Book Description
When The Knowledge-Creating Company (OUP; nearly 40,000 copies sold) appeared, it was hailed as a landmark work in the field of knowledge management. Now, Enabling Knowledge Creation ventures even further into this all-important territory, showing how firms can generate and nurture ideas by using the concepts introduced in the first book. Weaving together lessons from such international leaders as Siemens, Unilever, Skandia, and Sony, along with their own first-hand consulting experiences, the authors introduce knowledge enabling--the overall set of organizational activities that promote knowledge creation--and demonstrate its power to transform an organization's knowledge into value-creating actions. They describe the five key "knowledge enablers" and outline what it takes to instill a knowledge vision, manage conversations, mobilize knowledge activists, create the right context for knowledge creation, and globalize local knowledge. The authors stress that knowledge creation must be more than the exclusive purview of one individual--or designated "knowledge" officer. Indeed, it demands new roles and responsibilities for everyone in the organization--from the elite in the executive suite to the frontline workers on the shop floor. Whether an activist, a caring expert, or a corporate epistemologist who focuses on the theory of knowledge itself, everyone in an organization has a vital role to play in making "care" an integral part of the everyday experience; in supporting, nurturing, and encouraging microcommunities of innovation and fun; and in creating a shared space where knowledge is created, exchanged, and used for sustained, competitive advantage. This much-anticipated sequel puts practical tools into the hands of managers and executives who are struggling to unleash the power of knowledge in their organization.
Customer Reviews:
Documented and thoughtful.......2004-04-16
This book made me discover knowledge management. It is very well documented, very thougthful, easy to read... An excellent starting point.
Knowledge Enabling not KM !!.......2002-06-18
I had a pleasant surprise when a friend of mine decided to gift me "Enabling Knowledge Creation" by Georg Von Krogh, Kazuo Ichijo and Ikujiro Nonaka. It forms a sequel to "the Knowledge Creating Company" co-authored by Nonaka and Takeuchi published in 1995 . The first book was a seminal work which has profoundly influenced my views on Knowledge Creation (Nonaka refuses to entertain the concept of KM , resolutely denying that Knowledge
can ever be managed!) along with writers like Tom Davenport and Larry Prusak. However, the first book was open to a lot of criticism saying that it was just too "theoretic", "vague" and "generalised" ...Nonaka et al try and get more hands on, and tool bookish with this book.
However, this book is likely to disturb people who have read and formed ideas about KM by reading works of the American thought leaders.
In the start of the book the authors try and make the difference explicit.
In a passage titled "what's wrong with knowledge management?" they spell it out :
Pitfall I: KM relies on easily detectable, quantifiable information.
Pitfall II: KM is devoted to the manufacture of tools.
Pitfall III: KM depends on a Knowledge Officer.
While the premises of Knowledge Enabling and Creation are:
Premise I: Knowledge is justified true belief, individual and social, tacit and explicit.
Premise II: Knowledge depends on your perspective.
Premise III: Knowledge Creation is a craft , not a science.
The authors reiterate that organizational Knowledge Creation involves five main steps :
1. Sharing tacit knowledge
2. Creating concepts
3. Justifying concepts
4. Building a prototype
5. Cross-leveling knowledge.
To facilitate this the following 5 enablers need to be in place :
1. instill a knowledge vision
2. manage conversations
3. mobilize knowledge activits
4. Create the right context
5. Globalize local knowledge
The book is rich in case studies which show how different companies that follow these concepts are growing in leaps and bounds and innovating over others who remain stuck in the KM paradigm.
The authors note that in the Knowledge journey companies can be mapped in 3 phases, which might or might not be sequential.
1. The Risk Minimisers , whose focus is capturing and locating knowledge. The tools they use are data warehousing, datamining, Yellow pages, IC-Navigator, Balanced Scorecard, Knowledge Audits, IC-Index, Business Information Systems, Rule-based systems [these firms still view knowledge as a resource that needs to be collected and managed]
2. The Efficiency Seekers, who focus on transferring and sharing knowledge. The tools they use are internets, intranets, Lotus Notes/Groupware, Networked organization, knowledge workshops, knowledge workbench, Best Practice Transfer, Benchmarking, Knowledge-gap analysis, Knowledge sharing culture, Technology transfer units, Knowledge transfer units, Systems Thinking
3. The Innovators who enable Knowledge creation are typically those who embrace a knowledge vision, managing conversations, creating the right context, mobilize knowledge activists, globalize local knowledge, professional innovation networks, new organizational forms, New HRM-systems, new corporate values, project management systems, corporate universities, communities and storyboards.
