Resources Books

There Is No Place Like Work...is an excellent tool for an organizational tune-up! My company's vision and mission are current and consistent, we are not looking to start over. But we have many entry level positions and a limited career ladder so we are constantly bringing new people into the organization. Using the tools that are provided in the book helped us to sharpen our presentations (tell our story)better, internally and to outside audiences. Additionally, we use the principals in our strategic leadership team as part of our planning process. This book is a winner!

Do you want to change careers? Do you want to start a business venture? Do you want to be crystal clear as to the direction you want to go with your business? Then might I suggest you read this book. While it is a metaphor to the wizard of oz, it is written beautifully so as to make you decide where you want to go with your business.
The information was just enough to get the wheels turning as to what is important and more importantly why?
I spent the day pondering the message in the book and created a business model that I am looking forward to implement tomorrow.

Good Luck to you.

As a "headhunter" of 15 years, I have been a consultant to companies who are trying to attract top talent to their organizations. I have also worked with top-notch candidates who are searching to associate themselves with companies who are the best in their fields. What I have found is, that, which most excites quality, talented, qualified individuals to a new employer, is the company's leadership, their purpose, their culture and their core values. After reading "There Is No Place Like Work", I concluded that this easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow and easy-to-implement guide is a "must read" for every business owner, CEO, executive, manager and human resources professional. Kudos to Drs. Margolis and Wilensky for writing a handbook that can help businesses be the best that they can be.

Whether you're starting a brand new business or have been at the helm for 20 years, Ava and Sheila's 5 P's put workplace culture simply and concisely into perspective. From the first page to the last, you will find yourself fascinated by how easily their insights can be plugged right into your situation. This book will absolutely increase your bottom line!

Excellent Reading! I thoroughly enjoyed it and see how it can be beneficial!!!! I plan to put it to good use!!!

The Upanishads illuminated that the Self (Atman) is connected to the all-pervasive Brahman, and that to realize the Self and the connection to Brahman is to attain Enlightenment and escape from the cycle of Samsara (Moksha). While I am not an expert on the Sanskrit or its translation, this version is very accessible, and has been around for over 50 years. It has stood the test of time. It illustrates the Upanishads and their concern with attaining Moksha and awareness of the inexpressible, unknowable Brahman. This itself can be both illuminating, and repetitive. I recommend it to those who also read the Bhagavad Gita, where a stronger sense of ethics and duty are spelled out. This abridged version is short and accessible.

The Upanishads holds the core teachings of Advaita Vedanta - Brahman is all there is. It is a good book to be read by any serious seeker - along with Nisargadatta. The book has many footnotes which attempt to explain the meanings behind much of the commentary.

This particular translation of the Upanishads is a highly recommended read.

I was talking to my brother-in-law's father about favorite spiritual books. He's been a dedicated meditator for decades.

I carry a copy of this Upanishads translation in my shoulder bag always. I pulled it out and asked, "Do you read these ?"

He chuckled with bright eyes and said, "Oh, I can't read those. They just make me meditate." He went on to explain that after only a page or two he spontaneously slips into meditation.

My experience is quite similar. It's as if this volume speaks directly to my Spirit, navigating its way through my critical mind to the essence of my inner Divine. It brings me peace, it fills me with faith, it melts my fears. I meditate easily after just a few sentences sometimes.

To me the Spirit is so profoundly expressed in here that I have no trouble with dogma or rhetoric, with symbolism or mythology. To me this translation serves as an invitation from the ancient mystics to join them. I can feel the Spirit welcome me.

This is less a review and more a personal experience. That's what this book is all about, though ~ a guidebook to direct personal experience of Spirit.

It's a frantic world we live in, fast and busy and complex. I find that this wonderful translation can help lead me to a stillness within, to a unity with all that is, to a feeling and understanding and connection with the magic of life.

What brought you here to this page ? Perhaps you seek a deeper spiritual connection with your inner Divine. I can only tell you my own story. I don't read this for scholarly theology. I read this as a guide for my journey within. This book brings me to my home, to my heart. I can't remember when I bought it, but the price on the cover says $2.95. It has held up wonderfully, and is the best three bucks I ever spent, hands down. I'm buying several extras to give and lend to those I love.

