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

[Jaws]

I read my books at home, for a start it's too noisy in the open plan office (which means coding is a joy).

On the first week of this contract I brought in a couple of those mini/pocket o'reilly books - they weren't necessary as I was set up with internet access very quickly.

I've got safari, which can be useful if you are considering new technologies although using it seems a bit too much like browsing to everyone else.

[RichardCranium]

I found leaving reference material at the client site meant it 'went walkies' to permies' desks. Even from my desk drawer with my name clearly written on the cover.

[max]

I just like real books though

Read the books in the office, not on client site.

Unless it gives you some sort of pleasure, some sort of ego trip, to get one over your obviously less intellectual compadre's. You'll be real popular.

[EddieNambulous]

I just subscribe to Safari .

[Shimano105]

I live by the phrase JFGI

[d000hg]

as a highly expensive contractor, who is bound to be hated by many of the permies, turning up with a load of manuals seems particularly short sighted.

As others have said, google should be plenty helpful to find out all the little things you need.

I don't think my role as a contractor is to memorise.

I take the point turning up with a stack of books may look weird, but I find companies which have a decent technical library tend to have better overall skills, not worse.
Can always take out a sub with O'reilly online, I just like real books though

[jmo21]

as a highly expensive contractor, who is bound to be hated by many of the permies, turning up with a load of manuals seems particularly short sighted.

As others have said, google should be plenty helpful to find out all the little things you need.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[d000hg]

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

[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

[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...

[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.