Books for ID Team

A reader asks:

Hi Jay,

I'm looking for a mix of books for my ID team, which comprises junior learning designers and more senior folk such as myself. I'm interested in the learning design/learning model side rather than the technical side. Currently, I'm not too interested in books dealing with companies implementing e-learning strategy (I have some of these already). To give you some ideas, I'm already considering:

New e-learning approaches (ish) - for me to learn more

Sims and the future of e-learning - Clark Aldrich

Digital game based learning - Marc Prensky

More standard texts for junior staff
E-learning and the science of instruction - Ruth Clark
Michael Allen's guide to e-learning
(n.b. especially the CD of sample programs)

You've made some excellent choices right off the bat. I like all of these.

I probably wouldn't turn to books since the web has such good stuff, e.g. Boxes and Arrows, eLearningPost, old LineZine articles, Big Dog for background, First Monday, MIT Future of Learning Group, Learning Circuits, George Siemens, CIO, HBR, the Learning FAQs, Stephen Downes' pointers, and my own Internet Time. Links to most of these are on my eLearning Jump page. The web is currently the only place to read and/or order information about Workflow Learning.

Of course, it's presumptuous of me to recommend books for people whose background and job responsibilties I know not, so I'll simply list books that have introduced useful frameworks and ideas into my thinking.

The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid

Blur by Stan Davis and Chris Meyer

Future Perfect by Stan Davis

The Future of Knowledge by Verna Allee


The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

Things That Make Us Smart by Don Norman

Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie

The Springboard by Stephen Denning

Don't Shoot the Dog! by Karen Pryor

Serious Play by Michael Schrage


Visual Language by Robert Horn

Information Architecture by Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville

The Inmates are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper


Emotional Intelligence or anything related by Daniel Goleman

Education and Ecstacy by George Leonard

Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich

Designing World-Class Learning or something similar by Roger Schank


What Every Manager Should Know About Training by Robert Mager

Living on the Fault Line by Geoff Moore

Performance Consulting: Moving Beyond Training
by Dana Gaines Robinson, James C. Robinson

What Mangement Is by Joan Magretta and Nan Stone

The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization by Thomas A. Stewart

Intellectual Capital by Thomas A. Stewart

No Significant Difference by Thomas L. Russell

Information Anxiety by Richard Saul Wurman


The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte

Mindfulness by Elizabeth Langer

Mindful Learning by Elizabeth Langer

The Cluetrain Manifesto by Chris Locke, David Weinberger et alia

any three by Peter Drucker


The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug

Architect for Learning: Using the Internet as an Efffective Educational Environment by Philip J. Palin and Kari Sanhaas

I believe in wringing the ideas out of books. After I jotted down this list, mainly by touring my bookcases, I realized that I've talked or corresponded with more than half of these authors. Not that we're pals. Simply exchanging a few sentences with someone seems to plant their lessons more firmly in my head.

I also highlight books with yellow markers (I prefer the lemon-scented ones) and make marginal notes as I read along. Soon after finishing a book, I generally write a synopsis of what I want to retain. (You'll find reviews of most of the books on the list at www.internettime.com ).

Most designers would probably better spend their time learning about the business they are in than finetuning their design skills through reading. For many years, I worked with financial services training. I read American Banker every day. I read Mayer's books on banking. I read every page of the Bank Analyst's Handbook. I read banking magazines. I talked with bankers about their concerns. The greatest designers in the world won't have credibility, or understanding, if they don't know the territory.

What books have you found essential?

Posted by Jay Cross at November 28, 2003 10:14 PM | TrackBack