Interpretation for the 21st Century: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture, (Second Edition)

Product Description

Interpretation for the 21st Century-2nd edition is uplifting and inspiring as it enhances the reader's understanding of how to interpret our cultural and natural legacy. The 15 guiding principles in this book will assist anyone who works in parks, forests, wildlife refuges, zoos, musea, historic areas, nature centers and tourism sites to more effectively and joyously conduct their work. Interpretation for the 21st Century, now updated and in its 2nd edition, has been used internationally and has been translated into Chinese. It serves as inspirational reading for students.

Customer Reviews:

Thorough, but Dry and "textbooky".......2007-06-04

Someday there will be one book that sums up the field of interpretation. This is not it. This book is 'ok' as a reference book, but mine collects more dust than the others in my interpretive library. I was disappointed in how dry it was. Ironically, I felt it lacks the passion that is so crucial to interpretation. To me, it didn't say anything new that Tilden hadn't already covered (just regurgitated theory in different words). This is purely my opinion, but I don't think Beck's 'extra' principles are a significant contribution to the profession. Because of this, I choose not to include them in my introductory interpretive training class. For example, one chapter is on 'communicating in the information age'. Anyone who's the slightest bit computer-literate knows that interpretation, like any profession, needs to grow and change with time. Does it really require an entire chapter? It's already outdated, anyway, because it doesn't cover blogging or Myspace, which are two tools I use for passive interpretation.

If you haven't read the 'staples' of interpretation (Tilden, Cornell, Ham, etc.) yet, this book will be useful, because it contains 'cliffnotes' on those books. But I recommend reading Tilden for the basics, Cornell to get inspired, and Ham's book, 'Environmental Interpretation' (which isn't just for the natural history interpreter) for the hands-on application part, instead.

Excellent handbook for Tour Guides and other Interpreters.......2004-11-25

The authors of this book offered me exactly what I have expected: a concise and comprehensive insight into the Art of interpretation. They have used for their starting point some `classics' on this subject, such as Mills or Tilden (they did it in a wise and respectful way), and then they developed a much wider and contemporary context to display all aspects of interpretation - its meaning, principles, tools and practice.

According to the authors these are the 15 basic principles of modern interpretation (explained in separate chapters of the book):

1. Lighting a Spark
2. Interpreting in the Information Age
3. Importance of the Story
4. Provocation
5. Holistic Interpretation
6. Interpretation Throughout the Lifespan
7. Bringing the Past Alive
8. Modern Tools of Interpretation
9. Enough is Enough
10. Technique Before Art
11. Interpretive Writing
12. Attracting Support and Making Friends
13. Interpreting Beauty
14. Promoting Optimal Experience
15. Passion

Not only have they covered all relevant facets of their theme, but they also got it across in a clear, interesting and instructive way. Naturally, one could have expected that explanations regarding `interpretation' would be interpreted well. In the case of this book such expectations have completely been met. Simply, Beck and Cable did a great job. As a reader you will enjoy their accounts of what interpretation is or is not and how can it be effectively practiced in both natural and cultural environments.

A great deal of useful tips for interpreters, meaningful quotations, as well as some helpful notes printed in separate `boxes' give this book an additional flavor of seriously planned, thoroughly studied and fully executed task by the authors. This book may undoubtedly serve as an excellent tool for tour guides to improve their interpreting capabilities and their art of story-telling in order to give their audience really great tours!

Will this book become a `new Bible' in the field of interpretation in the 21st century?

Interpretation for the 21st Century.......2000-07-17

Larry Beck's and Ted Cable's "Interpretation for the 21st Century, Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture" is one of the best resources I have found for tour guides, museum professionals, educators, and anyone who builds programming around historical, cultural and natural sites or institutions.

It introduces the classics of interpretation (Tilden, Mills, etc.) and then covers everything from the bigger picture to the details of specific practices.

As a program manager in a museum, I find lots of food for thought, training material, and program development guidance in this book. It also captures the excitement, joy, and passion that Interpretation can embody in its best forms. This book is both inspiring and helpful every time I use it.

Book Description

A guidebook for true explorers, the south Atlantic islands of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are isolated and therefore a fascinating destination for travellers who enjoy a completely different vacation. Their remote location has led to a host of endemic plant species and large seabird colonies, meaning the islands appeal to botanists and birdwatchers the world over.

St Helena - Ascension - Tristan da Cunha: The Bradt Travel Guide

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A lot about a little
Fun to read... but how do we get there?