Highly Recommended!.......2001-03-21
Dust off those liberal arts degrees before opening this challenging treatise on knowledge management, written by a trio of academics who call themselves "constructionists," quote Sartre and speak passionately of "post-modernism." Their work explains how to gain initiative and constructive input from workers by modifying traditional command structures - a grounded approach that is much more realistic than the revolutionary conversions called for by other experts. Managers who balk at the thought of granting autonomy or increased access to their employees may well be converted away from their hierarchical dogma here. We at getAbstract particularly recommend the lively knowledge-creation case histories and the wonderful section explaining how companies can create valid, imaginative futures. (What if IBM had imagined a world in which software was more important than mainframes?)
Sustainable advantage through knowledge enabling.......2000-06-05
In the many publications on Knowledge Management, the writings by Von Krogh and Nonaka (and, in this case, Ichijo) stand out in a number of aspects: 1) their emphasis of knowledge "management" as an essentially human and social process 2) their emphasis on linking knowledge management with strategic focus and business results 3) the inspiring examples and writing style.
This book is a clear showcase of these elements. It provides a profound yet pragmatic guidance on the road to becoming a learning organisation. Where capturing & locating, and transferring & sharing knowledge are essential in achieving competitive advantage through knowledge, the real source of sustainable advantage is, as the authors claim, the continuous creation of new knowledge, as a result of developing a strategic vision and an enabling organisation and culture to realise that (evolving) vision.
Being involved in implementing a number of the concepts in our organisation, I am convinced this book provides many ideas and tools that will help today's corporate world in reshaping our business for the knowledge economy.
Highly recommended!
Focus on knowledge creation, but what about integration?.......2000-05-30
The author's of this book are leading thinkers in the KM field. Perhaps the best way to describe this book is as a sequel to Nonaka's earlier 1995 book. But, we all remember what happened to Scarlett, again a much touted sequel. Although this book was a slight disappointment since Nonaka has set reader's expectations a little too high with his earlier groundbreaking title "The Knowledge Creating ompany" that, for the most part, defined KM as we know it. An academic reader will appreciate they theoretical insights provided and extensive references to supporting literature. But there are some aspects that this book underplays: 1. Knowledge creation is fine, but knowledge integration is perhaps as important---an issue to which the authors pay little attention. 2. Excellent ideas aside, this book underplays the significance of empirical evidence and most cases tend to be descriptive qualitative analyses. 3. The role of technology is highly underplayed. 4. The book has "sufficient" overlap with the authors' research papers in the uropean Management Journal. For academic readers who have read those, this might be a little disappointing. 5. The concept of KM and it's relationship with innovation at architectural and component levels is not described in much detail.
On the positive side, you will find that: 1) Lots of issues that were barely touched upon in Nonaka's preceding book are described in further detail. 2) The book is very well written and the tone is accsible to both academic and non-academic readers. 3) the concept of BA is elucidated in further detail Readers who do not follow academic research journals might find that an interesting extension. 4) A link between strategy and KM is well illustrated. For businesses, KM is of little value if there are no results. The authors describe how to look for those results (or in lay terms, ROI). Academic readers will also find Nonaka's recent paper in a recent issue of Organization Science (2000) to be of much interest. Academic readers must also realize that the approach here seems to be "post modern," and indeed quite qualitative in the European research tradition.
To sum my opinion, this book is a worthy addition to the bookshelves; but, it is not to be read without reading Nonaka's preceding book "The Knowledge Creating Company." A word of warning is in order: Academic readers will enjoy this title however, managerial readers might find it a little heavy and abstract. Indeed, this book stands out of the crowd with three authors who are well respected in the American research circles---consequently, its high overall quality comes as no surprise. Recommended.
