Steve Taylor's Blog

This book has quality in every direction, from the physical finish and type of paper used to the great authoring style.  The book is very well presented with great illustrations and examples.

It starts off by demystifying the true meaning of what an Information Dashboard is and then goes into what I thought was the best chapter of the book – Tapping into the power of visual perception.  This chapter was really interesting especially for me coming from a design background.  It goes into the science of visual perception, the pre-attentive mind and short term memory.

When you read this book you need to bear in mind the context in which you operate.  This book pushes home the communication factor of dashboards which may not be as important in your situation.

All in all this is a “must read” book for anyone who creates and designs information dashboards.

Overview

Pros: Simple, effective and to the point with great supporting material
Cons: None
Rating:  5/5
Verdict: Highly recommended. I’ve even purchased his other major title: Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten

This book covers all aspects of data warehousing and gives examples along with downloadable source code for Microsoft SQL Server 2005/08.  The book goes into quite a bit of detail in certain areas but in others it just skims the surface.  It’s a great book to get someone started off in data warehousing as it covers the main aspects well.

That said, once you’ve read this book you may also want to go on and look at specific areas in more detail, such as Reporting Services (SSRS), Integration Services (SSIS), Business Intelligence (BI) and Analysis Services (SSAS).

My only complaint with is book (if you can call it that), is that the author tends to repeat himself and state the obvious quite a lot.  This is probably to help the information sink in and probably aimed more towards the novice.

Overview
 
Pros: Covers all aspects well, scenario based theme with examples
Cons: Too many words to describe the facts, enterprise view only, no smaller project examples
Rating:  4/5
Verdict: Recommended for anyone looking to build a DW and haven’t done so before.

The book is quite thin, 229 pages in total with lots of photographs and example slide designs so it didn't take long to read it, even if you only read about an hour a day like me.

The book is very well written and presented with well explained concepts.  The book takes you through the main areas of presenting: Preparation, Design and Delivery.

I felt that it would have been nice to see maybe a few examples on a more technical subject but besides that I felt the book was worth reading and will definitely utilise the techniques in future presentations.

Overview

Favourite Quote:  "If you feel tempted to use a picture of two hands shaking in front of a globe, put the pencil down, step away from the desk, and think about taking a vacation or investigating aromatherapy.
Pros: Concise, well presented
Cons: Lack of complex technical examples
Rating:  4/5
Verdict: Recommended if you do any type of presentations with Powerpoint or Keynote.

I've bought a new book today. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery(Amazon Link).

From time to time I find myself having to present a concept or idea to a group of people and every time I tend to reinvent the wheel when it comes to writing the presentation.  I've recently stumbled across this guy, Garr Reynolds, and his website  He is also on You Tube, check out the video below.  Anyway, I'll let you know how good the book is once I've read it.