St Helena - Ascension - Tristan da Cunha: The Bradt Travel Guide
Sue Steiner
Manufacturer: Bradt Travel Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1841620505

Customer Reviews:

A lot about a little.......2006-06-06

Recently, I read Simon Winchester's travel narrative, OUTPOSTS, about his mid-1980s visits to the last vestiges of the British Empire. This left me oddly fascinated with Britain's three mid-South Atlantic island colonies identified in the title of this guide to ST. HELENA, ASCENSION, TRISTAN DA CUNHA. I mean, they're so "out there".

Each of the three having one part of the volume dedicated to it, the book describes each island in terms of geography, climate, natural history (flora and fauna), history, people and politics, practical information for the visitor, and what to do after arriving. There are several very useful maps and four short sections of color photographs.

Being the largest and most populated, St. Helena (47 square miles and population 5,100+) gets most of the attention with the visitors' practical information and what-to-do-when-you-get-there sections comprising 45 pages. Ascension (34 square miles and population 1000+) gets honorable mention with the same sections comprising 14 pages. Tristan da Cunha (38 square miles and population around 300) is almost an afterthought with the touristy section stretched to a whopping 6 pages. My backyard has more sights of interest and things to do.

St. Helena is, of course, most famous for being Napoleon's prison from 1815 to his death in 1821. Therefore, the chief attractions are arguably Longwood House (his residence in exile), his campaign cot, and his original burial site. Beyond those tourist traps, and compared to Ascension and Tristan de Cunha, there's a lot of other stuff to see. Trust me.

Ascension is essentially controlled by the RAF and the USAF, the latter operating an air base. Private land ownership is virtually non-existent. Big tourist draws include egg-laying green sea turtles (January-May), a notable blowhole at Hannay's Beach, the Volcano Club - a "real American" bar on the airbase serving American-style food, and Dampier's Drip, a natural spring that sounds more like a sailor's venereal disease. For botanists, two destinations of pilgrimage might be the patches of ground hosting:

"Sporobolus caespitosus is an endangered endemic grass. The last time this species was spotted, there were approximately 70 tufts remaining high on Green Mountain. Since then, no further sightings have been made, and it is quite possibly extinct."

And my favorite ...

"Dryopteris adscensionis is an endemic which can be found in moist ravines. As far as anyone knows, there is only one single plant remaining." Honey, we're leaving for Ascension, and pack a garden trowel!

Tristan da Cunha is remarkable for its lack of sight-seeing opportunies, unless one counts the sheep and the Potato Patches, the latter where the islanders grow their food staple.

Basically, one's route to any of these places is expensive and convoluted, and usually involves a ship of some sort, though the Royal Air Force does reportedly operate passenger flights from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension twice weekly. Perhaps as a cautionary addendum to such, the guide features a special section on how to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on long-haul flights.

ST. HELENA, ASCENSION, TRISTAN DA CUNHA is a little gem of a travel guide providing more information than you ever dreamed possible about three places on the distant edge of nowhere in particular. If you skim it from cover to cover, you'll likely come away with more knowledge than if you actually visit. Of course, you'd miss the opportunity to dig up and smuggle home Dryopteris adscensionis.

Fun to read... but how do we get there?.......2003-03-04

Hats off to Bradt for producing this guide in the first place. The three destinations covered in the book are about as "off the beaten track" as it's possible to get without falling off the edge of the Earth. They are 3 tiny islands floating in the middle of the South Atlantic. None can be reached by commercial air service. St. Helena is accessible by a regular, but quite infrequent passenger ship traveling between England and Cape Town. (The schedule of which requires visitors to spend either only a couple of hours/days on the island, or several weeks.)
Ascension is a stop on a few of the St. Helena runs. Tristan, the most remote of all, is served only by the occassional freighter or private vessel.
Not surprisingly, none of the destinations is exactly overflowing with tourist attractions [though St. Helena, of course, has some Napoleon sites], but this (along with their inaccessibility) means that they aren't exactly overflowing with tourists either. Which, for some people, is what gives them their appeal.

No, I won't be visiting these destinations any time soon. But the guidebook was a lot of fun to read, providing plenty of fodder for travel-dreams.

Customer Reviews:

BLACKBEARD, BUCCANEERS, AND BOOTY.......2004-07-16

Pirates, as author Richard Platt quickly makes clear, were an unsavory lot to say the least. Wonderful full-color illustrations of these grizzly fellows also leave no doubt that they were men to be avoided at all costs. That was not as easy as it sounds because early mariners on the Mediterranean (some 5,000 years ago) had no defense when overtaken by a merciless crew who stole what they had and often sold the seamen for slaves.

During the 16th century Spanish ships carried the greatest booty in gold and silver stolen from the Aztecs and Incas. Even the English, led by Sir Francis Drake, raided Spanish treasure.

Famous pirates aren't overlooked - Blackbeard, of course, one of the cruelest and most intimidating physically. His real name was Edward Teach; it's said he was so fierce that it took five gun shots and 20 sword wounds to kill him. An English pirate, Henry Avery, made his fortune in piracy as did William Kidd.