Book Description
"This valuable edited volume provides the foundations of empowerment evaluation by outlining its philosophy, theoretical frameworks, useful tools, basic steps, and lessons learned." --The Evaluation Exchange Short version of copy This outstanding group of evaluators from academia, government, nonprofits, and foundations explores empowerment evaluation, a method for using evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination. Empowerment Evaluation begins with an in-depth examination of this type of evaluation as it has been adopted in academic and foundation settings. The book then highlights the role empowerment evaluation has played in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' substance abuse prevention programs. The contributors also provide down-to-earth tools and technical assistance needed to conduct empowerment evaluation. This volume concludes with themes that emerge from the chapters and recommendations concerning next steps. This serves to strengthen the links between empowerment evaluation and community capacity building. Long version of copy This outstanding group of evaluators from academia, government, nonprofits, and foundations explores empowerment evaluation, a method for using evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination. Empowerment Evaluation begins with an in-depth examination of this type of evaluation as it has been adopted in academic and foundation settings. The book then focuses on the various contexts in which empowerment evaluation is conducted, ranging from resistant environments (in which significant effort is required to move from passive-compliance orientations) to responsive environments (that already have a tradition of self-determination and community organizing). Interesting highlights concerning the role empowerment evaluation has played in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' substance abuse prevention programs are detailed throughout the book. The contributors also provide down-to-earth tools and technical assistance needed to conduct empowerment evaluation. This volume concludes with themes that emerge from the chapters and recommendations concerning next steps. This serves to strengthen the links between empowerment evaluation and community capacity building. Empowerment Evaluation is of special interest to students and professionals in evaluation, research methods, education, sociology, psychology, marketing, educational administration, management, public health and substance abuse. This book gives readers down-to-earth tools and the technical assistance needed to conduct empowerment evaluation.
Book Description
The Performance Consultant’s Fieldbook will help trainers, training managers, and internal and external consultants working in partnership with clients to identify barriers to performance, explore a suite of solutions, and work collaboratively to get new procedures, technology, behaviors, and ideas adopted. Step-by-step, the book details the techniques you need to conduct performance interventions and offers a customizable collection of worksheets, flowcharts, planning guides, and job aids. It provides practical guidance and proven tools to help analyze an organizational environment, diagnose performance problems, identify barriers to performance, select appropriate interventions, and measure intervention success.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect for a beginner in consulting.......2007-01-09
This book is an excellent introduction to performance consulting. It assumes that you already have the "tools" and know-how to address performance needs, so the focus is on the consulting process itself. What I found especially useful were the question lists. In almost every chapter, Hale includes a list of questions you might ask your client in order to guide them and pinpoint the exact issue and identify the best solution. This is the side of consulting that is often given little attention in books and in the classroom, but is of vital importance.
Another worthwhile highlight is the coverage on how to actually run a consulting business - in terms of financial considerations, record-keeping, etc. Another great book that goes into more depth on the "running your business" aspect is The Business of Consulting by Elaine Biech.
Book Description
Knowledge management (KM) - or the practice of using information and collaboration technologies and processes to capture organizational learning and thereby improve business performance - is becoming one of the key disciplines in management, especially in large companies. Many books, magazines, conferences, vendors, consultancies, Web sites, online communities and email lists have been formed around this concept.
This practical book focuses on the vast offerings of KM solutionstechnology, content, and services. The focus is not on technology details, but on how KM and IT practitioners actually use KM tools and techniques. Over twenty case studies describe the real story of choosing and implementing various KM tools and techniques, and experts analyse the trends in the evolution of these technologies and tools, along with opportunities and challenges facing companies harnessing them. Lessons from successes and failures are drawn, along with roadmaps for companies beginning or expanding their KM practice.
The introductory chapter presents a taxonomy of KM tools, identifies IT implications of KM practices, highlights lessons learned, and provides tips and recommendations for companies using these tools. Relevant literature on KM practices and key findings of market research groups and industry consortia such as IDC, Gartner and APQC, are presented.
The majority of the book is devoted to case studies, featuring clients and vendors along the entire spectrum of solutions: hardware (e.g. handheld/wearable devices), software (e.g. analytics, collaboration, document management) and content (e.g. newsfeeds, market research).
Each chapter is structured along the "8Cs" framework developed by the author: connectivity, content, community, commerce, community, capacity, culture, cooperation and capital. In other words, each chapter addresses how appropriate KM tools and technologies help a company on specific fronts such as fostering adequate employee access to knowledge bodies, user-friendly work-oriented content, communities of practice, a culture of knowledge, learning capacity, a spirit of cooperation, commercial and other incentives, and carefully measured capital investments and returns. Vendor history, product/service offerings, implementation details, client testimonials, ROI reports, and future trends are highlighted.
