Guides and Directories Books

After careful research, I choose this Nolo book when it came time to license my company's software. I guess it's silly after spending so much moola to develop software, to not go to an attorney, but I like to think I can figure out all this stuff on my own. I looked at a lot of user agreements online, I figured I could just put together something the big guns paid a lot of money for. If their agreements worked for them, they should work for me. But, I didn't want to plagarize them, and, well, you never know what you don't know and you can't be too careful in business these days. What you don't know is what will bring you down. I have used many NOLO books as guides and trust them. They are always easy to skim and read. I also bought Quicken's Legal Business Pro 2007 software. The sum of the 2 is way less than attorney fees, and now I understand it myself as well. I am so happy I bought this book with a CD because it made me realize how important it is to also protect our work with copyrights, trademarks, agreements, etc. Most importantly, I found out who owns the software we paid to develop, and it's not us, surprisingly! So I have to get that signed off before I can license it to someone else. It's not in depth but I don't think it's meant to be, it's a GUIDE, people. Now I will buy NOLO's books to guide me through the process for legal protection. The employment & consulting agreement chapters were not useful to me, but they may be to someone else. There are other books devoted to that and NOLO has them too. (check out their website and e-mail newsletters.)I feel I got more information than I expected and know what to do to take the next steps. Very important info for CA users, the laws are not the same as other states,(what's different?) and this book points the differences out. The format is such that one is able to cut and paste together the different parts and verbiage you need which will apply to your needs. Buy the book and get your bright yellow highlighter out!

Nolo delivers again with its guide to web and software development. The book is easy to read, has sufficient tips and examples, and is a great primer.

It does not get into incredible detail on any one subject, but that's not its purpose either. It gives you sufficient resources (including the necessary forms) to get a software company or product started. When the product / company start growing fast, it's worth doing a review with an attorney, but not until then.

I recommend buying this if you are: a software developer looking to go freelance; starting a software company; or doing any consultant work in web or software development.

I found this book most useful for the CD-ROM's legal contracts. As a consultant, I use these for all my clients.

I have found my clients legal contracts to be biased entirely in their favor rather than this CD's contracts which tend to be fair and balanced, protecting both parties.

There is a lot of good information and discussion in this book about the topics which a contract should cover. It falls down, however, when it comes to the actual contracts. Just comparing the website and the custom software contracts, there are differences where there shouldn't be. In the software contract, it's the Customer, in the website contract, it's the Client. A bit more than half of the contract sections with (mostly) identical headings and purpose have unexplained differences between them. Many of these differences are not trivial. In the text, the contracts are interleaved with explanations, but often the commentary/annotations are just restatements of the contract itself, which is a real time-waster, especially if you've read the background material earlier in the book. Other occasional editing snafus include explanatory comments inside the contract text, formatting syntax commands on the page (END SECTION), and a less than clear and concise structure for indicating optional clauses (the intended combinations aren't always clear, even though customization is to be expected). Given the fuzzy line between a website and a web application (ie 'custom software' (and really, what website is NOT custom?)), and given the marked similarities in over half of the two contracts, why not cover the overlapping sections just once, instead of twice, but inconsistently? And the sections that don't overlap, or overlap badly? No real explanation as to the reasons for the differences. I hope I don't have the same problems with the two versions of the independent contractor agreement. Fishman has written a pile of legal books for the layman, including the more recent "Consultant And Independent Contractor Agreements 5th Edition". I have to wonder: "Quantity over quality?" Perhaps when he is working on the next edition of this book ("Legal Guide to Web & Software Development", due out 8/2007), he will take the time to re-organize some of the content and get a capable editor. A determined reader can sort out the differences on their own, but it need not be so difficult. The content is 5 stars (including 24 documents in RTF format), but making it work for you is a real pain if you care about details.

A straightforward and well organized book.

I needed a brief on copyright ownership, a draft software licensing agreement and a software maintenance agreement. I got all 3 with this publication.

It is nice to find a book so fit for purpose.

I use Bears' books in a way the authors probably do not intend. I see many resumes in the course of my work. If a job candidate's resume contains a degree from a university mentioned in Bears' book I normally throw the resume straight into the trash - three points and a substantial saving of my business clients' time, money and aggravation.

