German Expressionist Prints: The Specks Collection at the Milwaukee Museum of Art

Book Description

The Specks Collection is noted for its high quality, breadth, and profound graphic power. In celebration of the gift to the museum, the collection is presented here for the first time in its entirety.

Customer Reviews:

Don't judge a book by it's cover.......2005-05-26

This book opens with a sequence of images which shows how good it might have been. Each image is given a full page, unencumbered with text, and thus obtains its full power. Unfortunately, that's where it ends, as most of the rest of the book is like looking through somebody's stamp collection, with up to 5 images a page!. There are simply too many images crammed in, so, instead of enjoying the prints for what they are, you are left wondering what they would have looked like had they been presented properly. This is especially unfortunate when you realise prints are an ideal opportunity to present the work as the artist might have wished - since, unlike paintings, they are actually intended for reproduction.

So, useful if you want just an academic catalogue record of everything that is in the Marcia and Granvil Specks collection, but pretty useless otherwise.

A "must" for art history buff supplemental reading lists .......2004-08-10

An impressive collaborative project of the Hudson Hills Press and the Milwaukee Art Museum, German Expressionist Prints: The Marcia And Granvil Specks Collection is a striking artbook portraying black and white imagery, reflecting the positive and negative facets of German life from the 1890s to the 1930s. Bold figures of over 475 prints with brief biographies of the artists who created them and commentaries upon the art form itself make German Expressionist Prints a "must" especially for art history buff supplemental reading lists in general, and academic library German art history collections in particular!

German Expressionism in Prints.......2004-08-06

German Expressionist Prints: The Marcia and Granvil Specks Collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum by Stephanie D'Alessandro, James Deyoung, David Gordon, Reinhold Heller, Sarah B. Kirk, Kristin Marholm, Gretchen L. Wagner, Milwaukee Museum of Art (Hudson Hills Press) 531 colorplates and 9 black-and-white illustrations A good overview of prints by early 20th Century masters.
Widely acclaimed as one of the most significant bodies of German Expressionist prints in the United States, The Marcia and Granvil Specks Collection is noted for its high quality, breadth, and profound graphic power. In celebration of its gift to the Milwaukee Art Museum, it is presented here for the first time as a whole, as a body of imagery that reveals the myriad concerns of the age-the joys and pain of life in Germany from the 1890s to the 1930s.
The Specks collection is a vast mirror reflecting that complicated and fiery period when printmaking asserted itself, when images impressed on paper became the most profound and exacting expressions of the age. From the tragic and sorrowful prints of Käthe Kollwitz to the profoundly human religious woodcuts of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff to the biting satire of radical artist George Grosz, the collection illuminates the sense of urgency, originality, and vision of a wide range of artists, all attempting to limn a shifting world of despair, hope, and renewal in the fragile years from the Second Empire to the rise of the Nazis. Etchings and drypoints of biting spontaneity and intensity, lithographs of corrosive ingenuity, woodcuts to stir the soul, heralded an era of individuality and democracy in visions of a new society that could be reproduced, illustrated, and mass produced to reach the most remote and casual of observers. Emotionally, technically, and rebelliously, prints offered artists fresh directions and challenges at a time of intense preoccupation and ultimately disillusionment with society and the world.
Within this broad terrain, the publication of The Marcia and Granvil Specks Collection constitutes an extraordinary opportunity to delve assiduously into an entire generation of remarkable images and artists. The stunning quality and vast range of prints, personally researched and selected by the Specks during countless trips to Europe over three decades, offer riches unparalleled in any other American collection of Expressionist prints-everything from the most iconic, rare impressions to remarkable prints by artists little known in the United States. In its totality the collection invites repeated viewing and comparison of similar themes and media by an array of artists over several decades. In its specifics there are areas of strength that reach the highest levels of excellence, importance, and expressive mastery.
In addition to the illustrated catalogue of over 475 prints accompanied by biographies of the artists, the book includes essays discussing issues of visual culture and representation by leading scholars in the field: Reinhold Heller, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Chicago; and Stephanie D'Alessandro, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. The Milwaukee Art Museum's Senior Conservator James deYoung contributes a study of the papers used in their prints.