Experts in the field then provide third-party analysis on trends in KM tools and technique areas, and recommendations for KM practitioners.
* The only book in which practitioners evaluate various KM solutions
* Case studies describe how real companies use KM tools and technologies
* Provides clear lessons from real successes and failures
Download Description
This practical book focuses on the vast offerings of KM solutions-technology, content, and services. The focus is not on technology details, but on how KM and IT practitioners actually use KM tools and techniques. Over twenty case studies describe the real story of choosing and implementing various KM tools and techniques, and experts analyse the trends in the evolution of these technologies and tools, along with opportunities and challenges facing companies harnessing them. Lessons from successes and failures are drawn, along with roadmaps for companies beginning or expanding their KM practice.
Book Description
This book recognizes that in today's "information society" the future of economic well-being rests upon the effectiveness of schools and corporations to empower their people to be more effective learners and knowledge creators. The volume is organized around five factors involved in every educational event: the learner, the teacher, knowledge, the context, and evaluation. Each is discussed from both theoretical and pragmatic perspectives. Concept maps are used extensively to illustrate key ideas from learning theory, theory of knowledge, and instructional theory, as well as to give concrete examples. Rote learning, still common in many schools and universities today, is shown to be ineffective for achieving the goals of individuals and society in an era when creative production of new knowledge is at a premium. Throughout the volume, effective management is shown to be dependent upon the same factors as effective teaching.
Customer Reviews:
In Education - you should read this........2001-11-24
I'm not so sold on concept mapping and v-diagrams (everyone's got their own angle) but Novak's analysis of the shortcomings of education this century is excellent. There have been enormous and important innovations in educational theory this century, but very little of it has been put into practice because of the nature of the institutions.
Never mind - if you read this book, you're bound to gather some really important insights into the nature of learning, creating and using knowledge, and if you're in education or training, you'll come away not only with a higher awareness of learning theory, but some exciting ideas to try in your own practice.
The culmination of a 40-year career in knowledge creation........1999-01-18
Marking the culmination of Novak's 40-year career in science education, learning theory and epistemology, this book offers a remarkably insightful, theoretically powerful, and eminently readable volume on knowledge making in schools, corporations and healthcare agencies. The focus of Novak's work is on ways of empowering people to take charge of their own learning and knowledge creation. In this effort he succeeds most powerfully in integrating current ideas from the cognitive sciences, philosophy, psychology, neurophysiology, and educational practice.
But this book is not simply for professors and other members of the "intellectual elite." It is first and foremost a helpful guide to teachers, students, business managers and healthcare workers who want to succeed in the competitive arena of the "knowledge age."
Perhaps the most important contribution Novak makes is his careful description [and multiple examples] of concept mapping and V diagramming as tools for facilitating learning, understanding and knowledge creation. Unlike many "recipes" and "panaceas" offered by others, Novak cites numerous studies that provide very strong support for the use of these powerful "metacognitive" tools.
This book is an extraordinarily important contribution to efforts that seek to empower people to become meaningful learners and knowledge makers. It should be read by every college student, every teacher, and by all those charged with managing knowledge professionals.
Average customer rating:
- Comments on Visualizing Argumentation
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Visualizing Argumentation: Software Tools for Collaborative and Educational Sense-Making (Computer Supported Cooperative Work)
Chad S. Carr
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 1852336641 |
Book Description
Computer Supported Argument Visualization is attracting attention across education, science, public policy and business. More than ever, we need sense-making tools to help negotiate understanding in the face of multi-stakeholder, ill-structured problems. In order to be effective, these tools must support human cognitive and discursive processes, and provide suitable representations, services and user interfaces. Visualizing Argumentation is written by practitioners and researchers for colleagues working in collaborative knowledge media, educational technology and organizational sense-making. It will also be of interest to theorists interested in software tools which embody different argumentation models. Particular emphasis is placed on the usability and effectiveness of tools in different contexts.
Among the key features are:
- Case studies covering educational, public policy, business and scientific argumentation
- Expanded, regularly updated resources on the companion website:
www.VisualizingArgumentation.info
"The old leadership idea of "vision" has been transformed in the face of wicked problems in the new organizational landscape. In this excellent book we find a comprehensive yet practical guide for using visual methods to collaborate in the construction of shared knowledge. This book is essential for managers and leaders seeking new ways of navigating complexity and chaos in the workplace."
