Licensee Badge
Submitted by madamos on
in

Forums

I have recently rededicated myself to reading on a regular basis. I cannot afford to buy all the books that would be useful to read in the management area, so I plan to make full use of the library.
I already started today by checking out a few books of interest, but I realized that I don't really know all the best sections to browse for books.

What are the best sections of the library (Dewey Decimal numbers) to browse for books.
What I have so far:
658 - General Management; Druker's books can be found here
303 - Social Processes; Where "The world is flat" can be found

What other sections are good for finding the books you are reading?

MadAmos

terrih's picture

I use the library a lot too, but so far everything on my list related to Management (except The World is Flat, which I already read) falls under 658.

Be sure to check out Interlibrary Loan if your local library doesn't have everything M&M recommend.

Also, most libraries carry the Wall Street Journal... you could read it there if you wanted to swing by every day. Me, I look at the free online content... they have some full articles, just the first couple of paragraphs of most articles, but it's better than nothing. 8)

jhack's picture

I find that Amazon sometimes comes up with interesting suggestions: after I search around for stuff I like, and tell it my preferences, its recommendations are quite interesting.

Does anyone out there know of a pandora.com - like site for book lovers?

John

lazerus's picture

Alright, here's a killer tip about books, amazon, and the library.
My library has an online search system, where any book I want (if they have it) can be requested and shipped over to my local branch. When that library gets the book, they notify me by email.

The question remains, how to choose books? I cross reference the books suggested here (Manager Tools) with lists at http://800ceoread.com/ and http://www.squidoo.com/personalmba. Also, MT forum dwellers as well as Mark Horstman himself will suggest books on whatever topic. Recently I asked about Quality Management and got some excellent suggestions, including "Lean Thinking" by James Womack.

When I find a book I like, I look it up on the library's online request system. Nine out of ten times, they have it. If there is a book I read that I feel I need for my permanent collection, like "The Effective Executive" by Drucker, I buy it from Amazon.

Try it. If your library system has an online search/request system, there is no better way. Of course, it's always a good time to take the kids over to the library and browse for an hour, if you have the time. Just got a huge joke book and the complete works of Oscar Wilde. Perhaps I will find something applicable to management in these as well.

nancys's picture

If you haven't checked out your state's virtual library..please do. You can usually find it on your public library web site and you may have to drop by the library for a virtual library card. The virtual library is the place where you can get full text articles in just about any area. I would suggest dropping by the library to get a quick tutorial on using the virtual library.

There is plenty of information on just about all topics and it's FREE. Well let me say that you have already paid for it with your tax dollars!

fwdlib's picture

Hello! Besides browsing the library shelves by Dewey, you might also try searching the online catalog with a subject search. A couple meaty ones are Management and Executive Ability.

Another tip is to look up a book that you've read and appreciated, and then look at the subject headings assigned to it for more ideas. There are many more subject headings useful for looking up books on communication, employee relations, etc. 

kriskross's picture

To follow up on what FWDLIB says, the library's online catalog shows you the book's subject headings. These subject headings are often clickable, and they lead to other books that have been tagged with the same subject heading- some of which are found in different Dewey sections.

For example, the entry for Drucker's "Effective Executive" in the WorldCat online catalog:

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/229476

On the right side column, the subject headings for this book are "decision making" and "Executives-United States". If you click on Decision Making, you get a list of books that have been tagged with that subject:

http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=su%3ADecision+making.&qt=hot_subject

Books from all sorts of classifications are returned: fiction, philosophy & psychology, Social sciences, etc.

Sometimes it can be serendipitous to see where subject heading browsing can lead you. You can find a lot of relevant and useful material not found under "General Management".