Books

Making CBT Happen

This early working on gaining sponsorship for Computer Based Training still sells 14 years later. It is a classic which defines the necessary and sufficient conditions for obtaining sponsorship, fielding a team, estimating development, selecting development environments, and managing resistance. The technology and design chapters are, of course, dated. But there is much here to focus on from a managerial and advocate perspective.

Electronic Performance Support Systems

This book compares and contrasts traditional employee training and performance development with computer-mediated performance support. It offers design tips, justification descriptions and detailed case studies from companies such as American Express, Amdahl, Weyerhauser and Intel. Useful to managers, software developers, trainers, documentation specialist.

User Interface Design and Usability

There's certainly no shortage of software design methods: most demand total allegiance, and many claim to be the only true way to delivering useful and maintainable software systems in a timely manner. Contextual Design describes another worthwhile software engineering method, one that places the user (or customer) at the forefront of the software design process from beginning to end. This method seems to be a particularly worthwhile addition to the literature. Contextual Design begins with contextual inquiry, where software developers interview users and attempt to understand the way they work. Such "customer empathy" is central to the Contextual Design process and a total understanding of "work" within organizations is the mantra here. The book describes how, later in the process, software developers step back from the user data and do an "affinity," which is an overall analysis of hundreds (or even thousands) of individual facts. Contextual Design then explains the additional steps required to build systems using this method, including building models for flow, sequence, and artifacts, and establishing the cultural and the physical environments for a system. After getting an overview, developers consolidate these initial models, get more user input, and then design user interfaces. This book, written in a clear, informal style without excessive jargon, reads very much like a book on business motivation. Various practitioners of Contextual Design offer short testimonials on the software design method.

Software for Use: A Practical Guide to the Models and Methods of UsageCentered Design

For anyone who designs applications or Web pages professionally, Software for Use provides an appealingly written guide to user interface design. This book delivers many valuable insights on improving interfaces for both desktop applications and Web sites. A software design process is first presented that's centered on usability (with terms like "user roles," "use cases," and "interaction contexts"). Early sections have much to say about inadequate interfaces (using a number of Windows examples) and how to improve them. The book presents an argument for creating innovative and intuitable interfaces (often by rethinking time-honored Windows conventions). The most provocative material here is the coverage of the Internet--the book argues that many Web sites sacrifice usability for visual razzle-dazzle, and it offers ways to organize Web sites for better usability. (A section on embedded devices looks at UI issues for these systems too.) A full case study of a user interface design for a corporate address book is included. Software for Use makes a good case that there is room for improvement in today's user interfaces. This book is sure to be a valuable resource for anyone serious about improving the user's experience of software or Web sites. --Richard Dragan (Amazon.com)

User and Task Analysis for Interface Design

Helps you design a great user interface by focusing on the most important step in the process - the first one. Includes many examples of design successes and challenges for products of every kind. DLC: User interfaces (Computer systems)

Don't Make Me Think: Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Hands down, this is the book you need if you want to design great Web pages. There are many Web pages out that poke fun at other Web pages. They list the ugliest Web pages, useless Web pages, confusing Web pages, Web pages that suck, and so on. These places are amusing, but they pose a larger question to those of us who have potentially embarrassing Web pages: Does my Web page suck? And, if so, what makes it suck and how can I un-suck it? (Amazon.com)

Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity

Creating Web sites is easy. Creating sites that truly meet the needs and expectations of the wide range of online users is quite another story. In Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, renowned Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen shares his insightful thoughts on the subject. Packed with annotated examples of actual Web sites, this book sets out many of the design precepts all Web developers should follow. This guide segments discussions of Web usability into page, content, site, and intranet design. This breakdown skillfully isolates for the reader many subtly different challenges that are often mixed together in other discussions. For example, Nielsen addresses the requirements of viewing pages on varying monitor sizes separately from writing concise text for "scanability." Along the way, the author pulls no punches with his opinions, using phrases like "frames: just say no" to immediately make his feelings known. Fortunately, his advise is some of the best you'll find. One of the unique aspects of this title is the use of actual statistics to buttress the author's opinions on various techniques and technologies. He includes survey results on sizes of screens, types of queries submitted to search portals, response times by connection type and more. This book is intended as the first of two volumes--focusing on the "what." The author promises a follow-up title that will show the "hows" and, based on this installation, we can't wait. --Stephen W. Plain (Amazon.com)

The ASTD e-Learning Handbook : Best Practices, Strategies, and Case Studies for an Emerging Field

This is a well-edited compilation of articles and case studies. e-learning--the delivery of training and performance support directly to employees' desktops--is exploding in growth and complexity. The 2002 ASTD E-Learning Handbook gives readers the very juiciest, most practical, most recent articles and reference information from leading experts and gurus. Covering E-Learning best practices and useful reviews of the literature, the book gives guidance on getting better results for dollars committed to E-Learning and provides a directory of contact information for key E-Learning organizations, sources, conference schedules, and more.