Bears' book is an essential reference tool for all Human Resources personnel. This Bears' book serial - a new edition has to be printed every few years to keep up with the proliferation - is the industry standard listing of bogus schools. Professional recruiters need this book precisely because there are dishonest people out there who eagerly peruse Bears' guidebook to see which schools will grant them an impressive-sounding degree in return for cash and a minimum of effort. (Sadly, a few gullible boobs actually believe the degrees they get from these bogus schools are legitimate).

I'm always amazed at how easily even experienced recruiters are bamboozled by bogus degrees. Bears' guide lists almost every bogus school in the English speaking world and beyond. This Bears' book is the standard reference for Bears' book as being issued by outright degree mills. The Bears are thorough and honest about such "schools" - except where the school's owners have obviously threatened the two Bears with litigation, in which the Bears hide their opinions between the lines of the review.

2) Those "distance learning" - aka correspondence - "degrees" from marginal accredited institutions that more or less offer a degree for cash and a little work - often merely a perfunctory assessment of "life experience" and a short essay. John Bear suggests reading his book and getting pregnant are good for credit at some "non-traditional" universities... This is my main complaint about the Bears' enthusiasm for "non-traditional" degrees. It's my view that there is no substitute for spending four years (three years in some countries) immersed in an academic environment before a student can call himself "educated" in any real sense. No amount of correspondence study, exam challenges, or "real-life experience credit" will subsitute. The Bears do their readers a disservice by suggesting these "non-traditional" degrees are anywhere near as good as traditional degrees earned in residence. Anyone claiming a degree from one of Bear's suggested marginal "non-traditional schools" has a time bomb in their resume. Sooner or later they will be found out, laughed-at by their colleagues, and discredited. I note with amusement that John Bear himself carefully and repeatedly assures readers that his own PhD is from a legitimate traditional university. In his heart John Bear knows the difference...

3) The few legitimate "distance-learning" degrees offered by a realtively small number of reputable universities. These mostly involve novel tools such as lectures distributed by internet or private television broadcasts. These degrees are difficult to earn and the students is assessed and graded rigorously - as if he were an on-campus student. Often some on-campus courses and/or short residency are required before a degree is granted. Such legitimate degrees are not the focus of this Bears' book.

John Bear himself admits in his book to having being involved with several unaccredited "universities" that offered "non-traditional" degrees. He himself moved from California to that hotbed of academia - Hilo, Hawaii - to become President of the unaccredited "Greenwich University," - after California authorities moved to close down Calfornia's notorious degree mill industry. (Hawaii is one of the few remaining states that still has no effective regulation of unaccredited "degree granting" schools. The Bears acknowledge in their book that Hawaii has become the preferred destination of bogus schools kicked out of California). So, the Bears are uniquely qualified to write about bogus schools

First a bit of background - I have been involved in distance education for over 25 years and have been a university and community college faculty member for over 15 years. I have traditional bachelors and masters degrees (two of them in fact). My work in distance education includes the design, production, scheduling and delivery of "traditional" video telecourses as well as Web-based courses.

In my work with students over the past decade and a half, I have advised a significant number to explore completetion or advancement of their academic programs through non-traditional or distance programs.

In all that time, I have used Dr. Bear's books as my primary referrence about distance education. I believe I started with the second edition of his "Bear's Guide" and have acquired every update since. For a number of years, his was the only publication which presented a comprehensive collection of information about programs and schools.

I have always received positive feedback form my students who relied on the information Dr. Bear presented - their expereinces with specific schools most often mirrored the reviews in the "Guide".

Throughout the years and the progression of new additions I have noted a marked shift in the method of presentation, particularly regarding the level of Dr. Bear's crusaiding against those institutions that did not measure-up to his standards. The largest number of those outfits would be called degree mills, but he did assail a fair number of "real" schools for being non-responsive, pompus or disorganized.

I must confess I miss that level of "edge" in his last couple of editions. This is unfortuante, I beleive, given the growth of educaitonal coursework via the Internet and the fact that the majority of two and four-year schools in the U.S are offering some form of distance learing (with that number growing every day.

Nonetheless, I still find "Bear's Guide" to be the best single resource for distance and non-traditional post-secondary education.

I don't remember who, what, or how I got this book, and could care less, all I know is... I got it and it changed my life for good, yes! words cannot express the power of this book, it is a must have for all young people like me.

thank you very much Dr.Bear for helping to change my life.

