building an ebusiness from the ground up elizabeth eisner reding mcgraw-hill, 2001 isbn:...

122 Volume 2, Issue 3 Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. focussoftware

This book appears to be aimed at those with little or nocomputing or Internet knowledge. It is a basic andintroductory review of the skills and initial knowledgenecessary for designing and developing Web pageenvironments to implement or market a business idea. Thebook forms a very good introductory textbook and instructionmanual for those who may even feel intimidated by thehyperbole that surrounds personal computing and,particularly, the World Wide Web. The book is presented withthe maximum use of pictures and colour, including manyscreen dumps of Windows-based environments and Web pages,and a minimum of text. However, although brief at 164 pages,

Autumn 2001 focus books

Building an eBusinessfrom the Ground UpElizabeth Eisner RedingMcGraw Hill, 2001

ISBN: 0-07-242636-5 164 pages

the text is informative, illuminating and inviting to acomputing novice. It is a particularly glossy and colourfulbook, and it makes good use of design formatting toencourage students to work through exercises and check theiraccumulation of knowledge at various points in each chapter.

The book provides information and worked examples of howto use the Web to exploit a business idea or plan. Itemphasises the word ‘eBusiness’ to describe the use of Webtools and techniques to market business opportunities. Thereare eight chapters. From Chapter 1 through to Chapter 8these include: Getting Started on the Web; Creating aBusiness Plan; Developing a Marketing Plan; Designing a WebPage; Creating a Web Site; Enhancing a Web Page; CreatingAdvanced Web Pages; and Running an eBusiness. An

advantage of using this book, for both lecturers and studentsalike, is its supporting material. The publisher, McGraw-Hill,offers Web-based supplementary resources, including aninstructor’s CD-ROM of questions and answers. However, Ihave not seen or reviewed these additional resources that arecited in the book, as they are not automatically supplied withthe textbook on purchase. Overall, the design of the book isvery inviting. Each chapter includes an ‘opening vignette’that establishes the learning outcomes. Each chapter alsoincludes a number of Web tips and Web alert sections to pointthe student to supporting Web addresses and other Webmaterial.

In summary, this is a compact textbook that would be of useon a foundation computing course, or adult educationevening course, in web page design and development in thebusiness environment. It may even be a very appropriatesupplementary textbook for those on an introductory level ofa higher national diploma (HND). The author has tried, andsucceeded, in making the book as accessible as possible to anabsolute beginner to personal computing who may possess agood business idea they wish to represent using the mediumof Web technology.

Geoffrey ElliottProgramme Director for BIT and E-CommerceSouth Bank University, 103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA

This is a compact textbook that would be of use on a foundation computing course, or adult

education evening course, in web page design anddevelopment in the business environment.

contributes towards keeping the attention of the reader.Sometimes, I even started to just read these windows in the fewnext pages as I found them very interesting.

Finally, the author offers further support for the readers/usersof the book, whether they are a new Internet user, a student oreven a lecturer using the book for lectures. The book’s Web siteprovides high quality support for all.

In summary, this book is extremely well written. It is clear,comprehensive, well structured and covers the most important

issues of its subject. The numerous illustrations clearly improvethe understanding of the complex topic. I thoroughlyrecommend this book for students studying a course incomputer networks and also for people wishing to have a betterunderstanding of the technologies behind the Internet.

Khalid Al-BegainDepartment of Computing, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire k.begain@bradford.ac.uk