More books available for loan to members:

If a chapter member wishes to borrow any of these titles, let me know before the monthly meeting and I'll bring the book.

Introduction to Performance Technology, ISPI, 1986

A selection of classic articles, such as:

• An overview of Human Performance Technology: George L. Geis
• Assessing Needs: Roger Kaufman
• Guiding Performance with Job Aids: Joseph H. Harless
• Ergonomics and Performance Aids: Peter Pipe
  

This book isn’t available anymore, but I think it still is a great introduction to a lot of the major concerns of HPT.

Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart, Bonnie A. Nardi, Vicki L. O'Day. MIT Press, 2000.

The common rhetoric about technology falls into two extreme categories: uncritical acceptance or blanket rejection. Claiming a middle ground, Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day call for responsible, informed engagement with technology in local settings, which they call information ecologies.

An information ecology is a system of people, practices, technologies, and values in a local environment. Nardi and O'Day encourage the reader to become more aware of the ways people and technology are interrelated. They draw on their empirical research in offices, libraries, schools, and hospitals to show how people can engage their own values and commitments while using technology.

-- www.amazon.com product description

Information Anxiety 2, Richard Saul Wurman. Que, 2000

A follow up to the first edition, Information Anxiety 2 teaches critical lessons for functioning in today's Information Age. In this new book, Wurman examines how the Internet, desktop computing, and advances in digital technology have not simply enhanced access to information, but in fact have changed the way we live and work. In examining the sources of information anxiety, Wurman takes an in-depth look at how technological advances can hinder understanding and influence how business is conducted.

-- www.amazon.com product description

Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. Thomas F. Gilbert. ISPI, 1996

This classic and provocative volume continues to provide answers to the questions of getting the most out of people. Long recognized as a precedent-breaker, Human Competence has proven itself as a source of innovative ideas for developing people. This Tribute Edition not only retains the original text Dr. Gilbert produced in 1978, it shows how it has positively, and often dramatically, affected many performance improvement professionals.

--ISPI review

ZAP the Gaps!: Target Higher Performance and Achieve It! Ken Blanchard, Dana Robinson, Jim Robinson. William Morrow, 2002

Managers at all levels within organizations often see a problem and jump to a solution. Many times the solution does not solve the problem, however, because the manager did not uncover the root cause. Blanchard and his coauthors are here to teach you how to avoid this often-destructive pitfall. In Zap the Gaps!, Bill Ambers, the director of customer service in a high-tech firm, encounters a business problem: His call center is not making its numbers. With the help of Michael St. Vincent, gardener and legendary head of Saint's Nurseries and Landscaping, he learns to systematically dig to the root of the problem, discovering along the way both the GAPS approach to performance improvement and a tool called the Gap Zapper.
With its engaging story line, vivid examples, and reader-friendly approach, Zap the Gaps! is a must read for anyone seeking to identify and correct the factors that negatively impact performance -- so that the ultimate impact is both meaningful and measurable.

--www.amazon.com

Managing Performance Improvement Projects. Jim Fuller. Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer. 1997

Copublished with the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)
Project teams are growing rapidly as performance improvement solutions become more complex. Project management methods are becoming necessary to successfully coordinate these large teams. Develop the skills you need to effectively manage your budget, time, and the quality of work on human performance technology projects. All the essential aspects of project development are addressed, and the process is broken down into three main areas: preparing, planning, and implementing.

You'll develop the skills to:
• Define projects
• Accelerate project development
• Obtain sponsorship
• Act as a consultant
• Plan infrastructures
• Create work breakdown structures
• Identify dependency relationships
• Manage resources and optimize the plans
• Analyze risks and plan for contingencies
• Estimate schedules . . . and more!

Learn what needs to be done after you finish a project to ensure success. Don't just squeak by with mediocre management. Mediocre management can stifle the development of great ideas. Ideas will get projects started. But you won't achieve superior results without effective management.

Implement Fuller's project management process today and get results!

--www.amazon.com