I had to work to eat but I always wanted to go back to school. John Bear showed me it can be done (both eating and school I mean). I just graduated Magna Cum Laude with a communications degree. Now I'm off to get a Masters. If I can do it so can anyone.Thanks John.

In the 1970's I launched a private correspondence institution named Lincoln University (Arizona). Most students were from Nigeria. I had a lot of problems from "yellow journalism" - newspapers such as Britain's Daily Telegraph which never approached me denounced me falsely as a bogus degree salesman. I was very grateful to Dr John Bear for giving Lincoln a fair assessment in his Guide recognising my work as a genuine attempt to make quality tertiary education available at a cheap rate for Africa. I have gone on to be a professor in residential African and Asian universities whose standards certainly don't match those I set for "unaccredited" LIncoln.

I feel John Bear's research on real and imagined universities is very thorough, informative and fair.

Dr Bernard Leeman b_leeman@hotmail.com

This book was published in 2004 but even though it's four years old, compared to the books written this year (review written 2008) it is still a lot more helpful than Dummies and other books which let's be honest, none of them are much good at all, as all the info inside you could find on Ebay's FAQ, help pages and discussion boards. Not so with The Ebay Mythbuster which basically argues against the stupid actions by a lot of sellers (still occurring on the site in 2008), their wrongly repeated claims on discussion boards that something is against the law or e-bay policies, as well as explaining to readers why some seller's obsession with feedback is an absolutely ridiculous waste of thought. Importantly half of this book is geared towards buyers on e-bay, an area that barely rates a mention in every other e-bay book I've come across even though obviously half of everything done on Ebay involves them.

David Busch explains stuff those who aren't long time sellers or buyers may be unaware. Stuff like boxes are free through the US postal service pretty much dismisses the claims that its not just the actual cost of postage born by the seller. Busch also points out why it makes no economic sense to try and double dip and make extra profit from postage (something still very much done by greedy sellers today).

Written before 2004 this book was written before the ability to give negatives to buyers was changed (ie you still could, now you can't) or when Paypal became compulsory for sellers. However his arguments against retalitory negging buyers and the stupidity of not having Paypal payment options more than justifies e-bay's changed policies on these matters.

Myths that international customers take more effort or are more trouble would be very reassuring for the reader seller who may have wrongly believed the myths on discussion boards and so forth. Pointing out who is actually responsible if an item doesn't arrive (the seller) if read by a lot of tantrum throwing seller from hell discussion board seller posters would deem their posts unnecessary. Also means those charging the buyer for insurance are pretty much just con artists. The book is quite an eye opener if you've actually been reading the discussion boards before this books as to how wrong a lot of e-bay users, particularly sellers are using the very site that their livelihood comes from.

Lengthy text on auction pages, stupid unenforceable rules like must pay within 7 days or threats to customers if they don't comply, well lets just say Busch shows just how stupid those sellers are and how much business they're losing.

The book is written in an easy to read style but doesn't talk to you like your a moron or have never used a computer in your life like a lot other competitor books do. Some info does repeat itself answering some myths but if you weren't reading this cover to cover this is actually needed. A highly recommended book that would give confidence to those yet to buy or even take the next step and become a seller.

Being a New Zealander, naturally I prefer to use Trademe.co.nz as that is our local Australasian auction site!

Being focused specifically with busting myths about online auctions Myth-Bu$ter is quite specialised. However, many of the principles found in the book can also be applied to any other local auction sites such as Trademe.

I wholeheartedly recommend the book to kiwis, but (to use a pun) the book does require some unencryption from the American language!

In attempting to get started on eBay as a seller, I read about 10 books. Most covered the same ground, in pretty much the same way. I appreciated Mr.Busch's approach and believe I got more out of this one book than the others that I read up till then. This book is very good.

I have been a buyer on ebay for a couple of years and would like to get started selling. Due to a combination of procrastination and lack of confidence I have not yet taken the leap. Well, now I have the confidence to try. All of my lingering questions were answered by this book. It doesn't walk you through getting started, that would be a waste since that info is available from so many other sources. But it does address things like determining when to start and finish an auction, how long to set the auction for, when to use Buy it Now or set reserve prices, etc.