Book Description

This guide to digital wedding photography offers everything a wedding photographer needs to take full advantage of digital technologies. Essential aspects of digital photography are examined, from image capturing to creating wedding albums—a photographer's greatest source of revenue. Featuring 200 examples of professional digital photography, this book takes a detailed look at many common digital problems and provides techniques for fixing them with Adobe Photoshop.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Collections of the Best.......2007-05-12

I didn't come away learning much about weddings; however, the images are inspiring. Maybe you should buy this book combining with Glen Johnson's who has more practical tips and suggestions.

Is it the best?.......2007-01-09

Since I am new to wedding photography, I was looking for a how to, trick of the trades, how to enhance my shooting skill kind of book. I did not find much of info in this book that I need. There are many very nice photographs in the book but little of explanation on how the the photographs were taken, etc.

I guess I need to look for another wedding photography book.

Not so sure this is the best way to spend your money.......2007-01-05

Most of the information seems to be filler. A lot of info in this book is in your manual that came with your camera. Some very nice photographs which were taken by various photographer but not as much as I was looking for in the way of how to!! As improvement from where I am. I gave the book one star but wish I had bumped it up to 2 or 3. I can always learn something from any book. I just didn't personally gain as much as I would have liked from this one. If a person learns one two or three or more very good pointers from a book it may be worth the cost. We all work hard for what we get paid and I just like to get the most for the bucks I spend. That just didn't seem to be the case with this book.

Stunning photography, great ideas.......2006-09-13

Wedding photographers looking to update their skills will want to study this book. The pictures alone are worth the price. I'd buy it even if I couldn't speak English!

While the book is a thin 128 pages, it's a large-format layout that allows showcasing the photos. Every photographer should have this book as a sourcebook of ideas.

good book.......2006-08-06

this book contained a lot of great examples and provided a lot of ideas, it also had some info on post processing. this book is not a how to.

The Best of Wedding Photography: Techniques and Images from the Pros (Masters (Amherst Media))

Average customer rating:

Beautifullyi llustrated by some very good photographers
An Elegant Primer on Wedding Photography

The Best of Wedding Photography: Techniques and Images from the Pros (Masters (Amherst Media))
Bill Hurter
Manufacturer: Amherst Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1584281545

Book Description

An invaluable resource for all wedding photographers in the digital era, this latest edition serves as both an indispensable guide to digital capture techniques and an impressive collection of the work of the top wedding photographers in the country. Focusing on encouraging the photographer to visualize the final image before lifting a camera, this book begins with a discussion of traditional wedding photography, photojournalistic wedding photography, and emerging styles. Guidelines are provided for using the latest in digital capture technologies, including advice on choosing and operating digital SLR cameras, removable storage media, image sensors, white balance settings, and lenses. Tips from leading outdoor photographers on posing strategies for creating stunning, cohesive wedding albums are also included.

Customer Reviews:

Beautifullyi llustrated by some very good photographers.......2003-05-28

I have mixed emotions about this book. The book is beautifully illustrated by some of the leaders in the wedding field. The tone of the book, though, is often gushingly sentimental, which may be the state of wedding photography today (Try out a fuzzy picture of a bride daydreaming over her SHOES). Still, Hurter tries to present a balanced picture of wedding photographer as it is today - discussing traditional vs. photojournalism approaches and their pros and cons.
The pictures are well-worth seeing, but if Hurter's style turns you off, you might be more rewarded by Steve Sint's "Weddding Photography: Art, Business and Style,'' which also is beautifully illustrated but more down to earth, practical and objective. Better still, read them both and find a balance somewhere in the middle.

An Elegant Primer on Wedding Photography.......2003-04-14

Unlike many how-to photography books of this genre, The Best of Wedding Photography is a very beautiful book filled luscious wedding photographs. The photographers selected are from well-known wedding photographers in the field. For the photographs alone, you will want to go back to this book again and again. It is also wonderful handbook on photographic tips and techniques from the masters in the field. Great advice on portraits, groups, lighting, various approaches and albums. All these topics are illustrated with lavish pictures. It is a wonderful primer for anyone starting out in the business.

Book Description

Intron Depot 2: Blades is the newest full-color book from creator Masamune Shirow (Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell). It collects 209 fantasy-themed illustrations, paintings, and computer graphics created by Shirow between 1992 and May 1998, none of which have been published in the U.S. before. It also contains detailed commentary (in both Japanese and English) on each work, and an info-box that explains the techniques used to produce each piece.