Welcome.

I used to think that for reason Upanishads were huge texts, but author explained that upanishads are found in the end of vedas. It is beauty piece of work. when they are not sure, they will have a footnote and tell you that what could the other translation could have meant. It only happened 2-3 times. They are very enlightening. Brahman (God) is everywhere, literally. =)

The Atman is the Soul. It is our real Self, God residing within us. We are to submerge the ego, and discover the Atman (Self). Uncovering the Self leads to nirvana, or enlightenment. This is the essence of this book. We will differentiate between what is Real (unchanging)and what is illusory (changeable). And as Jesus said, the Truth will set you free ...

This is a good book for the brand new person to wetlands, or the intermediate person who needs a refresher. I am the latter, and I have found that there are new insights or anecdotes in this book that I never knew. Also, I like the figures.

I'm a fan of pictures, and there are not many of those...

This book is a must have for all wetland researchers, managers, scientists, and anyone with a general interest in wetland ecosystems. If I had to choose 1 wetland book, this is it. It is one of THE most popular textbooks for university wetland courses and workshops. I have been a wetland scientist for almost 15 years, and this is one of the books I use on a regular basis, and recommend to all my assistants and students. Wetland researchers will also want to keep in mind that with the release of the 4th edition, this 3rd edition is still a must have in your wetland library. The 4th edition removed all the wetland ecosystem specific chapters that are in this edition, so this edition is far from outdated. Don't choose one over the other! Buy them both :).

The Mitsch & Gosselink Wetlands 4th edition arrived promptly and in very good condition as was claimed it would by the seller.

This book is very helpful in understanding the various aspects and dynamics relating to wetlands. It includes management, legal, and various other topics of importance to wetland biologists, wildlife students or researchers working in wetland delineation or consultation.

Overall, this is a very good text on wetlands (for students and professionals both). However, I personally feel that a entire chapter could be devoted to wetland soils and wish that this book gave a better presentation of wetland soils. Furthermore, a great deal of research has been performed in Boreal wetlands and Boreal Prairie wetlands of Canada yet the Canadian literature is somewhat lacking in this text. Its still the best option out there for professors.

I was a little disappointed in this book, I thought it was a list of things to do. It was more like vague suggestions with web sites to check out. Several of the web sites were no longer working. I didn't find a lot of new information that I have not already read about. This is more of a beginners guide for going green. I would have gotten a lot more out of it several years ago. So if you are just starting to find options for going green, this is a book for you.

Most people want to do whatever they can to make the world a better place and protect the Earth. For them, marching in demonstrations or engaging in direct action is not an option. What to do? In subjects ranging from Air to Water to Food to Global Warming, this book lists many web sites with more information to get the reader involved in protecting the environment.

Perhaps the reader just wants to find out what sort of recycling facilities are in their town. One of their first stops should be to www.earth911.org. To look for reusable or biodegradable diapers, visit www.organicbebe.com. The Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org) has a very distinguished record in conserving endangered species. For those who have compost heaps, Starbucks will give you their coffee grounds. Details are at www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost, or talk to your local manager.

A handy wallet card on produce and pesticides called "The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" (bring it with you when shopping) is available from www.foodnews.org. A good site on global warming is www.climatestar.org. The Busy Person's Guide to Greener Living can be found at www.greenmatters.com. Do you have stuff you no longer need that someone else may want? Before that trip to the landfill, visit www.freecycle.org. Adopt a lobster (and help ensure a continued supply of lobsters) at www.lobsters.org, the Lobster Conservancy.

This is a wonderful book. It's small (it really can fit in your back pocket), it's well laid out, and the reader can pick their level of involvement. It is very highly recommended. Saving the environment does not get much easier than this.

Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, environmentally challenged or conscious, teacher or student, computer savvy or not - you will like this book. It provides real-life resources and contacts, anecdotal examples and insight on how YOU, the reader, can easily help sustain Mother Earth. Great for students of all ages!

