"Colbert has long been celebrated as Louis XIV's minister of finance, trade, and industry. More recently, he has been viewed as his minister of culture and propaganda. In this lively and persuasive book, Jake Soll has given us a third Colbert, the information manager." ---Peter Burke, University of Cambridge "Jacob Soll gives us a road map drawn from the French state under Colbert. With a stunning attention to detail Colbert used knowledge in the service of enhancing royal power. Jacob Soll's scholarship is impeccable and his story long overdue and compelling." ---Margaret Jacob, University of California, Los Angeles "Nowadays we all know that information is the key to power, and that the masters of information rule the world. Jacob Soll teaches us that Jean-Baptiste Colbert had grasped this principle three and a half centuries ago, and used it to construct a new kind of state. This imaginative, erudite, and powerfully written book re-creates the history of libraries and archives in early modern Europe, and ties them in a novel and convincing way to the new statecraft of Europe's absolute monarchs." ---Anthony Grafton, Princeton University "Brilliantly researched, superbly told, and timely, Soll's story is crucial for the history of the modern state." ---Keith Baker, Stanford University When Louis XIV asked his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert---the man who was to oversee the building of Versailles and the Royal Academy of Sciences, as well as the navy, the Paris police force, and French industry---to build a large-scale administrative government, Colbert created an unprecedented information system for political power. In The Information Master, Jacob Soll shows how the legacy of Colbert's encyclopedic tradition lies at the very center of the rise of the modern state and was a precursor to industrial intelligence and Internet search engines. Soll's innovative look at Colbert's rise to power argues that his practice of collecting knowledge originated from techniques of church scholarship and from Renaissance Italy, where merchants recognized the power to be gained from merging scholarship, finance, and library science. With his connection of interdisciplinary approaches---regarding accounting, state administration, archives, libraries, merchant techniques, ecclesiastical culture, policing, and humanist pedagogy---Soll has written an innovative book that will redefine not only the history of the reign of Louis XIV and information science but also the study of political and economic history. Jacket illustration: Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), Philippe de Champaigne, 1655, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Wildenstein Foundation, Inc., 1951 (51.34). Photograph © 2003 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This book explores how digital culture is transforming museums in the 21st century. Offering a corpus of new evidence for readers to explore, the authors trace the digital evolution of the museum and that of their audiences, now fully immersed in digital life, from the Internet to home and work. In a world where life in code and digits has redefined human information behavior and dominates daily activity and communication, ubiquitous use of digital tools and technology is radically changing the social contexts and purposes of museum exhibitions and collections, the work of museum professionals and the expectations of visitors, real and virtual. Moving beyond their walls, with local and global communities, museums are evolving into highly dynamic, socially aware and relevant institutions as their connections to the global digital ecosystem are strengthened. As they adopt a visitor-centered model and design visitor experiences, their priorities shift to engage audiences, convey digital collections, and tell stories through exhibitions. This is all part of crafting a dynamic and innovative museum identity of the future, made whole by seamless integration with digital culture, digital thinking, aesthetics, seeing and hearing, where visitors are welcomed participants. The international and interdisciplinary chapter contributors include digital artists, academics, and museum professionals. In themed parts the chapters present varied evidence-based research and case studies on museum theory, philosophy, collections, exhibitions, libraries, digital art and digital future, to bring new insights and perspectives, designed to inspire readers. Enjoy the journey!