Customer Reviews:

A great "read" for diehard Shirow fans.....and ONLY Shirow Fans.......2006-01-11

As a longtime fan of this man's work not only as an artist but a writer, I cannot recommend this book highly enough, not just to Shirow fans, but to ALL fans of awesome, highly detailed CG-art. At first, I found Shirow's transition from good old-fashioned pen-and-ink-and-airbrush-and-whatever-isn't-nailed-down(yes, while he still used conventional means in rendering his art, he did use an ecclectic assortment of tools) to CG somewhat unforgivable and unfathomable, I did gradually warm to his new style. Indeed he was revolutionary in his use of CG rendering. I mean look at all the myriad mangaka that use CG now!! This images in this book were truly a harbinger of things to come in the manga world.

Anyway, like I said before, if you're into sci-fi manga and anime, and hyperdetailed CG, and above all else, the female form, and ain't put off by the price, then by all means BUY THIS BOOK. Please ignore linlin's moronic, and obviously BIASED commentary, as it's borne out of the mind of a closed-minded nobody who thinks all Japanese-made audio/visual entertainment should be of the sacharrine/annoying variety. If anything "linlin-chan" (egads, what a stupid, contrived name) should try to judge something based upon its MERITS, not her insipid tastes.

Intron Depot 2 Review.......2004-02-28

This book is fantastic. Shirow is arguably the greatest manga artist yet. If you're at all interested in his work or manga in general I'd recomend this to you, although I do agree with a previous reviewer. If this is your first Intron Depot I'd go with 1 or 3 which focus on scifi. Also, a word to linlinchan; you're reviewing the quality of this item. You do no one any good to squeel "Ew, big boobs!" Ok, so you don't like that he draws large breasts. The quality of the work is still fantastic, regardless of whether you approve of the content.

Shirow's color work..........2003-06-10

Shirow's work in color is ok, and its mainly the details and the lush CG color that makes it look good. My main problem is that he draws mainly large breasted women with big guns (or big swords, in this volume) wearing skimpy costumes, and this is really obvious in his illustration volumes. The problem I have with this isn't just that it doesn't match my personal tastes, (I am a girl... so not so interested in the girls in this book) but also that I feel like its presence does alot to further the stereotype that many people have as anime being only about girls with big boobs and big weapons wearing very little clothing. In fact, I have read hundreds of volumes of original Japanese manga, and it doesn't have to be about this at all! It can actually have good substance. That's why Tokyo Pop is commendable in its quest to find real manga of all different genres and bring it to America.

Interesting work, but only for a die-hard fan.......2002-09-10

Masamune Shirow is one of the most interesting and accessible manga creators with his works Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell. This is his second color art book and - while good - is not what you may expect. This book focuses on his fantasy work, not science fiction, so don't expect to see any familiar faces from his manga. I found his experiments using computer art interesting, and artists may enjoy his detailed descriptions on composition. I would recommend getting Intron Depot 1 first and waiting for 3 which is again to be science fiction pieces.

Glorious Work.......2002-02-25

If you're looking for inspiration look no further. Masamune Shirow displays some his most awesome (newer) works within this beautifully artistic portfolio. Wether a mere enjoyer of art, or a hardcore anime fan, I guarantee you will enjoy the vibrant colors and detailed drawing hidden within this book.

Warning: This book DOES contain suggestive nudity. I would say that this book is not intended for anyone who isn't mature enough to see it as art and not pornography.

Book Description

The World of Ruth Draper: A Portrait of an Actress captures the life of the internationally acclaimed monologist and the familial, social, and theatrical worlds in which she lived from the late nineteenth century to the mid-1950s. Dorothy Warren draws on correspondence with family and friends, theatrical reviews, personal interviews, and her own long relationship with Ruth Draper in crafting this biography.

Born in New York City in 1884, Ruth Draper began giving monologues at private parties and schools at the age of twenty-six and made her professional debut in 1920 at London's Æolian Hall. In charting the course of Draper's impressive career, Warren follows her performances on stages around the world, including private recitals for Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and the royal families of Britain, Spain, and Belgium. Warren also devotes a significant discussion to Draper's relationship with Lauro de Bosis, the Italian poet and political activist whose 1931 disappearance while dropping anti-Fascist pamphlets over Rome remains unexplained. Draper's long stage reign ended when she died in her sleep following a performance in New York City in December 1956.