The author has a really great writing style- not cutesy or gimmicky and very readable. (I read the book in one day- I should have been sleeping, but I couldn't put it down.) He gives great examples of different scenarios that help the reader to be better able apply the information. He tells us his opinion and the opinions of others- he does not bash ebay or paypal but he does give honest observations of some of their practices and services -whether good or bad or simply necessary. I have read alot of informational type books on various subjects lately and reading this one was a really refreshing change of pace. Mr. Busch wrote with confidence but there was nothing self-congratulatory about his style at all- he was even charmingly self-deprecating at times (but not cutesy- I hate that!) The book has very straight forward advice and doesn't waste time trying to hype one way of doing things over another.

Mr. Busch's personal business style is also very appealing and one that I would be happy to emulate. As a buyer, I wish more sellers would follow his example. As a buyer I have often wondered if it was really necessary to put all of those terms and conditions and warnings in the auction- I thought there must just be a ton of bad buyers out there to warrant such practice- but now I know differently. I also find it extremely annoying when I encounter animation or overly busy backgrounds and - worst of all- sound and music when I view an auction.

This book would be great for anyone- there are great tips for buyers- a couple that I will definitely put into use. I would recommend that a person get a little bit of experience on ebay as a buyer before reading this book- then you will really know what is being described and it will have more meaning because you can apply it to your own experiences. A few transactions would really be all it takes. But definitely get this book!!

My veiw is, you can never read enough books on the subject of eBay. There is always something new you can learn from any book on the subject. I am still an "amateur" but, things are looking good for an amateur...please critique me if you wish:

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=nydancingangels

Happy selling!

Best Regards,
Mersada
@
NYC Trend Setters Outlet....on eBAy.

I bought both the Fiske Guide and The Princeton Review (Best 345 Colleges). Both are good, but the Princeton guide is laid out more logically, with rating stars for campus life, adademics, financial facts and selectivity AND with actual costs in dollars. The Princeton guide also told what percentage of the entering class applied early decision. The Fiske Guide has more details about classes and individual standout professors, but I found the financial ratings to be annoying, with only dollars signs and no actual numbers. Who needs to keep referring back to some chart in front to figure out the cost? I would still recommend the Fiske Guide though, as it is fairly comprehensive. In addition, it has an very good guide in the beginning which discusses which colleges to look at if you are enamored of a particular field - like architecture, dance, engineering, etc. To be fair to yourself in the search, buying the Fiske and the Princeton book would be a good bet!

For my own purposes, I found this guide more helpful than the Princeton Review guide. It hasunbiased profiles of colleges to help in the decision making. I found the Fiske guide a little more all-encompassing, because it includes a lot of student quotes and weaves it all together for a nice synopsis. I found that Princeton Review kind of just packed their guide with random student quotes. Initially I had the same slight frustration with the dollar-sign system of tuition costs, but you might as well go online and ask for a guide book for each specific school, because they always include tuition figures and they will definitely be precise and up to date.

I give it 3 stars because it will take at least two weeks of repeated reading of this book to be able to compare the colleges mentioned in this book. With Princeton Review's "Best 345 colleges", it takes much less time.

As a consumer, I want to know what's good and bad about a college. I want a college guide that is like a Consumer's Report, that will test, compare and examine colleges critically. Though there are many college guides on the market, few examine colleges with a critical eye. The only good ones in my opinion are:
1) Choosing the right college - 5 stars
2) Colleges that change lives - 4 stars
3) Cool colleges - 5 stars
4) Best 345 colleges - 4.5 stars
5) The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College - 4 stars

Since Fiske says something good about every college in this book, it takes a real detective work to find out what's bad about each college. I wish he points out the flaws in each college in a brief summary. For Harvard, the following would be a good summary:
1) Very serious grade inflation
2) Lots of classes taught by TAs
3) Professors are as unapproachable as stars in the sky
4) Large classes for freshman and sophomore years

This book is not as good as his other book, "The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College," which contains a chapter called "The one hour college finder." This chapter has a brief paragraph on the best colleges. Each paragraph is right on the mark. For example, concerning Swartmore, it says "Pound for pound, the most intellectual school in the nation..." With regards to Carleton, "...the best liberal arts college in Midwest. Predominantly liberal..."

So, my advice is to get his other book. Not this one.

