As an Information Architect, I’m often asked to put together presentations explaining exactly what it is I do. As you know, if you’re not familiar with IA or the Library Sciences associated with it, you may find it dull, boring, and generally tough to get excited about.

I recently finished reading Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and I have to say, I’m more excited about creating presentations that I know people will be more engaged with. Being able to keep an audience engaged and leaving them excited about a presentation is key in todays overload of media consumption and time limitations we impose upon ourselves.

Since having the book on my desk, I’ve had a few folks from the office stop by and ask about it. Now, I’m beginning to see copies on their desks. This gets me excited that we’re shifting from dull, boring clip-art presentations to exciting, engaged, rich presentations. A win for all those having to sit through them.

If you want to learn from the best, and see some of the secrets great presenters like Steve Jobs, pick up a copy and incorporate those learnings into your next meeting. I’ll warn you now, the audience will enjoy it.

If you’re an Information Architect like me, then you probably love the idea of creating wireframes and designing forms. Lots of thought goes into designing forms. From usability of the layout to the labels on the form fields, seems not two forms end up the same.

Now there’s some help. Web Form Design by Luke Wroblewski is now available. The book was published by Rosenfeld Media. The book contains 244 pages (softcopy) of fill in the form goodness.

So, if you plan on designing lots of forms, and hey who doesn’t, then pick up this handy guide. Your users will thank you.

Haven’t got time to read Groundswell? No worries. The book is now available as an audiobook

. So now there’s no excuses why you can’t catch up on your social media.

At a little more than 8 hours, you should be able to quickly listen in to the book while sitting on a plane, working out at the gym or cutting the lawn.

Anyone who has ever read or watched anything on Mt. Everest, knows that it’s a tough place. It’s known for it’s deadly temperatures, lack of oxygen and determined climbers who’ll risk life to reach the summit.

Few people know the other side of Everest. The side where crooks, thieves and those eager to make off with top-notch equipment roam the mountains like it’s the wild west. MotherJones has a great article, Go Sell It on the Mountain, written around a review of the book High Crimes.

High Crimes by Michael Kodas
ISBN: 1401302734

Looks like a great read. I’ll be picking this book up soon.