greaet Internet addresses. It has everything you need to spend many hours of fun and discovery on the Internet with other animal lovers!

The Animal Lover's Guide To The Internet includes nearly 600 Web site addresses and decriptions. In addition, Bonnie included several chapters in the book to help newcomers. The first time I attempted to get on the Net, I felt like I was lost in the twilight zone. Nothing made sense and the books I read on the subject just confused me more. This book is written in simple, easy to understand language and is focused on getting you up and running quickly and painlessly!

An excellent reference guide for animal lovers to the world of Internet in six easy steps to the site of general interest, health, chats, newsgroups and on-line publications about birds, cats, dogs, fish, rabbits, reptiles, horses and even dinosaurs.

First of all, the cover illustration by Bonnie Shields is adorable. Aptly depicted animals gathered around a computer monitor are a visual treat. Look for the cat that is curled around the monitor's base. He is shown rather true to form. The inside illustrations by Sharon Redfield are charming and show an eye for detail. This is a great gift for the animal lover in your family or circle of friends. More so if that animal lover is yourself. Happen to have one or more grandchildren or a niece or nephew with a computer? Animal lover or not, this book would constitute a wonderful study tool. As a comprehensive, yet easy to understand manual for everything from choosing the right computer, accessing the Internet, to fossil hunting, this book excels. The author's words are friendly, warm and serve as the wisdom of a knowledgeable friend. I feel this makes for a perfect package. Well organized, with more than 500 Internet addresses for you to explore, you will find the material broken down into easy to understand classifications. Have fun reading and exploring. I did!