Since the age 14, I have looked at Peterson's and CollegeBoard and all the websites and guidebooks in between, and yet it was not until I opened this great book that i was satisfied. I did not want the stats anymore, I did not want the tuition costs, NO.. i wanted the experience of the school from the student's perspectives presented in a logical, unbiased manner without spending hundreds of dollars on plane tickets and car rentals for endless campus visits--- we have a winner! Point one- just look at all the people who have purchased the book and taken time to write a review (i who never writes reviews)-- also we are mostly high school students who would rather spend the money on a night at the movies than buy a book, but they chose the book and it is worth it. Fiske clearly describes various aspects of the schools through quotes tediousley collected from student surveys. The phrase- "straight from the horses mouth" couldn't be more appropriate here. My routine as i approach my senior year is: think about college, start stressing, stress some more, whip out the ol' Fiske guide to review my top choice schools, and then be able to breath again....
The book is good for both a lost student or anxious parent. It includes a range of colleges for all types of people, and if you are just lost and read the book cover to cover-- it is truly the best starting place. You can start to figure out what you want in a college and which colleges have it. I would reccommend strlongly reading the introduction explaining his ratings, and i hope you buy this book because wherever you are in the college process- It is the book for you.

If you are looking for a guidebook to colleges, this is the one you should get. DO NOT buy the Princeton Review's guide because all that information is available for free on their website (review.com). It's useful for beginning and narrowing down the college search. I wish that it would give actual tuition prices and I think it would be better to give some more admissions tips, but it's good for what it is.

Let's not wait for government or someone else to solve all the problems. Take action yourself.
There are so many ways one can improve their community. If your concern is crime, then join the neighborhood watch group. Perhaps you worry that the community's past is slipping away. Train as a docent for the local history museum.
If you don't know where to start, consult this directory for dozens of opportunities to make a difference.

This book touts itself on the cover as being America's Guide to Volunteering and Community Service, but it comes across instead as being a scathing political commentary, spending way too much time bashing President Bush before it even gets into the guide portion of the book, which is a scant resource, at best.

If it stuck to being a comprehensive guide about volunteering and community service it might have actually lived up to its title. If I had only browsed through it in a bookstore before buying it online. Oh well. Live and learn. Very offensive to any republican volunteers, in my opinion. Tossing it in the trash right now.

Make a Difference is a unique and important book. It's especially for young people and those retired or thinking about it; as well as those of us in between who can always find a few hours a month to help better our communities and public institutions. The young, in particular, need to learn about the responsibility of citizenship and the workings of democracy. If I were President I'd scrap the Star Wars anti-missile system (that scientists say won't work anyhow) and use the money to give out this book to every high school and college student in the country. And use the left-over to increase the salary of teachers who teach American history and Civics. That would be far more patiotic than wearing a flag in my lapel.

An excellent comprehensive listing of national organizations whose doors are wide open and welcoming to compassionate individuals looking to make a difference in their communities. The book is sliced and diced by issue area, making it easy to navigate, and the contact information for each organization listed makes it easy to get moving. Dispersed throughout the book are personal accounts of the positive impact community service has on the community as well as the individual. Makes a great gift - for yourself or someone you love!

"Make a Difference" is an easy-to-read guide about volunteering with hundreds of community-based organizations. Blaustein does a fabulous job organizing the organizations by subject matter so readers can easily find opportunities that suit their interests. This book makes a fabulous gift for high schoolers, college students, and adults looking to make a difference.

I've read a fair number of Ms.Murdoch's books and enjoyed them all. This book focuses on Hilary, a low level English civil servant who has been his own worst enemy since a brutal childhood. His own personal history repeats itself here and we wonder if he will ever learn.

Hilary Burde is the word child. He is not a writer, but just likes words. We accompany a very low level civil servant, Hilary, for a number of weeks prior to Christmas Day. The book is funny in parts. How little the bottomless misery of children is understood. Our hero is an orphan. He was saved for civil society by a teacher, Mr. Osmand, who taught him Latin and to value learning. Hilary Burde describes himself as a brilliant plodder, with an aptitude for grammar and an adoration for words.

Hilary went to Oxford. He found that it was very hard to change. Hilary worked in an office with two people, Edith Witcher and Reginald Fairbottom. He rode the entire circle of the underground on Fridays trying to decide which bar to frequent. His mistress Tommy had long perfect legs. Friends he visited Thursday evenings were snobs. Wittgenstein would have loved dinner at Arthur's. Arthur was the friend of Hilary's sister, Crystal. Dinner at Arthur's was always the same.

