Many people buy maintenance and reliability books because of an author or because it "looks good" without thinking about what are your expectations of that book.

There are authors such as myself, Terry Wireman, Keith Mobley, Don Nyman, and many others who have great material and some of the same material can be found in other books they have written.

A great example would be two of Keith Mobley and my books:

"Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers" and "Industrial Repair, Best Maintenance Repair Practices"

I have had people ask me why you put some of the same material from Industrial Repair into your Rules of Thumb Book. Good question: Both books have been written for different audiences.

Our Industrial Repair Book was written for Maintenance Technicians with the intent that they use the book on the plant floor to perform effective work. I know you may find it hard to believe but most maintenance people do not have effective procedures to use and do not have an infallible memory or unlimited memory. This book was written for those guys and gals.

Some of the material from Industrial Repair was put into the Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers because maintenance managers, maintenance engineers, and reliability engineers need this information however they will not purchase a technician level book.

So here are three recommendations:

1st: Look for books which have solutions you need or may need at your level in the future.

2nd: Do not purchase a book without knowing if the book will meet your purpose of goals. Find out the author's email address ask if a specific book they wrote will help you fit a specific need. If you just want a book by one specific author because they make you feel good, go for it, it is your choice.

3rd: Use the book. Most people purchase books and either have not read them or do not use them. It looks good on the shelf in their office though. Many people I have spoken with about my book on Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers have said they like the book a lot and after asking a few questions I find out they have read very little of the book.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has purchased my books. (I am sure Terry Wireman, Don Nyman, etc feels the same as I do). There are a lot of great authors out there and most write to help a targeted audience and not to sell books. We write books to help people. If wanted to make money on books we need to write adventure or love novels and not maintenance and reliability books.

Thank you and I hope this short tip helps you in determining how to find the right book for your next purchase and hope it adds value to you.

If you have questions or comments please send an email to me at rsmith@gpallied.com