Simulations and the Future of eLearning: An Innovative (and perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning

I loved this book -- so much that I wrote the introduction. I compare it to one of my favorite books, The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder. Simulations and the Future of Learning offers trainers and educators the information and perspective they need to understand, design, build, and deploy computer simulations for this generation. Looking back on his recent first-hand experience as lead designer for an advanced leadership development simulation, author Clark Aldrich has created a detailed case study of the creation and deployment of an e-learning simulation that had the development cycle of a modern computer game. With this book Aldrich, a leader in the e-learning field, has created an intriguing roadmap for the future of learning while taking us along on an entertaining rollercoaster ride of trial and error, success and failure. Simulations and the Future of Learning outlines the design principles and critical decisions around any simulation's components— the interface, the physics and animation systems, the artificial intelligence, and sets and figures. Using this accessible resource, readers will learn how to create and evaluate successful simulations that have the following characteristics: authentic and relevant scenarios; applied pressure situations that tap user's emotion and force them to act; a sense of unrestricted options; and replayability.

Evaluating E-Learning

Evaluating E-Learning is designed to answer some of the most fundamental questions surrounding e-learning: Does e-learning work? How much does e-learning benefit both the organization and its learners? Is e-learning a wise investment or a waste of corporate resources? This is a book designed to answer these and other important questions about your e-learning efforts. In addition, the book will guides you to take a systematic approach to evaluating e-learning that will strengthen your case for bringing e-learning into your organization. You can use the interactive "Your Turn" sections to apply concepts learned in the book or visit the companion Web site to download design forms, spreadsheets, live examples, and other resources. Leading E-Learning is first in a series of books designed to explore targeted issues associated with bringing e-learning into an organization. The other books in the series includes: Leading E-Learning, Selling E-Learning, Designing E-Learning, and Using E-Learning.

Leading E-Learning

Here's an easy-to-understand road map that will allow you to take charge of the e-learning initiative in your organization. Training professionals, team leaders of e-learning initiatives, HR executives, or anyone wishing to understand this fundamental change in the training profession will find this book to be a valuable learning tool. In addition to its practical contents, there are interactive "Your Turn" sections and a companion Website that allow you to apply concepts learned in the book. The Website also includes design forms, spreadsheets, live examples, and other resources that will speed your e-learning experience.

The 2000/2001 ASTD Distance Learning Yearbook: The Newest Trends and Technologies (2001)

Distance learning is the hottest trend in the training industry today. But rapidly changing technology and powerful new developments make it difficult for human resources professionals and trainers to stay current in the field. Now a single annual reference brings together "the best of the best" articles and information, summarizing the state of the distance learning field. This handy one-volume resource includes information on creating distance learning proposals and pilot programs; Internet-based training, videoconferencing, and other technologies; setting up and administering a program; career development for trainers, and more.

Blended eLearning: Integrating Knowledge, Performance and Online Learning

A book about learning technologies written from the combined perspectives of online learning, electronic performance support systems, and knowledge management practices.

Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning

Michael's 30 plus years of successful e-Learning design and project development qualifies him unconditionally to write this important guide. It's practical, easy to read and a must for anyone involved in createing online learning -- however it is distributed. The book includes an introduction by Gloria Gery.

Designing World-Class E-Learning : How IBM, GE, Harvard Business School, And Columbia University Are Succeeding At E-Learning

Roger Schank is one of the most controversial figures in the e-Learning field because he won't accept boring, tutorial-based instruction. In this important book Roger, once again, tells it like it is and provides us guidance to be successful in implementing eLearning in our organizations. Roger believes in learning by doing through immersion in simulations. And so do I!

E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age

Marc Rosenberg has nailed it. He surfaces the issues, realistically describes alternatives and operationalizes what a true e-learning strategy is. Good cases. Good ideas. Good writing. You need this book!

e-Learning and the Science of Instruction : Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

Ruth has lead the field of defining how instructional design must be done to create successful interactive learning experiences. Her expertise is available to us in this book.

Designing Web-Based Training : How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime

This straight-forward simple summary of Web Based Training design offers a primer to those getting started with web based training

Working Knowledge

When new-car developers at Ford Motor Company wanted to learn why the original Taurus design team was so successful, no one could tell them. No one remembered or had recorded what made that effort so special; the knowledge gained in the Taurus project was lost forever. Indeed, the most valuable asset in any company is probably also its most elusive and difficult to manage: knowledge. Authors Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak assert that learning how to identify, manage, and foster knowledge is vital for companies who hope to compete in today's fast-moving global economy. Working Knowledge examines how knowledge can be nurtured in organizations. Building trust throughout a company is the key to creating a knowledge-oriented corporate culture, a positive environment in which employees are encouraged to make decisions that are efficient, productive, and innovative. The book includes numerous examples of successful knowledge projects at companies such as British Petroleum, 3M, Mobil Oil, and Hewlett-Packard. Concise and clearly written, Working Knowledge is an excellent resource for managers who want to better harness the experience and wisdom within their organizations.