Hilary knew Gunnar Jopling at Oxford. Hilary had been elected to a fellowship at Gunnar's college after he had gotten his first. Hilary fell madly in love with Gunnar's wife Anne. Anne's face changed. It lost its joy. Gunnar found out and Anne was pregnant with Gunnar's child. Then Hilary and Anne were in a car accident and Anne died.

Both Hilary and Gunnar resigned their fellowships. Hilary had lost his moral self-respect. Hilary became engaged to be married and Gunnar's second wife sent him a letter. He was asked to take the initiative and speak to Gunnar after all the years that had gone by. Hilary resigned his job so that Gunnar would not have to see him. He was prepared to teach grammar to little children.

dis book not dat good but it ok good. me like dat book severed head very good cause i like dat, taking heads.

Oh, Iris, how I miss you. I first began reading Iris Murdoch in college, for a Philosophy in Lit. class, and was immediately captivated by "A Severed Head", which remains high on my list of favorites. But it is "A Word Child" to which I return most often.
Iris Murdoch's breathtakingly simple and yet piercing prose is at its best in this novel. Her theme is obsession, as always, and while we cannot approve of Hilary, the narrator, we find ourselves liking him for his honesty and his uncompromising view of himself. At first I was disappointed with the outcome of this brilliant novel, then I realized it truly was redemptive. Anyone who adores stellar writing and an eye that sees straight into the human heart must own this novel.

This is one of those books that you simply cannot put down once you begin. Murdoch does such an excellent job of creating a most complex and entertaining character (Hilary) -- I laughed while reading it so much I think my husband will be reading it next. An amazingly developed character, a plot that will keep you turning the page, and sorrow so palpable you will want to weep on poor Hilary's behalf.

The Poets Market is a dynamo of information and very helpful. Being a poet for thirty years, it was very discouraging just trying to find a publisher. My recently released book of romantic (very contemporary) poetry was published by America House and is the thrill of a lifetime. Poet's market was a great help.

Keith Merritt Author of Blue Street (Amazon.com)

My experience with the previous edition of this book is quite bad. I sent submissions to publishers and editors by the hundred, wasted my hard earned money in stamps (I mean hundreds of $$$$), and got very few answers, lots of returned envelopes, because the addresses were not the right ones and also published in 3 magazines. Many publishers will just answer that your poetry is great but... they have a list of future publications for the next 3,4,5, .... 100 years. I also wasted quite a lot of money on contests, before learning that many of them are just rip-off ones...
Not only the addresses were wrong but most emails on the book were wrong too.
I admire the work that has gone and goes in preparing this book, but it's a complete waste of time. In the time of the internet you can do just a lot more in less time, and it will cost you much less. Many magazines, even the printed ones, accept submissions by email, and if they don't you'll find an updated address on their site. Besides that, there are thousands of e-zine sites where you can get great exposure, that, in spite of bad reputation, will get you more readers than the most popular printed poetry magazines. And then you can publish your book, for 99$ as a POD (print on demand) book, this is less that trying a hundred contests and publishers to have your work published.
Time is changing!
So, that's it, it's time for the www.
Moshe Benarroch

As a poet i was completely lost, publishing a book was not easy i didn't know where to begin and had no idea how to start. This book saved me, i found it very helpful. It has all the information you need on publishers, contacts, sites, online Submissions you name it. I think every poet shoud have this book.

Here's my advice: if you are confused about where to send your latest poetic masterpiece, then get this book now. Literally hundreds of magazines that accept poems are included, and the author mentions which magazines pay you money. Also, some magazines require poems on specific topics, and this book explains it all.

This is an excellent reference book for all poets! The book contains more than 1,800 places to publish your poetry and it includes submission guidelines as well as contact names!

Writer's Digest Books has done a wonderful job at compiling information for all poets, from beginners to the experienced. 2001 Poet's Market has a "Quick-Start" guide, which really helps you utilize this book as a tool. There are also symbols to help you distinguish which markets apply to you. As you flip through the pages, you realize that this book needs to be read in completeness, at least once, because it holds a lot of valuable information aside from 'where to publish'. For example, there is a section about revisions, a section on how to be successful in submitting your work, contests, workshops, etc.