(Charles J. Palus, Ph.D, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA)
Customer Reviews:
Comments on Visualizing Argumentation.......2006-02-28
Thank you very much for sending me the book. It has turned out to be very helpful. The develiery time was also quick and the qulaity of the book was very good.
Book Description
A complete set of best practices, tools, and techniques for turning conversations into a rich source of business information
Many organizations are now recognizing that the untapped knowledge of their members can be used to benefit every aspect of their business, from making smarter and faster decisions to improving products and efficiency. This book offers a clear-cut road map for building a successful knowledge management system to capture and fully exploit the knowledge exchanged in conversations.
Written by two of the foremost experts in online communities, this book covers a set of best practices, tools, and techniques for using conversation and online interaction to provide affordable and effective knowledge-based benefits and solutions. With a unique and invaluable perspective, the authors offer guidance for collecting, capturing, and cataloging knowledge so that it can be used to improve efficiency and reduce costs in areas ranging from internal procedures through customer relations and product development.
This book provides step-by-step solutions for developing an effective knowledge network, including how to:
* Formulate strategies and create action plans
* Select the right tools for peer-to-peer networks, interactive communities, and events
* Work with legacy systems
* Train staff and stimulate participation
* Improve productivity and measurement criteria
The companion Web site contains templates, checklists, a discussion board, and links to software.
Customer Reviews:
Does not mention wiki...note publishing date of 2002!!.......2005-12-30
This is a good book on knowledge management. It provides an adequate historical reference and a succinct framework for the opportunities and incentives for KM but it is as of 2002. This book needs updating. It's not bad but is pre-wiki and web images are dated. Buy used...don't spend $40.00.
Powerful book.......2002-10-18
Review of Building the Knowledge Network: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Putting Conversation to Work
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was written in a conversational tone, and pulled together all the different pieces I've been reading in many sources. It starts with a brief history of knowledge sharing/conversation/communications which I found fascinating (and I am not a history buff!). Nancy & Cliff compared the anti-conversational attitudes of the Scientific Management during the Industrial Age, showed how the Hawthorne Studies caused the shift from the organization to the worker, and information systems. With the emergence of computer networks, the knowledge explosion has shown no sign of abating.
They discussed how the lessons of the pioneers of early communities such as the WELL assisted communities of today to flourish. Trust became communities' foundation with open communications offering challenges to community managers/moderators/facilitators.
The authors' inclusion of quotes from the ideas of the "greats" in community building/managing and knowledge management (KM) such as Stephen Denning, Thomas Davenport, Etienne Wenger, Tom Peters, Michael Hammer and Howard Rheingold, among others offered powerful evidence to their premises. Throughout the book are helpful charts, checklists and other graphics.
A whole chapter was devoted to culture and the tools that enable differing cultures. They discussed the three relationships between people and content and the three dimensions of collaboration (the cornerstone of communities).
Another chapter was devoted to external stakeholders and customer relationship management (CRM). They touch on what new skills will be required to operate within online learning and knowledge sharing communities And they touch on what paths our technical future may take and how to integrate all these new technologies.
They see a "collaborative future" from within and without organizations, as globalization becomes more widespread. The day of hoarding knowledge towards power are over, long live the new king of collaboration! This book is for anyone who wants to start an online community and for those who want to reminisce about "the good ole days," for those who want to read about what the big companies are doing, and all in context. "Context" is a word near and dear to my heart-for so often we forget to put information in context, whether in conversation or training. Nancy and Cliff have completed a truly delightful read in their book. I highly recommend it!
Book Description
Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos is an innovative book that provides practical and original solutions to the impending boomer/gamer knowledge and skills transfer gap. The book outlines how gamer values such as the use of cheat codes, the love of gadgets, the need to play games, and the desire to be constantly connected can be used as methods for moving information from the heads of the boomers to the fingertips and gadgets of the gamers. As organizations begin to think strategically about how to attract, retain, and train new talent, this book, written by Karl Kapp, named one of 2007's Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals by TrainingIndustry, Inc., will be an invaluable resource.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Instructional Design Resource.......2007-09-28
This book is a must-have for instructional designers and other purveyors of e-Learning and Training solutions; for those who see the need and are ready to move beyond the standard teaching tools that we've been using today in preparation for the New Learners ("Gamers" and "Digital Natives").
