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Free Upskilling Books for All!

Description: These upskilling books are freely available to anyone who wants to learn a new skill, prepare for going back to school, or switch careers! #public #adults


Showing 1 through 25 of 147 results

Perl One-Liners

by Peteris Krumins

Part of the fun of programming in Perl lies in tackling tedious tasks with short, efficient, and reusable code.

Often, the perfect tool is the one-liner, a small but powerful program that fits in one line of code and does one thing really well.

In Perl One-Liners, author and impatient hacker Peteris Krumins takes you through more than 100 compelling one-liners that do all sorts of handy things, such as manipulate line spacing, tally column values in a table, and get a list of users on a system.

This cookbook of useful, customizable, and fun scripts will even help hone your Perl coding skills, as Krumins dissects the code to give you a deeper understanding of the language.

You'll find one-liners that:–Encode, decode, and convert strings–Generate random passwords–Calculate sums, factorials, and the mathematical constants pi and e–Add or remove spaces–Number lines in a file–Print lines that match a specific pattern–Check to see if a number is prime with a regular expression–Convert IP address to decimal form–Replace one string with another And many more!

Save time and sharpen your coding skills as you learn to conquer those pesky tasks in a few precisely placed keystrokes with Perl One-Liners.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Architecture of Open Source Applications

by Amy Brown and Greg Wilson

Architects look at thousands of buildings during their training, and study critiques of those buildings written by masters. In contrast, most software developers only ever get to know a handful of large programs well—usually programs they wrote themselves—and never study the great programs of history. As a result, they repeat one another's mistakes rather than building on one another's successes. Our goal is to change that. In these two books, the authors of four dozen open source applications explain how their software is structured, and why. What are each program's major components? How do they interact? And what did their builders learn during their development? In answering these questions, the contributors to these books provide unique insights into how they think. If you are a junior developer, and want to learn how your more experienced colleagues think, these books are the place to start. If you are an intermediate or senior developer, and want to see how your peers have solved hard design problems, these books can help you too.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Open-Advice

by Lydia Pintscher

Open Advice is a knowledge collection from a wide variety of Free Software projects. It answers the question what 42 prominent contributors would have liked to know when they started so you can get a head-start no matter how and where you contribute.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Ruby Under a Microscope

by Pat Shaughnessy

Ruby is a powerful programming language with a focus on simplicity, but beneath its elegant syntax it performs countless unseen tasks.

Ruby Under a Microscope gives you a hands-on look at Ruby’s core, using extensive diagrams and thorough explanations to show you how Ruby is implemented (no C skills required). Author Pat Shaughnessy takes a scientific approach, laying out a series of experiments with Ruby code to take you behind the scenes of how programming languages work.

You’ll even find information on JRuby and Rubinius (two alternative implementations of Ruby), as well as in-depth explorations of Ruby’s garbage collection algorithm.

Ruby Under a Microscope will teach you:–How a few computer science concepts underpin Ruby’s complex implementation–How Ruby executes your code using a virtual machine–How classes and modules are the same inside Ruby–How Ruby employs algorithms originally developed for Lisp–How Ruby uses grammar rules to parse and understand your code–How your Ruby code is translated into a different language by a compilerNo programming language needs to be a black box.

Whether you’re already intrigued by language implementation or just want to dig deeper into Ruby, you’ll find Ruby Under a Microscope a fascinating way to become a better programmer. Covers Ruby 2.x, 1.9 and 1.8

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript

by Nicholas C. Zakas

If you've used a more traditional object-oriented language, such as C++ or Java, JavaScript probably doesn't seem object-oriented at all.

It has no concept of classes, and you don't even need to define any objects in order to write code. But don't be fooled—JavaScript is an incredibly powerful and expressive object-oriented language that puts many design decisions right into your hands.In The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript, Nicholas C. Zakas thoroughly explores JavaScript's object-oriented nature, revealing the language's unique implementation of inheritance and other key characteristics.

You'll learn:–The difference between primitive and reference values–What makes JavaScript functions so unique–The various ways to create objects–How to define your own constructors–How to work with and understand prototypes–Inheritance patterns for types and objectsThe Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript will leave even experienced developers with a deeper understanding of JavaScript.

