Book Review IBM Lotus Notes 8 5 User Guide by Karen Hooper

Book Review IBM Lotus Notes 8 5 User Guide by Karen Hooper

IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 User Guide

by Karen Hooper

Paperback : 296 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]

Release Date : August 2010

ISBN : 1849680205

ISBN 13 : 978-1-849680-20-2

Ive just finished reading Karen Hoopers excellent IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 User Guide and its awesome. In fact, this book is so good that Id already gone online partway through the third chapter and ordered a print copy for my workplace library.

Of course, it helps that PACKT Publishing is having an IBM Month this November. Theres a bunch of special offers but the ones to really take note of are;

• 20% off all Packt IBM print books
• 25% off if you purchase 3 or more books
• 30% off all Packt IBM ebooks

Back to the Review...

So, who is the audience for the book? Well, its the layperson, the employees who are new to Notes or who need to brush up on their skills. Thats not to say that there isnt good material and tips for the techies out there - but that the best value gains will come from the non-IT staff.

When reviewing technical books, I always have a goal in mind. In this case, my goal was simply to feel like everything had been covered yet still take away at least one "wow" moment where despite my long history with Notes, I pick up something new.

In this book, there were several wow moments. In fact, several times I had to put it down and get in there and have a go just to prove to myself that these "new" features worked. Im impressed!

A Notes 8+ Book

If youre still using Notes 7, then youve got the wrong book. This is very much a book about the current Notes product. There have been massive changes in Notes 8 - 8.5 and this book walks through each of them in detail.

There are the usual chapters on mail, calendar and to-do lists but there are also sections dealing with RSS feeds, widgets, the sidebar, sametime and more. Thankfully the book is free of QuickR, Sametime (full version) and Connections references. This is a book which respects its core subject and concentrates its full attention on it.

There are a couple of ambitious chapters near the end which cover more on replication and database creation than Id usually want my users to know but its refreshing to see this material dealt with so simply. Its a book that you can hand up to the less technical management band and know that theyll come away with the right concepts.

Finally, the book ends with a chapter dealing with Symphony. Id have preferred this chapter to have been two chapters earlier (in front of the technical stuff) and Id have preferred it to go into more detail. It does however point to some very useful online resources - and since its slightly off-topic, its probably in the right place.

This book is brilliant. It belongs on the shelf in every IT department running Notes 8 and above. It also belongs in HR and there are whole sections which probably should be presented as part of a staff induction.

In fact, as soon as my print copy arrives (I read the eBook version), Ive got a long list of people I want to circulate it through.

Dont hesitate - the IBM November specials at PACKT Publishing arent going to last - get out there and get this book. Its the best Notes Client book Ive seen in years.

Honesty Clause: I was provided an copy of this book at no charge to review. Even so, it was good enough that I really did buy it before Id finished more than a couple of chapters.