We've been passing this book around our office. It's inspired some great conversations, both internally and with clients, about the changing nature of the workforce and the ways the training industry will need to adapt. We've gotten some great ideas for our products and programs and are itchy to implement them.
In Chapter 2, Kapp gets practical, providing endless examples of different types of learning games. This would be a great place to start a project-design/brainstorming session.
It's an easy-to-read book, packed with useful information -- even if you "cheat the book" a bit and skim. Kapp includes a ton of real-life examples and case studies, including observations and lessons learned while watching his own children play games.
Highly recommended by this Instructional Designer!
A Valuable Resource.......2007-07-15
In his consistently insightful, informative, and often humorous book, Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning, Karl M. Kapp has crafted a significant conduit of information that may bridge chasms created by misperception, distrust, and disrespect that often exist between the Boomer and the Gamer generations. The author points out that if large numbers of individuals in the gamer generation do not engage in the symbiotic relationship that occurs when the knowledge base is transferred form one generation to the next, we will irrevocably lose one of our most valuable assets.
Inevitably, as increasing numbers of highly skilled Boomers leave the work force, Gamers will be needed to fill the ensuing knowledge gap. Dr. Kapp clearly and systematically presents practical and appropriate, adaptations that schools and organizations must implement to entice Gamers to close the knowledge gap by obtaining the advanced educational credentials needed to fill jobs currently held by well-trained, highly-skilled Boomers. This book is especially valuable for everyone one who has, or will have, contact with gamers, including the gamers themselves.
For example, by reading this book:
Employers will learn that given an adaptive work environment, which accommodates non-traditional working and learning styles, Gamers' may actually be more efficient and productive than their Boomer counterparts.
Primary, secondary, and tertiary educators will learn why a growing number of prominent educators, such as Dr. Kapp, are recognizing that video game play actually improves cognition.
Contrary to what many parents believe, playing video games can promote intellectual stimulation, encourage social interaction, and does not have a positive correlation with violence.
Gamers, most importantly, learn how they can eventually become fiscally self-sufficient by understanding that their video game skills combined with the required educational credentials, may yield high-paying, marketable job skills.
Although this work is factual and well referenced, it is much easier to read and far less erudite then some other books on similar topics. For example, I enjoyed What Video Games Have to Teach Us About... by James Paul Gee, the first time I read it. However, I realized how much I had originally misinterpreted when I reread it. Karl M. Kapp's Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning would be a valuable resource for anyone seeking an accessible, well-documented reference tool, or simply a fascinating book to read.
Rebekah Fulford
Emmaus, PA
Kapp Kaptures Kritical Keys...Its About the Transfer of Knowledge.......2007-05-08
So there are a lot of book about games out now but I think I would class Dr. Kapp's work in with the likes of John Beck and Mitchell Wade's "Got Game" in that it focuses on ways that we could use game, gadgets and gizmos to accomplish some important business goals.
This book provides a thread common to all the "G's" mentioned in the title...that these devices/experiences represent not generational disconnects but channels and conduits that can allow us to address the huge brain suck that is coming soon as the baby-boomer generation heads to retirement.
I think this book nicely walks the thin line between academic coverage and pragmatic usefulness and comes away with a good bit of both. I found the book to be engaging, accessible and in a crucial test...useful.
Gaming Culture Meets Learning Culture.......2007-04-24
This is not only an informative read, but a fun read (and I never thought I'd say something like that about a 'work' book). Kapp has a playful way of pointing out how gamers' and the gaming generation's pasttimes are not only viable as learning methodology, but superior, in many ways, to previously used practices. Working in the Healthcare IT field (specifically, in EMR Training), the chapter titled "Cheaters Never Win...or Do They?" really put things into perspective. If you redefine the term 'cheat' to include workflows out of the norm (shortcuts, etc.), work becomes more efficient and streamlined and the learner walks away not only learning, but feeling like they might have got one over on 'the system'...everyone wins!
All in all, it's a great way for a gamer/geek (like myself) to finally prove my parents, my wife, and everyone else wrong - I WASN'T WASTING MY TIME ALL THESE YEARS PLAYING THOSE STUPID GAMES!
Book Description
This book points out the need of a multidisciplinary approach in the field of risk assessment and management. It provides an overview of the problems, approaches and common practices directly related to earthquake risk mitigation and, in particular, to the preparation of earthquake emergency plans. Written by a team of specialists from different disciplines, the authors worked together extensively in order to create unity and continuity in the text as a whole. Each topic is illustrated with examples of actual applications taken from the bibliography – including websites with available relevant information. Case studies and information on some relevant international projects are given.