Unlock the secrets behind how objects work in JavaScript so you can write clearer, more flexible, and more efficient code.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Writing for Success

by Scott Mclean

Scott McLean's Writing for Success is a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition. Beginning with the sentence and its essential elements, this book addresses each concept with clear, concise and effective examples that are immediately reinforced with exercises and opportunities to demonstrate, and reinforce, learning.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Writing about Literature through Theory

by John Pennington and Ryan Cordell

Writing about Literature through Theory by Pennington and Cordell is the first introduction to literature text to embrace both the best of print culture and the opportunities of the digital age, while being grounded in the rhetoric and composition field pertaining to the developmental writing process. It is also unique because it uses literary theory as the foundation for students’ development as critical thinkers and writers. Following Gerald Graff’s ideas in “Disliking Books at an Early Age,” Writing about Literature through Theory uses theoretical approaches to open literary texts up to students across the disciplines. Writing about Literature through Theory focuses on writing as a process, and each chapter includes the following:

Date Added: 03/19/2020


World Regional Geography

by Royal Berglee

World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization is designed for students to experience and study as much of the world as possible within a limited amount of time. It gives students the fundamental concepts and the latest data regarding world places in a concise, easy-to-read format. This textbook focuses on the primary issues that have created our cultural and societal structures, and presents them within a framework for global understanding. A pattern of development is outlined from the imprint that European colonialism had on culture to the impact that giant retail corporations like Wal-Mart have on consumerism.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Understanding Media and Culture

by Jack Lule

According to Jack Lule, the world did not need another introductory text in mass communication. But the world did need another kind of introductory text in mass communication, and that is how Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was birthed.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Sustainable Business Case Book

by Ross Gittell and Matt Magnusson and Michael Merenda

The issue of sustainability and specifically sustainable business is of increasing interest and importance to students of business and also students in the sciences, government, public policy, planning and other fields. There can be significant benefits from students learning about sustainable business from the rich experiences of business practice. The Sustainable Business Case Book by Gittell, Magnusson and Merenda is one of the first of its kind. It combines the the theory of sustainability with key concepts, analytical information and contextual information with a collection of cases which provide insights, perspective and practical guidance on how sustainable businesses operate from different business functional area perspectives. The Sustainable Business Case Book can be used as a stand-alone text or as a supplemental textbook for undergraduate courses that have an interest in sustainable business. While the book's primary focus is on the relationship between business and sustainability, the book can also be used in courses offered in fields other than business, including environmental and earth systems sciences, environmental studies, urban planning, economics and public policy.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Power of Selling

by Kim Richmond

The Power of Selling is the perfect textbook to teach students about the proven process of selling. More important, it teaches students how to apply the tenets of selling to how to sell themselves and get the job they want, with the same process professional sales people learn (or brush up) on their own selling skills. What makes someone successful in sales? Are great sales people born or made? Is there one magic selling process, or does the process change based on the business...or the customer? How can the selling process really come alive for students in the classroom? How do students learn how to sell for life, not just for a course? The Power of Selling by Kim Richmond answers these questions and makes the principles of selling come alive. Kim looks at the topic of selling through a different lens, and provides inspiration and ideas. The Power of Selling provides an exciting and interactive experience for both professors and students through the use of 4 unique elements: 1. Content The content is based on the core selling tenets so instructors will find the familiar principles of selling. In addition, the impact of Sales 2.0 is addressed at every stage including how to use interactive tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, and wikis effectively. 2. Selling U The last section of each chapter is called Selling U. It applies the concepts covered in the chapter to a student's job search. Selling U topics include how to think about yourself as a brand, how to create a powerful cover letter and resume, how to create your personal elevator pitch, how to use networking and informational interviews to get the word out about your brand, how to prepare and dress for an interview, and how to negotiate and accept the right job offer. What makes The Power of Selling different is that Selling U is integrated into every chapter, which makes this text the ultimate guide to selling yourself. 3. Video Resources Videos are used throughout the book. Additional videos that are not included in the text are available for instructor use. Here are videos that are available: * Video Ride-alongs - One of the best ways to learn about sales is by going on ride-alongs. So every chapter starts with an exclusive feature called a Video Ride-along. These short videos feature seven different sales professionals - one that starts each chapter. Each one talks about how he or she applies one of the key concepts covered in the chapter in their job. These videos are designed to be "virtual ride-alongs" so the students can actually feel as though they are getting insights first hand from selling professionals. * The Power of Selling YouTube Channel here (youtube.com/thepowerofselling) - Over 50 videos are included featuring the sales professionals who are highlighted in the Video Ride-alongs. About half of the videos are used in the textbook. The balance are available for instructor use. Several are included in Video Learning Segments (see below). These videos are excellent resources for use in the classroom, exercises, and assignments. * Video Learning Segments In addition to the traditional supplements of Instructor Manual, PowerPoints, and Test Bank, there are also Video Learning Segments. These are PowerPoint slides embedded with videos designed to supplement the course PowerPoints and focus on one concept, like an ethical dilemma, pre-call preparation, or effective presentations, how to use email effectively. Each segment includes slides, videos, discussion questions, or exercises. 4. The Power of Selling LinkedIn Group. here This group was created on LinkedIn.com expressly as a resource for the faculty and students who use this textbook. The group includes sales professionals from across the country and from different industries. This is a great tool for faculty and students alike to network, participate in discussions, ask questions, and connect with "real world" selling professionals.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Legal Environment of Business