2001 Poet's Market is set up in a way to help you succeed in publishing your poetry. It gives you all the tools you need to become a successful published poet!! I'm certain that I will go back and refer to this book often, and I'm sure you will too. So if you are a poet who is looking to get published, GET THIS BOOK!

Compiled by Intercollegiate Studies Institute, All American Colleges: Top Schools For Conservatives, Old-Fashioned Liberals, and People of Faith is a practical, no-nonsense profile of fifty colleges especially suitable for prospective students with specific values and educational goals - ones who seek learning grounded in concepts of liberty, and education as an enrichment in the process of understanding what it means to be a "good" or "free" person. In other words, institutions that are not so radicalized as to attack fundamental concepts such as abstract truth or disinterested, unbiased scholarship. The medley of schools surveyed include a broad range of religious colleges, as well as secular schools for conservatives and "old-fashioned" liberals in the tradition of John F. Kennedy and George McGovern. From Catholic colleges to Southern military academies to Quaker and Mennonite schools to evangelical Christian universities, All American Colleges spans the gamut of faiths and interests. Each school profile offers vital statistics (enrollment numbers, freshman retention rate, graduation rate, courses with fewer than 20 students, etc.), lists of what courses all students are required to take, several pages summarizing what the college offers and the nature of its environment. An excellent starter guide for learning more about and possibly choosing a higher-education institution with good old-fashioned moral values.

"All-American Colleges: Top Schools for Conservatives, Old-Fashioned Liberals, and People of Faith" is the MOST comprehensive survey of reliably solid colleges ever compiled.

John Zmirak takes the reader beyond the hollow U.S. News ratings (based on such superficial factors as enrollment, retention rates, etc.) and gets to the heart of each featured institution. Small colleges that would never appear in U.S. News actually feature more motivated faculty, students, and administrators than large state university monstrosities. Zmirak reveals these hidden gems with exceptional honesty, depth, and clarity.

The writing is accessible and a fair substitute for a campus visit, if your reading is supplemented by additional research. Zmirak is the Arthur Frommer of great institutions of higher education.

Choosing a college is the most important decision many students will ever make. If you look at the transfer rates, you'll notice that many mess it up. You can read Kaplan, Princeton Review, and all the rest but only Zmirak's book will help you make the RIGHT choice the FIRST time.

Take a glance at what a year (or more) of wasted education will cost you and I think you will agree that this book is money well spent. If you are going to college because it's the thing "to do", don't waste your time with this book. But if you are going to college to learn and live among the rising thinkers of your time, you cannot afford to omit this book from your reading list!

As the majority of state colleges move more and more to the left, indoctrinating students with their own brand of beliefs, its important, as a conservative, for me to attend a school that is private and morally sound. This book is the perfect guide for finding out which colleges are conservatively sound. That doesn't mean that these centers of higher ed. are going to shove conservatism into your heads, but rather, you can rest knowing that they won't inappropriately preach extreme political beliefs.

It's very well organized and researched. ISI really knows its stuff!

The ALL-AMERICAN COLLEGE GUIDE is a great review of colleges. Zmirak's reviews of the colleges that I am familiar with have been right on. This is another great guide by Zmirak that doesn't leave room for false expectations or hidden surprises. This guide answers a lot of questions, covering areas that I wouldn't have even thought to ask about.

As I flipped through the reviews in All American Colleges, what first came to mind was why have I never seen anyone else review schools like this before? It's so obvious that the criteria used to evaluate the schools (spelled out in the beginning) is what actually matters in considering where to go to school, that all other guides are exposed to be the silly things they actually are. If simply knowing what SAT thresholds your child must cross to get in, you will be dissapointed how little attention is givin to this and other meaningless things we as parents have been told to use to "check schools out". All the things a real person would actually want and need to know, are covered instead in a smart, thorough manner. The curriculum, the social, political, religious climate...all are addressed in substantive ways. Eventhough these are schools the editor is recommending, the schools don't get free passes. Weak points are addressed. The inspiring essays in the beginning are worth the price of the book alone, even if you have no intention of actually going to school. They are a macro guide to what education is and has always been to those who value learning that will sustain there child through life. While the sub-title suggests this book is for conservatives and cavemen in that lineage, only a fool, fundamentalist, or Gothic dressing Wiccan would be turned off by this book. There's nothing else like it, nothing even comes close as a substitue.

