Computer Media

By Rachel Singer Gordon -- Library Journal, 2/15/2008 9:47:00 AM

Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Dreamweaver, the leader in WYSIWYG web editors, incorporates newer technologies into its newest CS3 version, making it more useful for creating dynamic, modern web sites.

Bardzell, Jeffrey & Bob Flynn. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 with ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP: Training from the Source. Adobe, dist. by Peachpit. 2007. c.484p. ISBN 978-0-321-46106-3. pap. $49.99 with CD-ROM. COMPUTER BOOKS
This self-study guide covers Dreamweaver’s integration with other programs and technologies, helping developers create dynamic web applications. Throughout the book, readers gradually build a real-world site and database, assimilating techniques through hands-on discovery. Step-by-step directions, tips, and summaries also help self-guided learners. Its CD contains lesson files; click here for the companion site. Highly recommended for larger libraries.

Chow, Garrick. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: HOT Hands-On Training. Peachpit. 2007. c.513p. ISBN 978-0-321-50985-7. pap. $49.99 with CD-ROM. COMPUTER BOOKS
This volume teaches Dreamweaver to beginning to intermediate designers and developers through a series of hands-on exercises. The companion site contains sample movies and errata; the CD features exercise files and video tutorials (covering both lesson material and bonus content). Clear explanations, extensive, labeled screen shots, tips on work flow, straightforward exercises, and informative sidebars—not to mention the useful video tutorials—make this a winner for all medium and larger libraries.

Chow, Garrick. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 with Garrick Chow: Video Training Book. Peachpit. 2007. c.168p. ISBN 978-0-321-44552-0. pap. $49.99 with DVD. COMPUTER BOOKS
Less a book with DVD than a DVD with companion print guide, this resource teaches beginners Dreamweaver CS3 through a number of step-by-step video tutorials. While the narrator could talk more slowly and enunciate more clearly, content is solid and useful for visual learners. The brief full-color companion book simply follows along with the video tutorials, provides time-stamped screen shots, and lists the related exercise files for hands-on study. A useful introductory guide; appropriate for all libraries.

Gerantabee, Fred & AGI Creative Team. Dynamic Learning: Dreamweaver CS3. O’Reilly. 2007. c.400p. ISBN 978-0-596-51057-2. pap. $44.99 with DVD. COMPUTER BOOKS
For new users, this full-color guide covers working with Dreamweaver to create and manage web sites. The whirlwind introductory chapter might be a little overwhelming for novices, but the rest of the book settles down and proceeds step-by-step through Dreamweaver’s features in 12 more self-contained lessons. Self-study suggestions and chapter review questions help readers teach themselves, as do the video tutorials and lesson files on the DVD. A thorough how-to appropriate for medium and larger libraries.

Content Management Systems
Content Management Systems (CMS) provide an authoring environment that allows nontechnical users to create and update pages without any knowledge of HTML and to store content in a database for easy reuse. Setting up and administering a CMS, though, requires more technical knowledge—which is where these guides come in.

North, Barrie M. Joomla!: A User’s Guide. Prentice-Hall. 2007. c.445p. ISBN 978-0-13-613560-9. pap. $44.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
The popular open source Joomla! CMS is a viable alternative to cost-prohibitive commercial products, providing rich functionality out of the gate and impressive additional functionality through free and low-cost third party extensions. Covering Joomla! 1.5, this useful guide for beginning to intermediate users walks them through concepts by showing everything from Joomla! installation to how to build seven separate sites. A companion web site includes a discussion forum and downloads. Few CMS guides step back far enough to address beginners effectively; this one manages the trick nicely and is highly recommended for larger libraries.

VanDyk, John K. & Matt Westgate. Pro Drupal Development. Apress. 2007. c.428p. ISBN 978-1-59059-755-2. pap. $44.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
The free, open-source Drupal is another popular CMS, and this book targets intermediate developers (with some PHP knowledge) wanting to customize their Drupal installations. In this useful reference for all Drupal developers, the authors show how to write modules, they clarify Drupal internals, and they cover writing secure code and best development practices. Click here for a blog, source code, and errata. Exceptionally clear instructions, code samples, and background make this a great choice for larger libraries.

Digiscrapping
Digiscrapping (digital scrapbooking) merges two popular topics—scrapbooking and digital photography—into one red-hot hobby. Rather than using paper layouts and embellishments, digital scrapbookers create layouts and entire scrapbook pages on their computers, saving much of the expense and time involved in traditional scrapbooking.

Davis, Lori J. & Sally Beacham. Picture Yourself Creating Digital Scrapbooks: Step-by-Step Instructions for Preserving Memories Using Your Computer. Thomson Course Technology. 2007. c.261p. ISBN 978-1-59863-488-4. pap. $29.99 with DVD. COMPUTER BOOKS
For beginning digital scrapbookers (and experienced paper scrapbookers wanting to make the switch), this full-color "Picture Yourself" series entry covers everything from the basics of scrapbooking to creating layouts to editing photos to creating your own components. Its DVD contains layout kits and components, fonts, freeware and demo plug-ins and utilities, tutorials, and other random goodies. Additional resources are listed both throughout and in a separate appendix, allowing readers to find additional layouts and plug-ins as well as to extend their skills. This thorough, lavishly illustrated guide is highly recommended for public libraries.

Photoshop Elements
Adobe Photoshop Elements (see Computer Media, LJ 5/15/07) offers much of Photoshop’s power in an easy-to-use, consumer-grade program—contributing to its ever-rising popularity. All public libraries should contain current guides; v.6 adds features like Vista compatibility, guided edit, albums, improved photomerge, RAW conversion, and organization tools.