by Don Mayer and Daniel M. Warner and George J. Siedel and Jethro K. Lieberman

Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman's The Legal Environment of Business is an up-to-date textbook with comprehensive coverage of legal and regulatory issues for your introductory Legal Environment of Business course. The text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with their clear, concise and readable style.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business

by Terence Lau and Lisa Johnson

Terence Lau & Lisa Johnson's The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business is a book for today's student, who expects learning to be comprised not only of substance, but also of interactive exercises and multimedia. This book streamlines the presentation of material to ensure that every page is relevant, engaging, and interesting to undergraduate business students, without losing the depth of coverage that they need to be successful in their academic journeys and in their professional careers. This is not Legal Environment of Business (LEB) "light." Rather, this is LEB without risk of students' eyes glazing over in boredom or from lack of comprehension. This is LEB presented in an exciting way, where every page is interesting to students and relevant to real life.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Flat World Knowledge Handbook for Writers

by Miles Mccrimmon

Are you teaching freshman level students? Is this one of the first college level courses your students have ever taken? Probably. That is why this English Handbook is different (and we think better). Miles McCrimmon's, The Flat World Knowledge Handbook for Writers is based on the understanding that writing is at the center of the college experience, not just something students do on their way to "higher-level" coursework. The Flat World Knowledge Handbook for Writers supports the goal of acculturating entering students to the demands of college-level thinking and writing, whether that goal is being met through coursework in Composition, Student Development, or some combination of the two.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Business Ethics Workshop v 1.0

by James Brusseau

On a good day in the business ethics classroom discussion charges forward; students have read the assigned case study, they're engaged by the conflict and want to work through it. Then, there's a bad day: students didn't bother to do the reading and the hour sags listlessly. The key to going the first way is case studies that students want to read, and The Business Ethics Workshop by James Brusseau provides them with reality and engagement. Reality: No stilted and contrived stories about Steve Smith and Jane Jones. Excerpts from blogs and newspapers bring the weight--and provocation--of the world as it's actually happening to the classroom.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

by David W. Ball and John W. Hill and Rhonda J. J. Scott

The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry by David W. Ball, John W. Hill, and Rhonda J. Scott is a new textbook offering for the one-semester GOB Chemistry course. The authors designed this book from the ground up to meet the needs of a one-semester course. It is 20 chapters in length and approximately 350-400 pages; just the right breadth and depth for instructors to teach and students to grasp. In addition, The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry is written not by one chemist, but THREE chemistry professors with specific, complimentary research and teaching areas. David W. Ball's specialty is physical chemistry, John W. Hill's is organic chemistry, and finally, Rhonda J. Scott's background is in enzyme and peptide chemistry. These three authors have the expertise to identify and present only the most important material for students to learn in the GOB Chemistry course. These experienced authors have ensured their text has ample in-text examples, and "Test Yourself" questions following the examples so students can immediately check their comprehension. The end-of-chapter exercises will be paired, with one answered in the back of the text so homework can easily be assigned and self-checked.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

by Andrea Larson

This book is suited for the Entrepreneurship or Innovation course with an emphasis on Sustainability or for a course devoted entirely to Sustainability. The deep roots of sustainability thinking are now evident in widespread and increasingly visible activities worldwide, this text will help you and your students explore that necessity, its implications and its progression.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Stand Up, Speak Out

by Jason S. Wrench and Anne Goding and Danette Ifert Johnson and Bernardo A. Attias