As is the list of environmental problems so overwhelming and the scale so global, so is the feeling that one person can't make a difference. And, even in the trying, the choices are so many and the information so contradictory, that it's hard to know where to start. Here, at last, is the logical successor to "50 Simple Things...," better, more evolved, and yet easier. A wealth of choices that can be tailored to match what you feel you CAN do now, what you MIGHT feel you can do later, and what you SHOULD be telling your friends-- in short, a compendium of answers on a scale that any of us can comprehend.

This little book is simply amazing! It is a wealth of information,contacts and web sites regarding the environment and ways we can do our part to help. It is like the spark of desire, that hopefully, ignites the fire of action, encouraging us to seek out and "embrace a more environmentally friendly lifestyle". It is witty, informative and easy to navigate. A perfect gift and an exceptional manual for a meaningful life.

I used this book for a recent Special Needs training I facilitated at South Carolina University in Sumter, SC. The Preschool teachers loved it because it got over and sealed the point I was trying to make. "Don't change the child, change the environment in which the child is in." It gave them a more open mind of how to adapt their classrooms for the children in which they serve.

We have had this book for years and I just purchased it for my daughter's Kindergarten classroom, it is such a fun book, I love the illustrations and it is one that I can read again and again and still enjoy it.

The book was received in good condition and in a timely manner. I would recommend this site to others.

We simply adore Winnie the Witch at our house... by we I mean me (38), my husband (44), and our 2 and a half year old daughter. The humor appeals to every age, as do the fantastic illustrations. I recently ordered the three story collection and was not disappointed. Take a chance on Winnie.

This is, I think very much more for a child from 2-4 than anything else. The language is simple as are the concepts. It is very good humoured and beautifully illustrated. This is a book my 2 and 4 year old love to look at.

There are quite complicated illustrations of Winnies house which is a large castle - it is all in black. The problem is that Winnie's cat is also black, she can see the cat when its eyes are open, but when they are closed she keeps tripping over it - so she changes the colour of the cat.

It is a simple story, just a couple of plot elements, a little bit of problem solving and a happy ending (as you would expect) It is a nice book for discussing how to solve problems with children - (for instance what would you do if you kept tripping over the cat? what colour would you like best here? and so on) Its a nice book for opening up dialogue, and also for leading into art and creativity.

It is also a nice book just to read - and it is a favourite with my two at bed time right now. I think the cat is the most appealing thing in it, which is well drawn and a bit leggy, the illustrations remind a lot of Ronald Searle/Quentin Blake style.

I see there are more books in this series and I am keen to get hold of them for the girls before they grow out of them

Many workplaces seem quite safe. There are no open mine-shafts to fall into, no baths of sulfuric acid to spill, no explosives lying about ready to be ignited. And yet, according to professional safety consultants Dan Hopwood and Steve Thompson, every workplace needs a detailed, current and well-documented program to protect the health and safety of employees. While the hazards have changed, the risk of injury remains. Rather than spiraling down a mine-shaft, a worker might get a repetitive stress injury. Rather than spilling acid in the doughnuts, a worker might pull a muscle lifting a heavy box. Rather than dropping a cigarette onto some dynamite, a worker might inhale an irritant that causes a chronic lung condition. In each case, the results can include missed work, disrupted lives, insurance claims that increase your premiums and fines for regulatory violations. This brief book will help you avoid all that, whether you are just starting your safety program or re-engineering it. Many checklists and useful appendices nicely complement the text. We feel safe recommending this sensible guide.

Steve and Dan have written a concise book that outlines step-by-step what all new safety professionals need to know in order to create a positive safety culture within their organizations. The Appendix, References and Resources sections are the best I have ever seen. For any person given the responsibility of safety management and who want to "save lives, prevent injuries and illnesses and protect their companies from financial harm", this is the place to begin. Thank you Steve and Dan for this contribution to protect our workforce, and help to ensure that everyone has a chance to go home safe each night to their families.

Dan and Steve successfully put together not just a well-written book loaded with many outstanding hints and ideas, they also included so many practical tools that the small to medium sized business can begin using immediately to improve workplace safety. It should be a "must read" for any business if they are really serious about this often overlooked issue. If just some of the ideas suggested by Dan and Steve are implemented, it can have a dramatic impact not only on employee safety and morale, but bottom-line profits as well. Thanks Dan and Steve !!