This work will be of interest to students and professionals with a basic education in geology, geophysics, geotechnical and civil engineering, system analysis, geography and architecture. It can be used as a textbook for a specialized post-graduate course on the topic.
Book Description
Fuzzy Modeling and Genetic Algorithms for Data Mining and Exploration is a handbook for analysts, engineers, and managers involved in developing data mining models in business and government. As youll discover, fuzzy systems are extraordinarily valuable tools for representing and manipulating all kinds of data, and genetic algorithms and evolutionary programming techniques drawn from biology provide the most effective means for designing and tuning these systems.
You dont need a background in fuzzy modeling or genetic algorithms to benefit, for this book provides it, along with detailed instruction in methods that you can immediately put to work in your own projects. The author provides many diverse examples and also an extended example in which evolutionary strategies are used to create a complex scheduling system.
* Written to provide analysts, engineers, and managers with the background and specific instruction needed to develop and implement more effective data mining systems.
* Helps you to understand the trade-offs implicit in various models and model architectures.
* Provides extensive coverage of fuzzy SQL querying, fuzzy clustering, and fuzzy rule induction.
* Lays out a roadmap for exploring data, selecting model system measures, organizing adaptive feedback loops, selecting a model configuration, implementing a working model, and validating the final model.
* In an extended example, applies evolutionary programming techniques to solve a complicated scheduling problem.
* Presents examples in C, C++, Java, and easy-to-understand pseudo-code.
* Extensive online component, including sample code and a complete data mining workbench.
Customer Reviews:
nice match of fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms.......2005-10-16
Cox explains fuzzy modelling at a level that should be readily understandable to many readers. The math ideas are given, but you are not overwhelmed with page after page of formulae. Enough maths is developed to use against data and to produce sensible results.
A good feature of the book is how to apply fuzzy logic against data in a SQL database. Other books on fuzzy logic often ignore this important practical case.
Cluster is decently covered. This is a field where often what is a cluster can be very subjective. Which makes it well suited for a fuzzy approach.
The book also shows a very natural fit between fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms. The probing nature of the latter, where you really don't know what the "proper" answer should be, means that using a fuzzy match as a step within the genetic searching can be a fruitful implementation.
One of the Worst Books Ever -- Deserves Negative Stars.......2005-09-22
Both the author and publisher should be ashamed of releasing this book, and having the gall to charge $50 for it. Let me list some of the ways this book is a rip-off:
1) It was never proof-read or copy edited. There are typographic errors, misspellings, and missing words in the middle of sentences.
2) One chapter (I'll let you find it) skips a number in the figure sequence.
3) Variable names in the text differ from those in the referenced figure.
4) Code fragments in several languages are useless other than to boost the author's ego: look how many computer languages I can use!
5) The examples are all over the map; there's no consistency. Worst of all, however, is that the entire third part of the book (the Genetic Algorithms included in the title) focuses on a crew scheduling algorithm and never shows how that relates to data mining or anything else that preceeded it in the first two parts.
The book looks (and reads) like it was thrown together overnight from previously written materials and no one took the time to make sure it was done correctly. It must have been a stream-of-consciousness core dump without any thoughtful review to see if all parts were necessary, complete, and fit together to make a whole story.
They should pay the reader to take it out of inventory. It is unfortunate that the book is so poor as to be useless, I'm sure that others are as disappointed as I am.
4 stars for theory, but 3 stars for actual implementation details.......2005-09-12
4 stars for theory, but 3 stars for actual implementation details
This book is a great introduction into Fuzzy Logic, Rules, Sets, and Modeling. The author doesn't assume the reader already has a Masters degree in Comp Sci or Software Eng, and gives good explanations of all the requisite knowledge needed to understand the basics of Fuzzy stuff. For this I gave the author 4 stars.
But, there is very little implementation details in this book. Its mostly theory with a smattering of code here and there. That's where it falls short of invaluable. If the author has made the book a hundred or two more pages longer and went into in depth implementation details this book would have been an easy 5 stars, coving the basics all the way through real world usage and implementation.
As it is, its just a good masters level text book. A good supplemental theory text to read prior to another book that shows more implementation details (which I haven't found yet).
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