The two key themes to Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking make it a welcomed addition to the choices you have for a public speaking textbook. First it focuses on helping students become more seasoned and polished public speakers, and second, its emphasis on ethics in communication. It is this practical approach and integrated ethical coverage that sets Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking apart from the other texts in this market.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Social Problems

by Steven E. Barkan

Social Problems: Continuity and Change by Steve Barkan is a realistic but motivating look at the many issues that are facing our society today. As this book's subtitle, Continuity and Change, implies, social problems are persistent, but they have also improved in the past and can be improved in the present and future, provided that our nation has the wisdom and will to address them. It is easy for students to read a social problems textbook and come away feeling frustrated by the enormity of the many social problems facing us today. Social Problems: Continuity and Change certainly does not minimize the persistence of social problems, but neither does it overlook the possibilities for change offered by social research and by the activities of everyday citizens working to make a difference. Readers of Steve Barkan's book will find many examples of how social problems have been improved and of strategies that hold great potential for solving them today and in the future.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Small Business Management in the 21st Century

by David T. Cadden and Sandra L. Lueder

Small Business Management in the 21st Century offers a unique perspective and set of capabilities for instructors. The authors designed this book with a "less can be more" approach, and by treating small business management as a practical human activity rather than as an abstract theoretical concept. The text has a format and structure that will be familiar to you if you use other books on small business management. Yet it brings a fresh perspective by incorporating three distinctive and unique themes and an important new feature (Disaster Watch) which is embedded throughout the entire text. These themes assure that students see the material in an integrated context rather than a stream of separate and distinct topics. First, the authors incorporate the use of technology and e-business as a way to gain competitive advantage over larger rivals. Technology is omnipresent in today's business world. Small business must use it to its advantage. We provide practical discussions and examples of how a small business can use these technologies without having extensive expertise or expenditures.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Six Steps to Job Search Success

by Caroline Ceniza-Levine and Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio

This book is a practical discussion of actionable steps (six of them!) that students can take to land a job regardless of the market. Whether the estimate is 25% unemployment or single-digit unemployment, that number doesn't apply to any one student. For any individual, the unemployment rate is 0% or 100%. One either has a job or doesn't. When any one person is looking for a job and there is 10% unemployment, that person just wants to be one of the nine people that has a job. Students might think even that one job is beyond their grasp. They think they don't have the right degree. Their school is in a different location than where they'd like to work. Not enough jobs are listed or employers are visiting the campus. This type of thinking cedes control of a student's search to outside forces. It is not up to professors, schools, career services support, or recruiters to get students a job. This book is about the proactive things that students can do to get themselves a job.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Sexuality and Our Diversity

by Marcus Tye

Sexuality and Our Diversity: Integrating Culture with the Biopsychosocial by Marcus Tye explores, with an integrated approach, the complex dimensions of biology, culture, psychology, sociology, history, and philosophy that explain human sexual diversity. While this text is primarily focused on the present, it also explores selected aspects of history to lend perspective to students that contemporary controversies have deep historical roots.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Risk Management for Enterprises and Individuals