The Attention Economy : Understanding the New Currency of Business

If you like to keep on top of what's going on in the world but find it difficult to get through more than a section or two of the Sunday New York Times, take heart. Were you to actually plow through the whole thing, even just once, you'd be taking in more factual information than was gathered in all the written material available to a reader in the 15th century. And that's just a Sunday paper; what about all the e-mail, voice mail, meetings, Web pages (2 billion or so of them), and publications (more than 60,000 new books and 18,000 magazines published annually in the U.S. alone) vying for your attention? According to Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck, we live in an age of information overload, where attention has become the most valuable business currency. Welcome to The Attention Economy. If yesterday was the age of information, today is the age of trying to attract or employ people's attention. Indeed, leaders and managers in the business world face this two-fold problem daily, constantly seeking the attention of their customers and employees while managing their own limited supply. Declaring that "understanding and managing attention is now the single most important determinant of business success," the authors examine what attention is, how it can be measured, how it's being technologically constructed and protected, and where and how attention is being most effectively exploited. Predictably, nowhere are these economics more important than in the realm of e-commerce. In the chapter entitled "Eyeballs and Cyber Malls," the authors discuss the strategies needed to gain and maintain attention "stickiness." The book contains numerous suggestions on how leaders can manage their own attention and that of their employees more effectively (and how to avoid and treat info-stress), but always with an eye on the ultimate goal: affecting the type and amount of attention your customers give you. Already, more money is often spent on attracting attention to a product than spent on the product itself (we're reminded of The Blair Witch Project, which cost a mere $350,000 to make and $11 million to market). And as our information environment gets increasingly saturated, holding a person's attention becomes an ever more difficult proposition; as the authors suggest, actually paying for someone to receive your information is a realistic prospect in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, the book's final chapter is devoted to what the authors predict will affect attention in the future, and how attention can and will be acquired, monitored, and distributed. The Attention Economy is peppered with anecdotal pull-outs and "overheard" comments; though intriguing in as random factoids and zippy, little quotes, this sideline information doesn't always tie in with the authors' points and often seems distracting. The book is well written, though, and the authors, both of whom work at the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change, take an informed and well-balanced look at what is perhaps our society's most priceless, ephemeral commodity. --S. Ketchum (Amazon.com)

The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action

Every year, companies spend billions of dollars on training programs and management consultants, searching for ways to improve. But it's mostly all talk and no action, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, authors of The Knowing-Doing Gap. "Did you ever wonder why so much education and training, management consultation, organizational research and so many books and articles produce so few changes in actual management practice?" ask Stanford University professors Pfeffer and Sutton. "We wondered, too, and so we embarked on a quest to explore one of the great mysteries in organizational management: why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge." The authors describe the most common obstacles to action---such as fear and inertia---and profile successful companies that overcome them. Among the companies that Pfeffer and Sutton say do it right: General Electric, the Men's Wearhouse, SAS Institute, Southwest Airlines, Toyota, and British Petroleum. The book, based on four years of research, is broken into chapters with titles such as "When Talk Substitutes for Action," "When Fear Prevents Acting on Knowledge," "When Internal Competition Turns Friends into Enemies," and "Turning Knowledge into Action." Each chapter contains tips on what to do and what to avoid, and provides examples of how a lethargic company culture can be transformed. The Knowing-Doing Gap is a useful how-to guide for managers looking to make changes. Yet, as Pfeffer and Sutton point out, it takes more than reading their book or discussing their recommendations. It takes action. --Dan Ring (Amazon.com)

Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations

In this classic book, Tom coined the term "intellectual capital". The current editor of Harvard Business Review, he brings perspective, depth and an organizational challenge to successfully manage knowledge.

What's the Big Idea? Creating and Capitalizing on the Best New Management Thinking

Case studies are often the best teacher. Change management. Reengineering. Knowledge management. Major new management ideas are thrown at today's companies with increasing frequency-and each comes with evangelizing gurus and eager-to-assist implementation consultants. Only a handful of these ideas will be a good fit for your organization. Choose the right idea at the right time and your company can become more efficient, more effective, and more innovative. Choose the wrong one-or jump on the right bandwagon too late-and your company could fall hopelessly behind. Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak say that some managers have found ways to improve their odds of success in the risky but essential game of idea management. In What's the Big Idea?, they introduce a largely unsung class of managers they call-idea practitioners-individuals who do the real work of importing and implementing new ideas into businesses. While gurus reap most of the credit when big ideas take flight, Davenport and Prusak's research reveals that idea practitioners actually play the most important role: They turn the right ideas into action.

American Prometheus.

If you are interested in the exciting period of history that was spawned in part by special relativity, have a look at Kai Bird's new book, American Prometheus. It is a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer that includes a cast of thousands, like Einstein, Bohr, Born, Dirac, Heisenberg et. al. Great reading - a reminder of how we arrived here in 2005.

Changing Minds

From Book News, Inc. Drawing on his innovative thinking on multiple intelligences (e.g, Frame of Mind) and his own experience, the Harvard psychologist presents a new framework for analyzing "levers" that trigger/thwart changes of mind exemplified by historic and current change agents in diverse fields.