Book Reviews: Internet Tools

We are readers. Always have been. In the Age of the Internet we've added three more kinds of reading to our list: Reading on-line (although sometimes we cheat and print it for off-line reading), reading about how to use the Internet and its tools, and reading about the Internet phenomenon. We might even contribute to some of these categories in the future. In any case, we've added all three to our Book Review list.

If you're like the rest of us, you've got a web site (which you're continuously reinventing) or you're struggling to get one up and running (which is where we are). In the course of doing that, we've been reading quite a few books to help educate us and we thought we'd pass a few titles along. As you might guess, this is a rapidly growing area of literature, so we'll add to both our library and this category in our book review section, from time to time.

We'd note that something interesting is already happening in the World of the Web. The books are becoming much more specialized and focused. This is probably good, because the general purpose "bibles" are (1) too heavy to lift and (2) written from a bland vanilla point of view. The books that focus on a particular topic are usually written by someone who really cares about that topic. He's either an expert or someone who's taken the trouble to find out quite a lot about the subject and you're more likely to get genuine advice. This is especially useful if you're looking for books about site or page design, where aesthetics enter into it and you want to know not just how to do it but also how to do it with style.

Books in this category focus on the details of how to create (1) useful and (2) [sometimes] beautiful web pages. They also try to explain how to do this within the bounds of reason. That is, what are the best tools for different types of environments and what are the performance limits of the web - and what do you need to do so that what you see on the screen of your design workstation bears some resemblance to what appears on a random browser accessing your page. Based on some of the objects I've seen in my browser, checking the results from multiple browsers (as most of these books recommend) isn't a popular sport.

Designing for the Web
Jennifer Niederst with Edie Freedman
(O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.)

This book assumes you are already a designer and tells you how to apply your skills to the web. It explains exactly how to put a Web page together and just what issues you need to consider to get the best results. It also helps someone who is a novice to Web Design understand the whole idea of how a Web site is designed and put together. You don't need to be a skilled designer to need and use this book (but it won't tell you how to create aesthetically pleasing pages, if you don't know how). It's staying on my personal shelf.

Web Page Design Cookbook
William Horton, Lee Taylor, Arthur Ignacio, Nancy L. Hoft
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

It's a cookbook, so they try to make it easy for you to bake the web page cookies. This big, fat book is really harder to navigate than the slender Niederst book, but it comes with a CD-ROM full of templates and goodies and much more detail, including information on how to do web marketing. It's an excellent resource if you plan to do a complex set of web pages and you need to learn quite a bit or would like a complete reference handy.

Web Publishing

Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML in a Week
Laura Lemay
(SAMS Publishing)

A complete course in web publishing, from the basics to hypertext and links, HTML, URLS and images, multimedia and design. The book includes useful examples (but no CD-ROM), information on going on-line, and advanced topics. A good primer and an excellent reference. The layout is geared for fast navigation and there is a very good index.

If you're going to actually do the deed and create web pages in HTML (rather than do automated conversion from Word or Notes or another publishing platform), you might like to have the HTML Manual of Style as a reference manual. It's rather like a writer wanting to keep White's inimitable Style Book by her side. (My husband, who's responsible for writing the documentation for the software he helps write, recently bought a new copy; he had worn his out!) The manual not only contains the language, principles, and rules, but also a good set of examples, with reasons behind why they were done in a particular way. Of course, many of us won't need this kind of detail, but for those who do, I suspect it will gain a place on many desks.

Creating Cool Web Pages with Word for Windows 95
Ron Wodaski
(IDG Books Worldwide)

For those of us (most of the market) who create most of our text pages in Microsoft Word, one more reason to move to the Windows 95 version is how easy it is to convert Word documents into web pages. You do this with Microsoft's Internet Assistant, which you may get with this book (or download from the Microsoft web site); it's that or learn HTML. This is much easier. The book shows you how to use and modify the templates in the Internet Assistant, then how to glamorize them with sound, video and more. If you're satisfied with desktop publishing in a high-end word processor (and many of us are), you may be more than pleased with the ease and clever effects of Word plus the Internet Assistant, combined with the tricks in this book.

This book is not another HTML how to build a web page handbook, but rather a book about the Internet, its potential, and the decisions - strategic and technical - that an individual or organization must make to take advantage of its power. The emphasis is on understanding how to get from the information system you have now to the Internet-enabled (or Internet-based) system you will want in the future. This book isn't a substitute for some of the handbooks reviewed here; you'll still need them, but it will get you ready to understand what you want and need to do before you plow in and start actually building your site.

Research, Recreation on the Net - Or a Gift for the Kids
Internet 101
Alfred Glossbrenner
(McGraw-Hill)

Internet 101 is subtitled "a college student's guide." So you won't be surprised that it's packed with hints on how to do research on the net, as well as where to have some fun. It's a great introduction for anyone and the research part is actually quite handy. If you have a kid at or going to college who isn't a Net Afficionado yet, this could be a good gift.

Creating Cool Web Applets with Java
Paul J. Perry
(IDG Books Worldwide)

This book is an excellent introduction to Java, written in a way that even amateurs can understand. Programming in Java, however, is an art best saved for programmers, as you will see when you descend into the world of object-oriented programming so carefully presented here. If you're an amateur like me, read it for the theory. Programmers can read it for a guide through their first try at a Java program. It includes lots of tips and templates, but I think I'd want a class if I'd never been this way before.

Danny Goodman's JavaScript Handbook
Danny Goodman
(IDG Books Worldwide)

Scripting languages are intended to let users do things normally reserved for programmers, so you might think of JavaScript as a way to connect Java function to elements of your web site without learning to program in Java. That's almost true. Danny Goodman, who has learned and loved scripting environments from HyperCard to AppleScript and now JavaScript would like you to give it a try. He's even willing to give non-programmers a crash course, if you need one. This is a good book for amateurs, but only for determined ones who are ready for some intense work. There are lots of sample toys on the accompanying CD-ROM.

If you've reached this page, obviously you like to read and buy books. For your convenience, we have established a link that will allow you to order this book from Amazon.com. You should be aware that we receive a small commission for this service, but that our goal is to make it easy for you to purchase the books we review.

If you are interested in ordering:
Designing For the Web, click here
Web Page Design Cookbook, click here
Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML in a Week (hard to find), click here
Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML 3.2 in a Week (newer edition), click here
HTML Manual of Style (hard to find), click here
HTML 3.2 Manual of Style (newer edition), click here
Creating Cool Web Pages with Word for Windows 95, click here

Cyberstrategies, (unavailable)
Internet 101, click here
Creating Cool Web Applets with Java, click here
Danny Goodman's JavaScript Handbook, click here