Technology in Emergency Management Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)There are other books out there on emergency management. They cannot possibly all be as poorly written as this one. The writer is not particularly articulate, but that's the least of this books problems. Much of the technology is dated. The book, copyright 2007, keeps bringing up the issue that internet access may be compromised by "busy signals." When referring to GPS, he states that it has 30 meter resolution (that improved under President Clinton!).
The reader is advised to purchase "the fastest computer possible" to run GIS applications. It was a bit slow, but I could run ESRI's ARCmap OK on my 2.8 GHz P4. My laptop runs an Intel Core i3 and handles GIS applications just fine. I don't need to plop down several grand to purchase a super-fast Xeon based machine.
On page 63 he states "Geocoding is the graphic representation, usually in the form of a point on a map [of address data]." Never mind that there's not a comma after "map," the fourth word "graphic" should actually be "geographic." This error makes a tremendous difference in the meaning of the sentence and in how somebody unfamiliar with GIS would understand the chapter. This is not an isolated error, just one I recently ran across.
The book has plenty of logical errors, too. He's discussing GIS and says (p. 70) "Staff do not fully understand the technology prior to extensive training." Really? If they did, they wouldn't need the training! Again, this is just one example of a problem that crops up over and over.
To add insult to injury, on p. 114, where he's discussing using satellites for remote sensing and imaging, he posts a picture of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) carried on board satellites to produce these images--at least that's what the picture caption says. The picture there is one of a child's toy radiometer, such as Amazon carries: Radiometer.
This book feels pieced together by somebody who wanted a book contract but didn't know much about the subject he was covering. I haven't finished the book yet, but the first third of it has been so bad that I cannot imagine ever recommending this title to anybody.
If you are a professor thinking of using this for a class--please don't! You will really annoy your students if you require them to plop down $56 on this paperweight!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Technology in Emergency Management

Technology plays a vital role in the effectiveness of a management plan during an emergency. Emergency Management Technology not only provides a detailed overview of the technology used, it also clearly explains how the technology is applied in the field. Readers will learn how to utilize technology in emergency planning, response, recovery and mitigation efforts and they'll uncover the key elements that must be in place for technology to enhance the emergency management process.

Click here for more information about Technology in Emergency Management