Issue link: http://digital.corporatepress.com/i/255499
56 | january/february 2014 | Facilities Manager the bookshelf A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FACILITIES MANAGEMENT By Ian Barker, Whittles Publishing, Dunbeath, Scotland, 2013, 288 pages, $89.95 softcover. RETAIL FACILITIES MAINTENANCE, THE CIRCLE OF MANAGEMENT: A 30YEAR EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT NARRATIVE By Al Tierney, West Bow Press, Bloom- ington, IN, 2013, 175 pages, $14.99, softcover. A s I looked for a suitable textbook to teach facilities management to construction engineering students, I happened across A Practical Guide to Facilities Management. My goal was to provide a general, introductory text- book that would embody the elements of facility management while avoiding a specific client base. I didn't want the book focused solely on higher educa- tion despite being the second largest owner-industry group in the U.S. after the government. However, market presence says a lot to the publishing community. Of all the FM books I've read, the largest number of authors come from the U.K., and probably for good reason. They manage facilities much older than those found in North America, so they're doing something right to keep these buildings functional. There are differences in terminology, which is a minor issue for the life-long profession- al, but may be confusing for a student new to the field. But it's hard to ignore the knowledge base coming from the U.K. with respect to facilities. Then I found out about Retail Facili- ties Maintenance, The Circle of Manage- ment, which addressed two areas of concern and written from a U.S. perspective and focused on commercial (retail) facilities, not education. Howev- er, Retail Facilities Maintenance appears more like a memoir and much less like a textbook. That doesn't mean it can't be used in a classroom setting, it just requires different techniques. Barker's book is organized like a textbook without the end-of-chapter problems or questions. Instead, there are several insets labeled "Notes to self," "Warning," "Theory and information slot," "bright ideas," and "Aide Memoire" that emphasize points and/or provide additional information. I also appreciated a summary of several acronyms at the beginning of the text, which helped with the colloquial differences in English. Barker also goes into significant detail on subjects of personnel management and Book Review Editor: Theodore J. Weidner, Ph.D., P.E., CEFP, AIA Is there a textbook or reference that addresses all types of facility manage- ment? Not just higher education facilities EXWFRPPHUFLDOUHVLGHQWLDORI¿FHDQG LQGXVWULDO"7KLVFROXPQDWWHPSWVWR¿QG the answer, but unfortunately the subject is too large to cover all of those areas. In a slightly different approach, both books will be reviewed simultaneously.