BKMHINTM.RVW   970803

"The McGraw-Hill Internet Training Manual", Ronald L. Wagner/Eric
Engelmann, 1996, 0-07-066937-6, U$32.95
%A   Ronald L. Wagner rwagner@internext.com
%A   Eric Engelmann
%C   300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario   L1N 9B6
%D   1996
%G   0-07-066937-6
%I   McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
%O   U$32.95 905-430-5000 +1-800-565-5758 +1-905-430-5134 fax: 905-
430-5020
%P   332
%T   "The McGraw-Hill Internet Training Manual"

This book is *not* a training manual, Internet or otherwise.  In the
broad spectrum of technical literature, it falls most closely under
the category of short Internet guides, of which the better examples
are Brendan Kehoe's "Zen and the Art of the Internet" (cf.
BKZENINT.RVW), and the second edition of Tracy LaQuey's "The Internet
Companion" (cf. BKINTCMP.RVW).

The text is not specifically a "business on the Internet" book,
either.  It does, though, definitely feel as if it were written by
someone for whom business, and particularly marketing, is key, and any
other consideration runs a very distant second.

Part one is the general overview, with the usual pep talk, history,
background, and warnings.  Nothing is really wrong, but there is very
little detail to get wrong.  Part two is, I suppose, intended to be
the "training" section.   It consists of a series of very program-
specific, keystroke-by-keystroke, hands-on "activities."  Part three
is kind of a catchall, including some material on HTML (HyperText
Markup Language), Internet security (not *much* security), and online
commerce.

The reason that the book bulks large in comparison to a lot of the
shorter guides lies in a lot of verbiage and wasted space.  Why have
pages of pointless pictures of computers connected by squiggly lines? 
Why thirty pages of lessons on how to use Windows for Workgroups?  On
the other hand, why try to cover the extremely important topic of
Internet search engines in only twice as much space as is devoted to
increasing the size of Netscape's cache?  Why say that you won't cover
the standard internet tools--and then cover them, anyway?  (Why cover
telnet, and then fail to give information on how to get a telnet
client program?)

For someone who is starting at the very beginning and is using Windows
for Workgroups, Eudora Professional, and Netscape Navigator 3.0, this
book provides enough information to get started.  That does seem a
limited audience and target, though.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997   BKMHINTM.RVW   970803