. Less than five percent of the world's firms achieve the full potential of their customer relationship initiatives . The rest are caught in its paradox . The core message of Information Masters is simply that the frenzied race back to customers is being won by those who have developed a broad and deep customer information competency. The winners have accomplished this by balancing technology with investments in the predominantly "non-technological" determinants of customer information competency - people skills, processes, organization structure, culture, leadership, and information itself. "You might think it's lack of technology that accounts for your inability to forge stronger, more rational and cohesive relationships with your customers, but John McKean's excellent study shows that technology is likely to be the least of your worries. Information competency is the result of the people you have in place, the processes they follow, the culture of your firm, and many things other than technology. Don't start your journey toward CRM without reading this book!" Don Peppers, co-author, The One to One Fieldbook: The Complete Toolkit for Implementing a 1to1 Marketing Program (Doubleday, 1999) "Managing customer relationships is too important to be left to the technologists to figure out. McKean has nailed it when he forces you to consider and evaluate the other 'stuff' - people, processes, and culture, and, by the way, the data itself is awfully important." John Peterson, AT&T Vice President, Database Marketing "Gaining competitive advantage from information is not as much a technological challenge as it is about people, culture, and leadership. John illustrates and quantifies a better way to build an information advantage to serve both customers and shareholders." David Overton, Vice President, Merchandise Planning, Sears "Getting closer to customers is a business imperative - but it's all too easy to become seduced by the latest technology promises and consultancy mantras. John McKean offers an invaluable insight into the real drivers of success which organizations serious about CRM must put in place." Robert Wyllie BA (Hons)APMI, Group Database Marketing, Scottish Widows "The revolution in information technology is undermining many traditional business models and creating untold confusion. But in confusion lies opportunity. McKean shows how to see past the mesmerizing advances in computers and communications to create a coherent business strategy that draws on both technological and non-technological capabilities." Professor Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Program on Electronic Commerce and Marketing, MIT Sloan School of Management "One of the greatest business challenges is not the mastery of new technologies, but the creation of a culture able to keep pace and grasp the opportunities these technologies present. This is nowhere better illustrated than in John McKean's pursuit and exploration of that enigma, the profitable customer, through his book Information Masters." Trevor Dukes, Business Systems, W H Smith "In the first decade of the new millennium, customer information competency will be understood as one of the great differentiators between 'great' and 'mediocre' organizations; John McKean's book identifies the characteristics of those organizations that possess customer information competency and he provides a roadmap for firms seeking to achieve it. For information-based organizations, reading this book will not only save needless expense, but it will help improve overall focus, marketing productivity, and profit." James Bauer, Vice President, National Consumer Services, Chase Manhattan Bank "McKean's landmark book offers the best insights I've seen into our biggest challenges for building profitable customer relationships in the digital age . the non-technological ones." Glen Kaiser, Director of Marketing and Information Systems, AT&T WorldNet

Jared Bascomb is excited about a long weekend from college and going with his friends to explore their favorite camping area. But his friends throw everything out of proportions when they hook him up with the most beautiful and popular girl on campus, Megan. He has tried to ask her out in the past but has never had the courage to do so. When her dream of other worlds and people comes true, it brings an adventure to them that they never expected. Join them as they meet new people, friends, companions, and worlds. See who they must fight to keep the evil from spreading through worlds never heard of before. Can they help stem this evil trend that seems so unbeatable? Only you will know.

This well-established textbook has been fully reviewed and updated by a new author to ensure a modern coverage of the contents in depth. A new unique introduction has been written, giving ship types together with their general characteristics, to indicate to the reader actual or typical sizes of modern day merchant vessels. Four new chapters have been added dealing with Ship Squat, the Deadweight scale, Interaction and The Trim and Stability book. A new section, on Draft Surveys, is included in the Appendices. In order to give the student a better understanding of ship strength, four smaller but more detailed chapters replace the chapter covering this subject area in the previous edition. Ship Stability, with respect to motions, can be defined as the ability of a ship to return to an initial condition after she has been subjected to disturbing forces and moments. Ship Stability can also exist with respect to materials stresses and forces, where it is the ability to return to an initial state after being subjected to external or internal forces. Careful attention has been paid to the basic principles of ship stability and ship strength. Included is a generous provision of worked examples and exercise questions with answers. These ensure that the maritime student who works through this book will have a clear grasp of the topics covered. Up-to-date syllabuses and recent examination papers are included at the end of this book.