This is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning more about how MBA Schools are dedicating financial and human resources to the integration of social issues into their curricula. Environmental and social impact management have become vital considerations in business today, and these issues are becoming increasingly important in business education. This guide presents relevant information disclosed from the business schools themselves, presented in a concise and readable manner. It contains relevant information on faculty, academic and extra-curricular programs for over 110 leading MBA programs world-wide. I found it very informative and easy to use. It's a good jumping-off point from which to conduct other research.

A very useful guide on the importance of CSR issues in MBA programs. This guide makes it easy to identify the different approaches to CSR in major MBA programs of the world. A guide to be consulted by managers who want to be sure that CSR issues are integrated in the MBA program they plan to integrate, but also by direcotrs of MBA programs and their faculty in order to be updated on the newest initiatives in the field of CSR. An execellent contribution to benchmarking and mainstreaming CSR in MBA programs.

This first-of-its-kind guide to socially responsible MBA programs is as much a useful reference for prospective students as it is a metric against which MBA programs may compare their own social impact management curricula. I look forward to the next edition of this book including student input and alumni placement in Social Responsibility leadership positions.

The Aspen Institute has put together a terrific resource for students and professional seeking to pursue an MBA degree that also incorporates a strong focus on ethical, environmental, and/or sustainability issues. This is the most comprehensive guide that I have found to programs world-wide.

The school profiles are useful and provide detailed information on the relative strengths of each program. The field of socially responsible business practice is rapidly expanding and many companies are now actively recruiting students who are strong managers combined with the ability to carry out a triple bottom line business (people, profits and planet).

I would encourage anyone considering an MBA to obtain a copy of the guide.

[...]

How does a corporation become a responsible global enterprise? Can a competitive business be both financially profitable and responsive to its societal and environmental impacts? What is the role of the business community in a sustainable global society? Ask a recent MBA graduate. The Aspen Institute summarizes corporate social responsibility (CSR) aspects of MBA Programs from 111 universities on 5 continents engaged in training global corporate leaders. The Guide contains specific information about which MBA Program sponsors an annual CSR film festival and the many programs that hold annual conferences, and provides details of class offerings at each institution in environmental management, microlending, social and environmental impacts of supply chains, responsible management of consumer data, entrepreneurship for NGOs, and other cutting-edge CSR topics. The book also lists MBA concentrations at each university related to sustainability issues and relevant joint degree programs available.

While reading the book, I was struck by the global nature of today's MBA education and the degree to which a number of excellent programs have integrated CSR issues and concerns into their curricula. I recommend the book to all interested in the education of business leaders, including not only future students, but also employers, MBA graduates of an earlier era, and those involved in design and implementation of business education.

The Bead Directory by Elise Mann is an impressive book as a resource and for dreaming. It's spiral bound so it can lie flat, and each page has 3 different types of beads all neatly categorised by type, the descriptions are wonderful and there are color photographs. The sidebars have easy to read symbols which show the drilling direction, the shape, the weight, the price range and the numbers of beads to the inch.
I found a lot of beads in it I've never seen and we've got some great local bead stores! Fortunately there is a resource list in the back of the book, along with some great tips for designing.

It's a lovely book just to look at, and something that makes a great resource. I admit though, I kind of use it like a Wish Book, just for the eyecandy.

This book is a marvelous reference for beaders of all levels - beginners through advanced. As a novice, I find it extremely helpful in deciding shape, density and particularly cost of beads. Great photos and tables of explanation. Wonderful at-a-glance graphics run along the edge of each photograph indicating bead shape when stung and hole direction as well as looking straight at hole and hole position, relative weight for size on scale of 1 - 5, 5 being heaviest, relative cost on scale of 1 - 5, 5 being most expensive and ruler - how many beads on a thread 10 inches long. This is by far my most useful beading reference.

This is a fantastic reference book for any beader. It discusses the several types of beads, price range, versatility, etc. Must have.

Janice

I've been beading for about a year and after glancing through it a couple of times, didn't feel it was much help to me. But, if you are NEW to beading and buying beads, this is a great book for you. It categorizes the different type beads, sizes, shapes and makes suggestions on coordinating beads. It's still good for identifying different beads and stones.

What a fantastic collection of bead information. Extremely helpful not only as a resource but also in deciding on designs. It made understanding the vast world of beads a lot easier!