About ERCB...

About DDJ's Electronic Review of Computer Books...

Staff

Editor:	Ray Duncan (ray.duncan@cshs.org)
Editor-in-Chief:	Jon Erickson (jerickson@ddj.com)

Ways, Means, and Goals

The "DDJ Electronic Review of Computer Books" (ERCB) is an Internet resource for readers, authors, editors, publishers, and vendors of books about computer hardware, software, and networking. ERCB is constantly under development and we welcome your suggestions, comments, and criticisms.

Our goal is a simple, direct style and clean design that will deliver readable, practical, and trustworthy information rather than flashy graphics and fonts. We focus our attention on substantive books with originality, depth, accuracy, and solid production values. Our reviewers are selected for their integrity, technical expertise, and ability to communicate.

Ordering Books

No, we don't sell computer books. We don't have any "partnership" arrangements with any on-line booksellers either. How could you possibly trust the reviews of someone that had an economic interest in selling you books? Bear this in mind when you read some of the "book reviews" you can find on other Web sites.

If you decide you want to buy a book that is reviewed here, please don't send us email about it -- we won't recommend or un-recommend any particular merchant. You can find a list of technical bookstores with WWW presences on our Links pages.

Writers, Editors, and ERCB

Please see the ERCB guidelines for reviewers. Unsolicited reviews are accepted, but we prefer to build a lasting relationship with reviewers and schedule reviews of specific books in advance.

If you are a writer or free-lance editor with an interest in writing reviews for ERCB, please contact webmaster@ercb.com describing your background, areas of special expertise, and references to recently published articles or books. Be sure to disclose any affiliation or contracts with book publishers or distributors.

Computer Specialty Bookstores and ERCB

Please send us electronic contact information (your EMAIL address or URL) to add to our list of "computer book resources elsewhere on the Internet." Send this information to webmaster@ercb.com.

If you have a Web site of your own, please consider adding a hotlink from your Web site to ours. You can copy and paste the following anchor tag:

<A HREF="http://www.ercb.com/">Electronic Review of Computer Books (ERCB)</A>

Publishers and ERCB

Feel free to send us review copies of your technical computer books as they are released. We cannot guarantee that any particular book will be selected for review. Selected books may receive either brief reviews or feature reviews based on our evaluation of the books' significance, quality, and timeliness (again, see the examples that are already on-line).

Books should be shipped to:

Electronic Review of Computer Books
P. O. Box 10430
Marina del Rey, CA 90295
USA

Please do not ship books by Express Mail or by any other carrier.

Look before you leap -- peruse our Web site to see what types of books we are interested in. If you are in doubt as to whether a specific book should be sent to us, contact us by EMAIL first at webmaster@ercb.com. Please do not waste your money sending us end-user books about word processors, spreadsheets, databases, and the like.

What Becomes of Books Sent for Review?

Books that are reviewed become the property of the reviewer. This is one of those traditional little "perks" that offsets the time, effort, and low pay associated with computer book reviews.

Books that are not reviewed will be donated at our discretion to the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Los Angeles Public Library System.