Ruth Draper's specialty was the monologue, a dramatic composition for a single performer evoking other characters upon the stage. She had in her repertoire sixty dramatic sketches featuring fifty-two characters whom she performed, as well as 316 others whom she evoked during the course of the sketches. Some of her better-known sketches were "Opening the Bazaar," "Vive La France—1940," "The Scottish Immigrant," "The Actress," and "In County Kerry."

Draper's unique quality was her ability to project an illusion, to evoke upon the stage the characters with whom she conversed and interacted. Lynn Fontanne said of this faculty of Draper's: "There is the flavor of parlor magic in it—something of conjuring." Bernard Levin, writing in the Times of London on April 4, 1988, recalls Draper's talent for evocation as "truly hallucinating" and adds, "Before the curtain came down, real hallucination had set in and we could see on the stage a crowd of people who were not there!" Eleonora Duse declared, "Ruth Draper is theater."

Customer Reviews:

The Greatest Solo Actress Ever.......2002-07-25

How accessible Ruth Draper has become! It used to be that the few recordings of her monologues were not only hard to buy, but usually stolen from the library collections and never returned. (I won't mention any names.) However, having access to information on this remarkable performer's life is as important as having access to the history of the Peloponnesian War. There wasn't anyone like her.

Born into New York society in the late 1800's; her father a Doctor (and co-founder of New York University Hospital), her mother a musician; young Ruth, with her serious eyes, demonstrated early on a remarkable talent for mimicry. She imitated the family governess to the delight of her siblings, and before long moved from the nursery to the family parlor, entertaining houseguests with her unique brand of theater.

She was enrolled in "Miss Spence's" school (for girls), but found the environment not suited to her personality. A German Governess was hired to tutor her at home, and under her guidance Ruth Draper the student flourished.

Mrs. Warren has written a wonderful biography of Ruth Draper. Her record is notable because she was actually a friend, and ardent admirer of RD. They were acquaintances through family, and after noticing Dorothy Warren attending a great deal of performances, Ruth Draper instructed the stage manager to allow her to come and go as she wished; that she would no longer have Dorothy Warren paying to see her perform.

This book should be, in addition to her recordings, fundamental reading for theater students. Mentioned in the same catagory as Shakespeare, Stanislavsky, Tennessee Williams, and The Group Theater. I'm shocked when drama students tell me they've never heard of Ruth Draper!

Read this book, and Mrs. Warren's compilation of Ruth Draper's letters. (Available here together!) Then go to drapermonologues.com and order yourself writer Susan Mulcahy's fantastic compilations of the classic Ruth Draper recordings, and some that were never released.

I envy the person who has yet to discover her work, and life! What a treat you're in for.

Book Description

Characteristic symphonies have texts associating them with literature, politics, religion, and other aspects of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century European culture. Examining both the music and its aesthetic and social contexts, this first full-length study of the genre demonstrates how symphonies constructed individual and collective identities through their subjects, representing emotion, human bodily movement, and the passage of time. Examples discussed include the Pastoral and Eroica symphonies of Beethoven and works by Haydn, Dittersdorf, and other composers of the era. An Appendix provides a thematic index of the entire repertory.

Download Description

Associated through descriptive texts with literature, politics, religion, and other subjects, 'characteristic' symphonies offer an opportunity to study instrumental music as it engages important social and political debates of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This first full-length study of the genre illuminates the relationship between symphonies and their aesthetic and social contexts by focussing on the musical representation of feeling, human physical movement, and the passage of time. The works discussed include Beethoven's Pastoral and Eroica Symphonies, Haydn's Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's symphonies on Ovid's Metamorphoses, and orchestral battle reenactments of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. A separate chapter details the aesthetic context within which characteristic symphonies were conceived, as well as their subsequent reception, and a series of appendixes summarises bibliographic information for over 225 relevant examples.

The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven.(Book Review): An article from: Notes

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The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven.(Book Review): An article from: Notes
Melanie Lowe
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on December 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1352 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven.(Book Review)
Author: Melanie Lowe
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2003
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 60 Issue: 2 Page: 440(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Excellent Read

Too technical and not practical

A VERY IMPRESSIVE, COMPREHENSIVE, PRACTICAL, AND INFORMATIVE WORK.

Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (3rd Edition)
Donald L Kirkpatrick , and James D Kirkpatrick
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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How to Measure Training Results : A Practical Guide to Tracking the Six Key Indicators

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ASIN: 1576753484

Book Description

The "Kirkpatrick Model" for evaluating training programs is the most widely used approach in the corporate, government, and academic worlds. First developed in 1959, it focuses on four key areas: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. "Evaluating Training Programs" provides a comprehensive guide to Kirkpatrick's four-level model, along with detailed case studies that show how the approach is used successfully in a wide range of programs and institutions. The third edition revises and updates existing material and includes new strategies for managing change effectively.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Read.......2007-03-24

This is a good book for anyone who needs to have an advanced understanding of Level I,II,III and IV surveys. Dr. Kirkpatrick is an expert in data interpretation and this manual helps to get you down the right road. Excellent Read.

Too technical and not practical.......2007-03-10

I was hoping that this book would help me create several evaluations for my training programs and I am sad to say it did not meet my expectations. The books fails to present in detail the requirements of each level of evaluations. Spend your money on another book with more practical guidelines.

A VERY IMPRESSIVE, COMPREHENSIVE, PRACTICAL, AND INFORMATIVE WORK........2006-06-06

Offers an in-depth, how-to guide to evaluating training programs. The book distinguishes itself by employing a four-level approach to evaluation. The levels are:
- reaction of participants (customer satisfaction)
- learning (extent to which participants change attitudes, improve knowledge, and/or increase skill)
- behavior (extent to which change in behavior has occurred)
- results (outcomes that occurred as a consequence of program attendance).

The book includes detailed case studies, exhibits, research results, techniques and formulas for measuring success. The majority of chapters target specific types of programs, such as:
- training for nonexempt employees,
- developing supervisory skills,
- desktop application course,
- leadership training,
- leadership development
and many more.

A very impressive, practical, comprehensive and informative work.

Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels

Average customer rating:

Foundation for Evaluation
Important Reference Material For Training Careers
A Classic, "Must have" for every training & development pro
A Significant Classic
Should be part of any trainerýs basic toolkit

Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels
Donald L. Kirkpatrick
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler (Short Disc)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1881052494

Book Description

A comprehensive step-by-step guide to evaluating training programs-from the creator of the "Kirkpatrick Model," the most widely used approach for evaluating training programs in industry, business, government, and academic institutions

Customer Reviews:

Foundation for Evaluation.......2007-09-29

Where would a learning event be without smiley sheets at the end? Well, learning events be in a much better place if they follow the levels outlined by Donald Kirkpatrick decades ago. Kirkpatrick's Four Levels helps training teams and organizations understand that there are connections between good training and the success of a company.

Kirkpatrick outlines his four levels into satisfaction, knowledge, application, return on investment. By measuring each level, an organization better understands what to reinforce and use each level as leading indicators of success rather than just a piece of paper that gets scribbled on at the end of a class or learning event.

As I have reread this numerous times, I wish there were more about the transition from knowledge to application. It took many years to learn how to align the measurement and behavior to anticipated application...but, then again, that would have taken away from my own learning experience. Read the chapters once all the way through, then use the book as a reference guide as you create each level yourself. It provides good reminders of why you are measuring and not just what to measure.

Important Reference Material For Training Careers.......2003-08-19

I will get right to the point about this book. If you are in human resources and in charge of a training program, a Training Manager, or a Trainer, this is your training bible. If you want to move up in your company or are considering interviewing with other companies in this field, the things in this book will be part of the conversation, and if you dont know the key elements you will not be getting the job.

An excellent book that will educated you about training and all the peripheral details that may be just as important as the actual class you teach.

A Classic, "Must have" for every training & development pro.......2003-07-08

Okay so this is an old and perhaps dated book, but it is still the definitive work on linking the training and development process to real knowledge, work performance, and business results.

Before Kirkpatrick (sometimes even today) Trainers and Training Managers would judge the effectiveness of a learning treatment by the opinion of the learner ("Level One" Measurement)...you know, those silly little evaluation sheets where we are always asked such banal questions as: "Did you LIKE the course," or the obligatory "Do you FEEL smarter," and so forth. Most in the educational field also understood the need of testing the learner in order to validate knowledge (This is "Level Two").

