Book Review - Lost Knowledge

Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce
David W. DeLong
HD 58.82 .D4 2004

DeLong's book is particularly applicable to the Federal workforce. He begins by pointing out the high costs and strategic impacts of loosing employees with extensive knowledge about the projects and programs of their organization. He ends this first part by proposing a plan to address this problem, both by capturing knowledge and developing skills among younger employees. The second part of the book explains and evaluates practices involved in knowledge transfer. Part three adds to this by offering retention strategies, both to hold on to corporate knowledge and to initiate knowledge sharing practices early in careers.

Book Review - Future of Sustainability

The Future of Sustainability
edited by Marco Keiner
HC 79 .E5 F878 2006

This collection of essays questions the success and possible future of the sustainability movement. Several authors examine the definitions and applications of sustainability to date, one going so far as to assert that sustainability alone is not enough. A second group of authors address challenges that the world faces to achieving sustainability, including growth, development, and urbanization, the tensions between local and global economies, and human rights. Finally, the largest section offers some new ideas and approaches to making sustainability more widespread and effective.

Book Review - Water

Water: A Natural History
Alice Outwater
GB 701 .O88 1996

This is an interesting book. Outwater focuses on the role that water, particularly waterways, play in American history. Her book divides this history into two broad eras--one in which humans began interacting with the natural system and a later period in which human engineering reconfigured the way that they interacted with water. The first part of the book examines human-water relationships in different ecosystems, including rivers, forests, grasslands and plains. The second part of the book focuses on human engineering feats including dams, aqueducts, and indoor plumbing. Throughout the book, Outwater suggests that human interference with water ecosystems has had negative consequences, certainly on the water resources themselves, but also on the plants and creatures that rely on these habitats.