Hopefully they will arrive before the end of the month.
The first is Just the Facts: Investigative Report Writing (4th ed) by Michael Biggs.
While I am super-awesome at so many things, one of the areas I recognise I might be slightly deficient in is report writing. I hate it. And with all things I hate, I tend to avoid doing it as much as possible. Clearly this is not a satisfactory solution so I thought I might as well make an effort. Recently I had read somewhere a mini review on a book on investigative report writing and I thought it sounded interesting enough. Sadly, I can't recall where exactly I read this (was it Pursuit Magazine?) and couldn't locate the article anywhere. Clearly I need some help in this area.
The second is Investigative Interviewing: The Conversation Management Approach by Eric Shepherd.
I was thinking (again) about attending a 2-day seminar/workshop on the PEACE interview methodology (which is slowly being adopted as best practice by our police force and various governmental departments) but given that there are no open courses available in the near future, that none of the available courses are remotely near me, and that the fees -without the flights and accomodation - are prohibitive, I've given it up as a bad idea.
Maybe next year...
Of course the litmus test is whether attending a seminar/workshop would actually increase revenue and, sadly, it wouldn't. I'm already getting the work, I'm not going to be getting any more from attending - although there is always the possibility of making some contacts that may eventually lead to more work.
In the meantime, I'll just have to be content with the book and conduct 'field trials' on live subjects.
I have Investigative Interviewing by Eric Shepherd. While it is a very interesting and informative read, it is a huge book and I have yet to finish reading it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was looking through bits of it on Amazon and saw that it gets up to near 500 pages so is quite a hefty tome indeed.
DeleteI'm certainly looking forward to getting it although was probably a little optimistic when I said I'd review it this month...
522 all up. The layout reminds me of a university text book, and reads much like one.
DeleteI may have to pick it up again and finish it now.
I look forward to reading your review :)
ReplyDeleteAt least someone is.
DeleteI've received Investigative Interviewing in today's post. Quite excited!
ReplyDeleteLooking through it (and it is a hefty tome) it is readily apparent that the author, (Dr) Eric Shepherd, has packed a great deal of information into its 522 pages.
I probably won't have a review by tea-time tonight as it's going to be quite a read, but hopefully soon enough.