Finally . . . a user-friendly, efficient, and effective risk managment and loss control tool for everyday business. Workplace Safety will actuall save lives, prevent injuries and illnesses, and help every reader to avoid the financial hardship and administrative nightmare associated with any injury. Thank you Steve and Dan for bringing safety out of the classroom and putting it on the front line where it belongs.

Steve and Dan have written a book that is a "must have" for those looking for a comprehensive but easy to follow resource around which to build an effective workplace safety program. It provides the perfect mix of well-thought-out strategy and practical tools to address illness and injury in the workplace. It is an easy read but it has the depth necessary to make a difference. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in creating a safe working environment.

This book is a good book to read, just don't expect it to be a one-stop reading type book. It gives you some good basics, but it's definitely not for someone who is trying to run a HR dept without any knowledge, only using this book. It helps give you a clearer idea of what track you are on and it's good for someone in the company that wants a general overview of their small business HR dept. I would recommend this book for a quick good read, but you will still need to supplement with other reading materials or research.

This book is an excellent resource for any small business owner who must also deal with human resources issues.

From developing a personnel policy, to interviewing, hiring and retaining employees, to dealing with work/life balance issues, this book covers it all. Especially helpful are the real-life case studies in which actual business owners describe how the book assisted them in handling certain situations.

Another helpful feature is the glossary in the back of the book. It affords the opportunity for small business owners to quickly research a term instead of reading through the entire book to gather more information on a particular topic.

So, whether you need advice on employee benefits, privacy or communication, this book should prove a usual weapon in your arsenal of information.

Let's face it - who wants to spend time worrying about human resource issues when you have a business to run? The hiring, the firing, the laws . . . it gives me a headache just typing it! In our litigious society an employer has to think not just twice, but 3 or 4 times before making a statement, sending out a memo, or creating a new policy. This book goes a long way to taking the fear out of the personnel arena and giving the business owner the necessary tools to hire the best prospect and retain that employee.

Holihan begins with explaining what human resource management actually is and walks you through creating personnel policies and handbooks. Creating job descriptions, organizational charts, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and training are all covered in detail with additional sources for more research provided. Then Holihan gets to the truly sticky issues: communicating with employees; evaluating and motivating performance; discrimination and fair treatment; and the ever-nasty discipline and termination procedures. Nobody wants to fire someone, it causes as much emotional stress for the owner as it does for the employee. Holihan takes the pain out of the act by stating in plain language what the costs are for NOT firing an employee for poor performance.

If you are a business-owner with 100 employees or less, this is the book for you. It is easy to read, the steps are clearly outlined and explained, and enough additional resources are provided that you should never want for employment information again!

Don't miss out on this invaluable resource! Whether a new business owner, or a veteran looking for a refresher course on workplace law, this book is for you.

So what if you're not a small business owner? This book is still a valuable resource. Learn tricks for being prepared for interviews: what questions will the employer ask? How can you read the interviewer's thoughts on your performance without slyly sneaking a peak at his/her notes? After you are employed, what are your rights as an employee? You have questions; here are the answers.

Holihan breaks this complicated subject down into easily digestible chapters, and her conversational writing style won't leave you scratching your head and reaching for the closest dictionary. "365 Answers" is written in easy-to-read large type, and, for those innately difficult to understand concepts, the book contains a useful glossary of terms. From the comprehensive, bulleted table of contents to the easy-to-use index, Holihan ensures that this resource is one you will come back to again and again for all of your business needs.

Learning about this facet of running a small business is of utmost importance. This book answers questions from all different facets of human resources from recruiting and hiring to labor relations and performance standards. It is laid out in an easy to read format with large type, which makes it easy to read and learn from. It is simple to find your answer due to the bulleted table of contents, which will save you time when you need an answer to a specific question.

Whether you are just beginning your business or have been in business for a while, you will find the information in here to be helpful to you and your business. The handy glossary in the back of this book will help you with some of the terms that are used in human resources. The index that is also in the back of the book will help you find the answers to your human resources questions. If you are a business owner, I recommend that you purchase this book, as it will become your human resource sourcebook.

