Often defined as simply belief in oneself, confidence ranks among the most misunderstood concepts of our time.-What is genuine confidence?-Where does it come from?-Why is it possessed by some and not others?-How can it be developed?Confidence stems from our capacity to acknowledge and understand the reality of human potential. It is a state of mind which can only be realized through confronting our limits and deceptions.In an age characterized by a lack of personal value and positive expectation, The Catalyst of Confidence provides a fast paced, hard hitting, and incredibly resonant perspective on our ability to control our actions and tendencies.

Taking a staff-led approach, this book helps libraries of all types create their own meaningful and authentic strategic plans while demystifying a process that can bring many benefits to the organization. With dwindling budgets to pay for consultants and a growing interest in collaboration across the organization, libraries are increasingly taking a do-it-yourself approach to strategic planning. This book takes a step-by-step approach to grassroots strategic planning for libraries of all types. The authors, who led a successful strategic planning process at their own library, provide practical advice and detailed information to guide library personnel through their own process. Topics include aligning with institutional and community values, creating vision and mission statements, researching stakeholder needs, conducting environmental scans, collaborative drafting of the plan, communication strategies, and implementation and assessment of the plan. Each chapter helps librarians create a strategic plan for a broad spectrum of libraries, including K–12, post-secondary, public, and special libraries. A unique feature of the book is its emphasis on the ways in which different library types can collaborate to meet shared goals. This book is a one-stop-shop, providing everything library staff will need to create a strategic plan without searching for additional sources.

A revolutionary tool that has changed the way we use words, the Random House Word Menu functions in four ways: it is a thesaurus with definitions; a dictionary divided into word categories; a reverse dictionary; and a collection of glossaries. A writer's right hand and a browser's delight, this reference contains thousands of entries in over 800 categories.