by Chloe Mahendra-Fuji, Print Diva
Hi! I’m Chloe, and I’m a book addict.
I know… last time I said I was a tradeshow addict.. and I am.. but I am also a book addict. I hate moving because it involves one truck for books and about half a truck for furniture. I love the texture and the smell. I love new books, old books, business books and fiction. And when I find a good book I love to share. So, welcome to Chloe’s book club! This time around we’re going to look a a couple of books that should be on your bookshelf… after you read them!
The first one is a fun read: The Innovators by Walter Isaacson. If you devoured the Steve Jobs bio you know Walter’s writing is whimsical at times and hard to slog through at others, but The innovators tells the story of our world through the eyes of “hackers, geniuses and geeks” – the perfect trio! If you ever wondered why the internet looks as it does, or why we even have a world wide web, this is a great book. It provides that infrastructure to our technical world, and I loved it. It’s a mass market book and enough time has passed that you can pick it up for a good price in hardcover or for your eReader. Grab it and plan to spend some time with it. At over 500 pages it’s a hefty tome.
The next book I want to share with you is sort of nichy. A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge – it’s a mouthful. What the heck is it? First, in many industries there are books that are created to document what the general knowledge for that industry is; those books are called the Body of Knowledge for that industry. One that is well known among my peers is the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK for short). You can buy it on Amazon and it is a great documentation of the prevailing knowledge in Project Management.
The Electronic Document Body of Knowledge documents the industry knowledge of the members of Xplor International. For many years this group has been the home of people who develop and produce those bills, statements, insurance policies, proxies, and all of the government-related documents that we all deal with. Over the last 30 years the printing technologies, document generation software, and even mailing technology have gone through many changes, and yet many companies are so large that they way they produce print is the same as it was 20 years ago. If you are new to the print industry and you deal with large companies, this is the book you want. It is the complete reference guide for the part of the print industry that isn’t related to graphic arts. With this book in your portfolio you can talk intelligently to customers who need commercial print and transaction print (those bills and regulatory things mentioned before).
I read mine end to end and found out that a lot of things I thought I knew were wrong! This one is making it’s way to the mass market, but for the moment you can buy it reliably at edbok.org with proceeds going to fund education activities for Xplor International.
I ran on too long on this one, but I love books! If you have a book you like, let me know! I know I’m being optimistic, but I am a Print Diva. More from the Life in Print next time!
Chloe Mahendra-Fuji practices the fine arts of design critique, content creation and editing, and communication consulting. She has decades of experience working in online content delivery, print delivery, and content development. Chloe is also a gossip maven. Send your rumors and back channel notes to ChloePrintDiva@gmail.com. She says, “Have you guessed? CMF is my AKA! You’re safe with me!” Connect with Chloe on Twitter: @ChloePrintDiva