It has been said there are three approaches to dealing with mistakes: Dumb people make mistakes and do not learn from their mistakes; smart people learn from their mistakes, and really smart people learn from the mistakes of others.

Dr. Deryl Leaming provides that third approach in a way. This is not to say he made mistakes in his many years as a college administrator, but his excellent book does provide the reader the opportunity to learn from his significant experience.

He has been there, done that, so to speak, when it comes to leadership in heading a program.

His latest work deals with all the key aspects of being a university department chairperson -- legal issues, faculty matters from hiring effective faculty to dealing with faculty problems, and student matters.

Through the tips in his book he provides experience-based advice that can be of significant benefit to the new or even veteran department head.
He has been a university professor, department chairperson, director of a school of journalism and dean of liberal arts. The reader of this second edition of his academic leadership book can learn from his experience to avoid mistakes in leading a department.

He covers a great deal of advice on procedures, including a number of forms that will be useful.

This second edition is a good read and provides practical advice, particularly for the new department chairperson.

REVIEWER: Ralph J. Turner, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Marshall University
lph J. Turner, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Marshall University

This second edition of Academic Leadership: A Practical Guide to Chairing the Department is an extraordinarily comprehensive treatment of ways to address the variety of challenges facing department chairpersons in institutions from all types and sectors of higher education. The author, Deryl Leaming, provides an inviting and accessible style of writing that joins abundant references from relevant authorities with occasional episodes from his personal experience of several decades as chair and dean at some four different institutions. The result is a preeminently practical primer that will give new department chairs a valuable roadmap to success in a notoriously difficult position. It is excellent reading for those contemplating serving as a department chairperson or other academic leader. The volume is so comprehensive that even experienced chairpersons will find the book to provide a helpful review of ways to meet their responsibilities and challenges.

This new volume is almost twice as long as its predecessor, offering an expanded treatment of issues raised in the first edition and reflecting more emphasis upon the complexities of today's financial realities. Major sections deal with common concerns about leadership, handling matters of department vision and management, addressing legal issues, contending with a large variety of faculty and student matters, as well as attending to one's own career. The 30 chapters are compact and quite accessible. All are useful and contain lists of web and print resources. I particularly appreciated the units on sexual harassment and the implications of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as the one on dealing with chronic low achievers. Some 17 appendices provide helpful examples of different policy guidelines and methods of communication.

Anker Publishing has a large variety of often-expensive volumes for academic leaders. Some overlap and others lack originality or comprehensiveness. By contrast, this is a stand-out value that will set a standard for some time to come.

Dr. Leaming is truely a gifted writer and instructor. He has given more to his students than some are capable of comprehending. The books he has written and his experiences throughout his life make him a special gift to all who read his work or get to know him. He is an extremely precious gift to his students. He goes out of his way to encourage and teach his students. He makes sure his students are preparing for life within their current level,but more importantly,for their future endeavors. A gifted person who only wants to share what he knows in the hopes of helping others.

I wish the dean had given me this book a year ago. It would have made my life much easier. The book is easy to read and has solid ideas on how to be a more effective chairperson.

If only I could get some of the administrators of my university to read the book!

I am not only new to academic leadership, but I am new to this country. Deryl Leaming's book has served as an enlightening guide for me, and has helped me earn the assistance and respect of my faculty. This book is among the best investments I have made in my academic career. Thank you.

This book is clear, concise and easy to follow, whether you are starting from nothing or you are bringing your current policies and procedures up to standard. This book is the second book in the series and should be used with "Establishng a System of Policies and Procures". It takes you through the steps of bringing your policies and procedures into compliance and into the Process and Procedure Improvement Cycle, based on Deming's PCDA cycle. This is a must read for the procedures analyst and for the CEO who believe in continual improvement.

For optimal result buy the set of 4 books:
1. Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures
2. Achieving 100$ Compliance of Policies and Procedures
3. 7 Steps to better Written Policies and Procedures
4. Best Practices in Policies and Procedures

You will not be disappointed. This set is well worth your time and money.

Of the three books that the author has published on policies and procedures this one is a masterpiece, and is essential to anyone who works for a company that employ TQM, ISO 9000 or FDA GMP.