Illustrations of pirate ships, their weapons, and flags are also discussed, and a visit to Treasure Island is included.

"Discovering Pirates" is a valuable resource as well as entertaining reading for those interested in the buccaneers who once roamed the seas.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but Somewhat Flawed!.......2003-08-26

I have many pirate reference books, and this was added to my collection. I found the diving materials and photos very interesting, but I was less interested in Barry Clifford's autobiography. He was a former high school teacher who was interested in history, especially about pirates who sailed off the Massachusetts coast. Once I called his museum to find out more information about "Black Sam" Bellamy, but others in another museum told me it had been a vacant lot for several years. They didn't know when Mr. Clifford was going to build his pirate museum. I then hoped that no school buses on field trips had brought a bunch of youngsters only to severely disappoint them.

THE PIRATE PRINCE, DISCOVERING THE PRICELESS TREASURES OF THE SUNKEN SHIP WHYDAH

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THE PIRATE PRINCE, DISCOVERING THE PRICELESS TREASURES OF THE SUNKEN SHIP WHYDAH
Barry With Peter Turchi Clifford
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4XL9Y

Book Description

Instant Notes titles focus on core information and are designed to help undergraduate students come to grips with a subject quickly and easily.

Instant Notes in Cognitive Psychology provides a succinct yet comprehensive overview of the key theoretical and empirical topics in cognitive psychology, providing easy access to the core information in the field. The book can serve as a core text, supplemented by readings in the original literature, as a reference guide for students and lecturers alike, or as an ideal revision guide prior to exams.

Instant Notes in Cognitive Psychology is intended primarily for students taking a first course in the subject, but can also be used as an introduction to the field for undergraduates and graduates from other subject areas.

Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Industrial Organic Chemicals brings together around 200 detailed and thoroughly edited articles on organic starting materials and intermediates. Based on the very latest edition of Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, the contents represent the most up-to-date source of information available.

The 8 volumes of alphabetically arranged articles provide coverage of the manufacturing of chemicals, the design of processes, the operation of chemical plants, and the markets of the products. Internationally respected authors, from industry and academia and from the world's major industrialized countries, provide a complete picture for each chemical.

The typical pattern of an article is as follows:

- Introduction
- Properties
- Chemical reactions
- Production
- Legal aspects
- Quality and analysis
- Uses
- Economic aspects
- Toxicology and occupational health
- References

A keyword index, an author index and a CAS-registry-number index complete the contents of this encyclopedia.

Top-quality illustrations, clear diagrams and charts, and the extensive use of tables enhance presentation and provide a unique level of detail.

The encyclopedia will be an invaluable source of information for chemists, chemical engineers, patent attorneys, marketing specialists and all those involved in today's chemical industry.

Book Description

Regarded by many as James's greatest achievement in short fiction, "The Beast in the Jungle" is a portrait of a man alienated from life and love. "The Jolly Corner" and "The Altar of the Dead" are two tales that explore the complex interlacings of loss, love and the ever-present past in the lives of their protagonists. Note.

Customer Reviews:

All things come to those who wait...or do they?.......2006-09-26

In this basically two person novella, John Marcher, believes that something, not necessarily wonderful, maybe even terrible-but something-would eventually spring on him unawares, like a beast in the jungle, and ultimately determine his fate. May Bartram, his friend throughout these many years, agrees to wait with Marcher to observe his destiny.

_The Beast in the Jungle_, in its quiet, psychologically incisive, and intimate way, is the tragedy of a man who is too passive, too timid, too self-absorbed and self-centered to attempt even in the slightest manner to take life in his own hands to shape his future. Marcher is certain that May Bartram can provide him with all the answers to the impending great event, but he only succeeds in slowly draining the life from her. May Bartram, patient and wise, is the true hero of the piece. It is only at the end that the truth is revealed to Marcher. The jungle finally becomes empty, and poor pitiful, ineffectual John Marcher never even witnessed it.

Studies of Obsession, Subtle Nuances, Intellectually Haunting.......2005-07-05

This Dover edition - titled The Beast in the Jungle and Other Stories - provides three short stories that are among the finest of their genre, although defining the genre itself is not without difficulty. Only The Jolly Corner might be classed a ghost story. These superb studies of obsession might be best described as nuanced, subtle, and intellectually haunting, and are among the best short works of Henry James.

The Alter of the Dead (1895): George Stransom "had perhaps not more losses than most men, but he counted his losses more: he hadn't seen death more closely, but had in a manner felt it more deeply."

