Book Review - Improving Workplace Performance

A Manager's Guide to Improving Workplace Performance
Roger Chevalier
HF 5549 .C4468 2007

Chevalier asserts that most workplace performance issues are not the fault of individual employees, but instead result from the workplace environment. He states that the job of the manager, then, is twofold: to coach individuals to develop themselves, and to create a workplace environment in which they are able to succeed. Organized in two broad categories, Chevalier first looks at how a work team is developed, both by working with individuals and fostering cooperation among them. Next, he addresses factors that contribute to poor performance and suggests ways in which managers can work to overcome these problems. This is a practical, step-by-step guide that can benefit coaches, leaders, and managers of all types.

Book Review - City Adrift

City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina
Jenni Bergal, Sara Shipley Hiles, Frank Koughan, John McQuaid, Jim Morris, Katy Reckdahl, Curtis Wilkie
HV 636 .N4 C58 2007

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina may perhaps be boiled down to a simple statement--"every system that could have protected New Orleans failed." Afterward, the Center for Public Integrity sent in a team of award-winning journalists to investigate how this could have happened in the United States in 21st century. This team, many of whom have personal connections to New Orleans, explore the storm and gathered information by talking with many of those involved. They analyze the political, social, geographical, technical, and communication failures that contributed to the breakdown in New Orleans. More importantly, however, they illuminate a path to correcting these problems so that a tragedy like this one does not happen again.

Book Review - The Evolution of National Wildlife Law

The Evolution of National Wildlife Law
3rd ed.
Michael J. Bean and Melanie J. Rowland
KF 5640 .B4 1997

Bean and Rowland present a straightforward history of the law pertaining to wildlife and conservation. The first part presents background on legal thought concerning the environment. It also presents the legal framework of commercial activities involving wildlife. The second part addresses species conservation laws, specifically addressing birds, fish, marine mammals, and endangered species. The third part looks specifically at wildlife, land and water, addressing how these resources are conserved, used, and developed. The fourth part shows how American wildlife laws fit into the international context, including the legal framework of native peoples. This very well referenced work addresses many specifics while at the same time showing trends within this rapidly expanding area of the law.