Brundage, Barbara. Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual. O’Reilly. 2007. c.567p. ISBN 978-0-596-51444-0. pap. $39.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
For beginners, this full-color manual walks through the most common features of Elements 6, with good coverage of new tools and ways to work. A companion site contains image files, tips, and links, while sidebars and tips add info for both power users and newbies. Clear, step-by-step directions and background explanations make this a useful addition to all public libraries.

Python
The powerful open source object-oriented programming language Python (see Computer Media, LJ 11/15/06) continues to be widely used—even on large-scale sites as familiar as YouTube and Google. Larger libraries should contain current guides.

Lutz, Mark. Learning Python. 3d ed. O’Reilly. 2007. c.700p. ISBN 978-0-596-51398-6. pap. $39.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
For new programmers and those moving to Python from other languages like C, Lutz covers the current v.2.5 and talks about expected changes in the upcoming 3.0 Python release. Exercises, chapter summaries, and quizzes will be welcome for self-study, and the book provides a solid introduction to getting up and running with Python. Introductory chapters on the language and how it works will be especially useful to beginners; clear examples and codes will benefit any reader. A good choice for larger libraries.

Moore, Dana & others. Professional Python Frameworks: Web 2.0 Programming with Django and TurboGears. Wrox. 2007. c.420p. ISBN 978-0-470-13809-0. pap. $39.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
This guide for intermediate Python developers helps get them up to speed with creating rich internet applications (RIAs) with the Django and TurboGears frameworks. It will also be useful to programmers wanting to dive into Web 2.0. Particularly helpful aspects are information on the MochiKit JavaScript library and a discussion of the convoluted creation of Web 2.0 applications with traditional Python as opposed to the ease of creating RIAs with frameworks. TurboGears is covered much more thoroughly than Django, which may irritate some readers. Click here for source code and errata online. Larger libraries owning introductory Python guides can consider adding this supplemental resource.

Summerfield, Mark. Rapid GUI Programming with Python and Qt. Prentice-Hall. 2007. c.625p. ISBN 978-0-13-235418-9. $49.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
Covering the combination of the Python programming language and the Qt application development framework (or PyQt), Summerfield shows readers how to develop GUI applications that can be run unchanged on all supported platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and some Linux). Best for those with some object-oriented programming or Python experience; Summerfield rushes through a rapid intro to Python before getting into the meat of using it with Qt. Chapter exercises help with self-study, and a companion site has source code, errata, and links. A useful supplemental resources for larger libraries already owning introductory Python texts.

Ruby
Ruby on Rails has exploded in popularity, owing to its readability, elegance, and emphasis on reducing complexity. (Ruby is an open source object-oriented programming language, and Rails is its associated web application framework.) All medium and larger libraries should contain current guides.

Adam, James & others. Professional Ruby Collection. Addison-Wesley. 2007. ISBN 978-0-13-241799-0. $39.99 with CD. COMPUTER BOOKS
For intermediate to advanced users, this CD and print combination collects a number of brief primers on Ruby and Rails technologies. The CD contains five "digital Short Cuts" in PDF format, on Mongrel, Rails Plugins, Rails Routing, Rails Refactoring to Resources, and Rubyisms in Rails, plus source code. The bonus book contains sample chapters from other Addison-Wesley Ruby titles, including RailsSpace (reviewed below), The Ruby Way (2d ed), and The Rails Way (below). A useful supplemental resource for larger libraries owning more comprehensive and introductory guides.

Fernandez, Obie & others. The Rails Way. Addison-Wesley. 2007. c.850p. ISBN 978-0-321-44561-2. pap. $49.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
This thorough reference for experienced Rails application developers covers Rails v.2.0. Developers will find info on extending Rails with plug-ins and an appendix on Rails essentials particularly helpful, and there are extensive for the Rails API. Click here for the author blog. The book would benefit from a CD or other way to access source code but otherwise provides a solid and clearly written reference for all large libraries.

Fitzgerald, Michael. Ruby Pocket Reference. O’Reilly. 2007. c.170p. ISBN 978-0-596-51481-5. pap. $9.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
This tiny reference will be most useful to intermediate Ruby programmers needing a quick way to look up terms and functions. Concise explanations, definitions, and tables describe Ruby’s major features. Although a handy little guide, it will be most useful as an ongoing reference rather than a library checkout; a supplemental purchase.

Ford, Jerry Lee Jr. Ruby Programming for the Absolute Beginner. Thomson Course Technology. 2007. c.358p. ISBN 978-1-59863-397-9. pap. $29.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
For programming novices or those moving from other languages, this volume teaches Ruby through the creation of a number of simple computer games. Challenges at the end of each chapter suggest ways to extend skills, step-by-step instructions aid in learning, and a "What’s Next?" appendix provides resources for further exploration. Download scripts at the book’s web site. Clear and beginner-oriented, this is a good choice for medium and larger libraries.

Hartl, Michael & Aurelius Prochazka. RailsSpace: Building a Social Networking Website with Ruby on Rails. Addison-Wesley. 2007. c.537p. ISBN 978-0-321-48079-8. pap. $44.99. COMPUTER BOOKS
For new Ruby programmers (but best for those familiar with at least one other programming language), RailsSpace teaches Ruby on Rails by walking readers through the development of a real-world Rails-based social-networking web site. Source code, errata, blog, sample tutorial videos, and Google group are available at the companion web page, www.railsspace.com, which is the site showcased in the book itself! Clear explanations, real-world examples, and the authors’ obvious passion for the language make this a great choice for larger libraries. Recommended.