by Etti Baranoff and Patrick Lee Brockett and Yehuda Kahane

This book is intended for the Risk Management and Insurance course where Risk Management is emphasized. When we think of large risks, we often think in terms of natural hazards such as hurricanes, earthquakes or tornados. Perhaps man-made disasters come to mind such as the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. Typically we have overlooked financial crises, such as the credit crisis of 2008. However, these types of man-made disasters have the potential to devastate the global marketplace. Losses in multiple trillions of dollars and in much human suffering and insecurity are already being totaled, and the global financial markets are collapsing as never before seen. We can attribute the 2008 collapse to financially risky behavior of a magnitude never before experienced. The 2008 U.S. credit markets were a financial house of cards. A basic lack of risk management (and regulators' inattention or inability to control these overt failures) lay at the heart of the global credit crisis. This crisis started with lack of improperly underwritten mortgages and excessive debt. Companies depend on loans and lines of credit to conduct their routine business. If such credit lines dry up, production slows down and brings the global economy to the brink of deep recession or even depression. The snowballing effect of this failure to manage the risk associated with providing mortgage loans to unqualified home buyers have been profound, indeed. When the mortgages failed because of greater risk- taking on the Street, the entire house of cards collapsed. Probably no other risk-related event has had, and will continue to have, as profound an impact world wide as this risk management failure. How was risk in this situation so badly managed? What could firms and individuals have done to protect themselves? How can government measure such risks (beforehand) to regulate and control them? These and other questions come to mind when we contemplate the consequences of this risk management fiasco. Standard risk management practice would have identified sub-prime mortgages and their bundling into mortgage-backed-securities as high risk. People would have avoided these investments or would have put enough money into reserve to be able to withstand defaults. This did not happen. Accordingly, this book may represent one of the most critical topics of study that the student of the 21st century could ever undertake. Risk management will be a major focal point of business and societal decision making in the 21st century. A separate focused field of study, it draws on core knowledge bases from law, engineering, finance, economics, medicine, psychology, accounting, mathematics, statistics and other fields to create a holistic decision-making framework that is sustainable and value- enhancing. This is the subject of this book.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Research Methods in Psychology

by Paul C. Price

Years before this book was a Flat World Knowledge textbook, Paul Price wrote an extensive series of handouts to replace the textbook he had been using for his psychological research methods course, and he posted them online for his students. The advantages of this were that 1) students had a streamlined presentation of the most important methodological concepts in psychology, and 2) they could access it online for free. Paul turned his book into a proper textbook by having it reviewed, edited and published with the full set of ancillaries by Flat World Knowledge so not only could his students get the materials for free, but so could yours. Although the content of Research Methods in Psychology is fairly traditional--making it easy for you to use with your existing courses--it also emphasizes a fundamental idea that is often lost on undergraduates: research methods are not a peripheral concern in our discipline; they are central. This why the overarching goal of this textbook is to present the basics of psychological research methods--focusing on the concepts and skills that are most widely shared within the discipline--emphasizing both their centrality to our field and their contribution to our understanding of human behavior. The book will include several features that will help accomplish this overarching goal. The Core Concepts: Dr. Price based his choices about content and terminology on the most influential original books and articles in the research methodology literature--as determined by an empirical analysis of the reference lists of secondary sources. He also relied on the Undergraduate Psychology Major Learning Goals and Outcomes document commissioned by the APA. Although many of the research methods outcomes in that document are addressed in all research methods textbooks (e.g., "Describe how various research designs address different types of questions and hypotheses"), others are rarely mentioned (e.g., "Recognize the limitations of applying normative conclusions to individuals"). The Examples: The text includes examples drawn from the entire range of contemporary psychology, including abnormal, clinical, and counseling psychology. Dr. Price also chose examples to show how psychological research has fundamentally changed what we believe to be true about human behavior (for example, in the area of eyewitness memory). The Style: Dr. Price concentrated on making the style of this book both straightforward and engaging. If you are looking for a new research methods textbook for your psychology course that has been used by "teachers" and is thorough in its content, you will find your book in Paul Price's Research Methods in Psychology. Order a desk copy and see for yourself.

Date Added: 03/19/2020


Project Management from Simple to Complex

by Russell Darnall and John M. Preston

In a world that is becoming more virtual, more global, and more complex, the project manager's ability to function in this environment becomes critical to the success of the project. Project Management from Simple to Complex explores project management within this complex, virtual, and global environment. This is not a standard textbook that was adapted to the new publishing paradigm but was designed from the beginning to utilize its capabilities. The book is written in collaboration by an expert in Project Management--Russell Darnall--and an expert in writing instructional texts and using technology for communicating online--John Preston--to create a unique learning environment that prepares students to manage projects in a global, multicultural, and online environment.

Date Added: 03/19/2020



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