Where his first book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, provides a roadmap for new policy writers, this book takes the subject to a much higher level by providing a process that encompasses communications and training strategies, a compliance plan, and continuous improvement. These align seamlessly with ISO 9000, as well as FDA GMPs, and is consistent with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. In addition, the self-assessment and auditing approaches set forth will assure policies and procedures that reflect a mature organization that is focused on quality and continuous improvement.

Among the highlights of the book are the numerous checklists, real-life examples, and an underlying strategy for the development of a comprehensive and complete system of policies and procedures, and a means to assure compliance. I particularly liked Appendix C, Cost of Quality, and the succinct description of tools and techniques in chapter 11.

Another strong point is the complexities of marrying policies and procedures writing with a continuous improvement cycle and auditing are handled in a structured, logical sequence. This is no small feat for a writer, and it is one of the reasons this book is so valuable. This book sets a standard in the field and is one that I'll always recommend to colleagues and clients.

I bought and used all four of Stephen Page's policy and procedure books. From the very first day, I was able to get up and running on a project that was very demanding and challenging. Not only did he provide examples, but he was always there for advice when I hit a rough spot.

I HIGHLY recommend these books!

Dana Rosenboom

I was impressed with the amount of useful information included in this book; everything seems to have been well thought out. It would appear that the author has "lived" his words and this is what makes this make book so useful to me. Because I know that when I implement his ideas that they will probably work. His case study is also very meaningful as he very carefully explains how to go from a labor-intensive procedure and go through process improvement, metrics, and arrive at a streamlined, high cost saving, new procedure.

I have bought all four of his books on procedures and this book is what makes it all worthwhile. Though I found that each book is unique in its own way and that you really need all four to write a good system of policies and procedures.

I would definitely recommend this book. He has a 40-step plan of action at the front of the book that gives you an A to Z approach to the development of any policy or procedure or process. I have printed this list and I keep it tacked on my walls.

Jim T. Armstrong

Of Steve Page's 4 recent books, I found this one to be the most interesting. It contains all kinds of ideas for projects.

A communication strategy is obviously Steve's speciality. He knows how to use the various methods to the most advantage.

His idea for a compliance plan is a clever take-off on process control plans. He also adapts other quality tools, such as scatter and pareto diagrams to use with documentation. However, you would need another book for more details on the tools themselves.

Auditing is another of Steve's specialties which he shares with his readers.

I wish he had gone into more detail on determining the cost of documentation. He no doubt knows how to calculate it, as best as one can. He gives a detailed example on how a new (purchasing) procedure saved a company money, but not enough on the cost of producing the document itself.

I would definitely recommend this book to all who work with ISO 9000 compliance.

My book was so much cheaper than in my campus book store. It arrived quickly in new condition and I am so satisfied. I highly recommend this amazing seller.

GIAT means "give it a try"!! Is simply magnificient. The security of ordering, the speed of delivery and the packaging of ordered books are simply world-class.

For update differentiationn and innoovation in training concepts/methodologies, best to read Active Training. Its a compelling companion for effective trainers/coaches.

This book arrived in excellent condition. The book is easy to read with great examples.

This book is an excellent supplement for teaching employee training and development as a course. I'd recommend combining it with Noe's text (Employee Training and Development) for a college or graduate level course on this subject. The book is also a good stand-alone reference for teaching aspects of active training to a firm's curriculum development staff.

Mel Silberman is the master of active training. Just skimming his book gave me a handful of new ideas I applied to my training. Reading the book helped me to revamp my training courses to include many more participatory training exercises.

Everybody loves being involved, talking, interacting, and exploring during training. Lecture, however, is too often the default methodology. In some ways lecture takes less time to prepare and is less risky, but is it more effective learning? In this day and age, linear, slow, from-up-front training just isn't effective. Instead, shift over to active training that engages and empowers participants to learn rather than be taught. I'm reminded of Winston Churchill when he said, "I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught."

Silberman gives idea after idea of how to spice up lectures, or better yet, replace them with other a dozen other learning methods that actively involve the participant. The 100+ exercises and examples in Active Training makes it easy to incorporate non-cheesy learning activities that really work.

Wake up your participants! Get active.