What's the general view on turning up with an armful of books?

[d000hg]

Obviously if a contractor turns up on day 1 with a pristine copy of "Java for dummies" that's not a great sign. But if you are going to be working on a bunch of technologies, is arriving with a few books a bad look or a professional "these are my tools" approach?

You could always bring them 'under-cover' over the first few days, but that looks like you are ashamed to need the books in the first place.

[Mehmeh]

ebook reader, with 2gb sd card with your entire library on it...

Done, next.

[TheFaQQer]

I guess it depends on the type of books, and the role that you have sold yourself into. If you sold yourself as an expert, then the "Getting Started With..." book is never a good sign.

I see no problem with having the reference books handy - I never profess to know the syntax and every API available.

Alternatively, just google it when you have a problem.

[Muttley08]

The guys I've seen with lots of books...tend to be useless IMHO...

Not sure if they were showing off (hey look at me!) - or just really didnt know what they were doing...but in each case, they were flipping useless...and blaggers...

I know you need to refer to stuff (have some myself from techie days) - but it really rings alarm bells with me nowadays...

[nomadd]

ebook reader, with 2gb sd card with your entire library on it...

Done, next.

WHS. Although I tend to use a DVD burn of my ebooks collection. Mind you, the problem these days is that many of the sites I work at - Banks - have locked the PCs down so much you can't even read a DVD or use a USB stick. So I take my lappie in instead.

Nomadd

[d000hg]

I'm still a fan of those old-fashioned book thingies

[FarmerPalmer]

I have a pile of books on my desk. I'm working in technology that I haven't used before (cryptography), and some stuff I haven't used for a while, they knew when they sourced me, so I have reference books to hand which I sometimes delve into.

[MPwannadecentincome]

if the pile of books is too hight you won't be able to see over the top so the general view will not be so good

seriously though taking in a few books is fine but if its too many might look a bit strange if you are the so called expert, might be better to sneak a few in every day.

[mace]

How quaint. I've googled most of the stuff I know, since the interweb thingy took off. Prior to that I used to have a shelf full of books and go on courses.

[MrMark]

How quaint. I've googled most of the stuff I know, since the interweb thingy took off. Prior to that I used to have a shelf full of books and go on courses.

It obviously depends on your specialism, but there are often reference pages on the net that help a lot. Register on Delicious and bookmark the ones you access often, then you can always quickly go back to those pages via the net.