The Beast in the Jungle (1903): John Marcher had from his earliest time, deep within him, "the sense of being kept for something rare and strange, possibly prodigious and terrible, that was sooner or later to happen" and he had in his bones the foreboding and conviction that it might overwhelm him. Despite its suspense and deep sense of despair, this classic tale has been described as sluggish and overly ornate. Be that as it may, this foreboding tale is memorable.

The Jolly Corner (1908): Returning after decades in Europe to his vacant, empty home in New York, Spencer Brydon would in the gathering dusk "wander and wait, linger and listen, feel his fine attention, never in his life so fine, on the pulse of the great vague place: he preferred the lampless hour and only wished he might have prolonged each day the deep crepuscular spell."

I have read this collection on three, perhaps four occasions. The works of Henry James, like that of William Faulkner, continue to improve with subsequent readings, undoubtedly the mark of great literature. For the reader unfamiliar with the writings of Henry James, this little collection would be an excellent introduction to his challenging prose. I highly recommend this Dover edition.

An engrossing tale.......2001-10-23

Henry James' Beast in the Jungle is surely not for everyone, there is little action in the novella (I suppose that is the point actually) and the title could give readers the wrong idea. John Marcher, the protagonist, is re-aquainted with May Bartram, a woman he knew ten years earlier, who remembers his odd secret- Marcher is seized with the belief that his life is to be defined by some catastrophic or spectacular event, lying in wait for him like a "beast in the jungle."

May decides to take a flat nearby in London, and to spend her days with Marcher curiously awaiting what fate has in stall for John. Of course Marcher is a self-centered egoist, believing that he is precluded from marrying so that he does not subject his wife to his "spectacular fate". So he takes May to the theatre and invites her to an occasional dinner, while not allowing her to really get close to him for her own sake. As he sits idly by and allows the best years of his life to pass, he takes May down as well, until the denouement wherein he learns that the great misfortune of his life was to throw it away, and to ignore the love of a good woman, based upon his preposterous sense of foreboding.

James' language can be a bit stilted at times, and some of the dialogue may strike modern readers as out-dated. However James was a master of the novella format, and with The Beast in the Jungle he has written an engrossing psychological drama, which left me speechless at the very end. Pick up a collection that also includes The Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller if you haven't already read them, they are accessible (more so than some of James' full length novels) and great examples of the format's potential.

This Beast Is The Best.......2001-01-22

I have never read Henry James before because I have always been told that he is not worth reading. My own teachers have told me that, but they obviously didn't read like I do because I found this story nothing but delightful. Henry James faintly resembles the writing of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. I see the resemblance in James' use of detail, not only in physical descriptions but also in the portrayals of capturing what is happening in the minds of his characters. This can be tedious if a reader is looking for plot, but my own conviction is that good fiction is driven by character, and anything that happens within a plot happens consequently to how characters act and/or think. "The Beast in the Jungle" revolves around only two characters and how their relationship and convictions affect each other's lives. The beauty in this story is the reality within it-a realization of time and how and what it should be spent on. James focuses on human relationships and shows the flaws that can occur within those relationships. John Marcher's selfishness, for instance, keeps him at a distance from May Bartram and her love for him: "Marcher had been visited by one of his occasional warnings against egotism. He had kept up, he felt . . . his consciousness of the importance of not being selfish". This selfishness, which Marcher believes he suppresses fairly well, is what turns out to be part of the Beast he is seeking; the selfishness is what keeps him from loving Mary Bartram simply because he wants her only for what she can do for him: ". . . he had never felt before, the growth of a dread of losing her by some catastrophe . . . that yet wouldn't at all be the catastrophe: partly because she had almost of a sudden begun to strike him as more useful to him than ever yet". I enjoyed "The Beast in the Jungle" so much because it took me into the mind of a person who grows throughout the story and learns something that perhaps every human being needs to learn throughout the course of his/her life. I don't find Henry James tiresome or dull at all; in fact, to myself of course, his writing is quite the contrary. I look forward to reading more of him.

A glimpse into the soul.......2000-08-02

Henry James has always been one of my favorite writers even though many readers are put off by his very stylized writing. When I first read "The Beast in the Jungle", I must admit that I was completely blown away by its powerful message. This is a type of mystery that never loses its power although you already know the ending. There is no way to describe certain moments in the story that give us a glimpse into the very soul of these characters that manage to become real to us throughout this story. Marcher's incredible egotism blinds him from seeing the truth in his life and thereby destroying not only his own life, but also destroying the life of the woman who could have helped him learn how to live before it was too late. Henry James was a master writer and to quote the words of T.S. Eliot: "Henry James is a difficult writer for English readers because he is American, difficult for Americans because he is European, and I ignore if he is possible for other readers." Yes, Henry James can be a challenge for many readers, but the reward is all worth the effort.

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