But in this book old Don K. gives us the Third and Fourth levels of learning. Level Three: Basically, if you cannot empirically demonstrate that the learning experience translates well into behaviors on-the-job, AND provide perceived value for the company (a.k.a. "Level Four"), then it really does not matter how much you actually learned, now does it spanky!?

As many might know, since the time of Kirkpatrick, ROI (Return on Investment) is now "the Fifth Level" of learning measurement. This ratio is defined as the Benefits of your learning program in dollars, Divided by the Total Cost of your program, Multiplied by 100, which gives you an ROI percentage. Anything over 100% suggests a positive return. Pffft! When will these so-called learning professionals learn to acount for the Net Present Value of cash?? I mean, even if you give a company a positive return because of your glorious learning management system, they still had to shell out massive capital upfront, right? So "Positive ROI" is not so easy as putting a dollar average on turnover percentages and then creating a ratio...

Anyway, please know that you simply have to understand the roots of Training ROI via Kirkpatrick before you can count yourself amongst the "Training Cognoscenti." : ) Enjoy!

A Significant Classic.......2000-07-06

If you expect to interact with those in the training industry, you had best be armed with knowledge of Kirkpatrick's four-level model. For instance, if someone asks, "What are you doing about Level IV?" you need to come back with a robust response such as, "Well, we evaluate the impact of training by....". Kirkpatrick first presented his model in 1959 in a series of articles in the Training and Development Journal. In this book, the Godfather of training evaluation succinctly outlines his four-level model of training measurement: measuring reaction, measuring learning, measuring behavior, and measuring results. This book is an up-to-date enhancement of his model. It consists of corporate examples, which are always helpful, and survey templates. If you are looking for a model to increase training effectiveness, reduce cycle time of design and development of courses, or establish baselines, this is a good primer. I praise him for consistently encouraging formative evaluation. Less seasoned training professionals only conduct summative evaluation (Level 1-smiley sheets), but evaluation should not be seen as an event as much as a life-cycle process. The ISD process includes a formative evaluation approach, which is often over looked. If you read this book and measure all four levels, you will be on the right track to evaluation utopia.

If you are a serious evaluator or interested in calculating return on investment, a "must read" is Jack Phillips Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs. Phillips expands Kirkpatrick's models to a fifth level, which is return on investment (ROI), and encourages ROI at Kirkpatrick's four levels, too. If you are interested in implementing Kirkpatrick's four-level model and/or ROI, you need to read Another Look at Evaluation Training Programs. This book is a series of "best practice" articles compiled by Kirkpatrick.

One final note: Keep in mind that Kirkpatrick's model is not the only one out there. For instance, there is: Kaufman's Five Levels of Evaluation, The CIRO (context, input, reaction, and outcome) Approach, Stufflebeams's CIPP (context, input, process, and product) Model, Alkins' UCLA Model, and The Phillips Five-Level ROI Framework. Choose a best-fit model that is based on your known organizational barriers and the decisions important to your stakeholders.

Should be part of any trainerýs basic toolkit.......2000-06-27

This book should be in every instructional designer's or training manager's library. Kirkpatrick's four-level model of training evaluation is frequently referenced in the training literature and is the standard for evaluating the impact of training. It is part of the common language used in the training industry. This book is also an excellent primer for some of the basic issues involved in evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. It contains numerous case studies from actual training programs. Almost two-thirds of the book teaches through case studies.

The book also contains examples of data collection instruments and other evaluation tools that can be adapted for a trainer's own needs. I wish the first part of the book had been expanded to provide more explanation of the four levels before launching into the case studies. Kirkpatrick has edited another book, Another Look at Evaluating Training Programs, which contains articles by other evaluators who discuss many issues related to the Kirkpatrick model and provide further case studies.

There has been much interest in return-on-investment (ROI) in the training industry. Kirkpatrick cautions against confusing ROI with results; they are not the same. Financial return is just one of many possible critical success factors. The focus on ROI can even mask true business results that encompass more strategic factors and involve a larger time frame than is typically analyzed in ROI analysis. Nevertheless, the reader may want to look at Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs by Jack Phillips.

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