Book for Project 2003 (2003)

[edcarden]

I'm looking for recommendations on the best book to purchase for Project 2003. I'm looking for something that covers Microsoft Project from top to bottom. I have never used Project before but am very excited about getting involved with it. My company is currently looking for an Enterprise level project management tracking system. While we do have Microsoft Project as part of our Office Suite I believe management is looking for a web based solution in addition to several other things that Project does not do. However it will be some time till we change and I believe, based on what I have read that I can make some good use of Project for tracking small projects of my own now and even after we implement some system because I will have admin control over Project to do what I want where as the Enterprise level product we roll out company wide will of course be restricted. My end goal is to use Outlook with Project and even Share Point/Share Portal to manage my projects.

Thanks
Ed

[GARYPSWANSON]

Although I am not using Project 2003, I find the Special Edition Books using Project authored by Tim Pyron to be most helpful.

HTH

[csimms]

I don't know if this book has been updated for the 2003 Version yet, but of the Project books I have read I found the Sybex book Mastering Microsoft Project 2002 by Gini Courter ISBN 0-7821-4147-1 to be very straight forward and comprehensive. I have read several Project books that were very feature rich, but not much practical application. This book really helped me understand the product.
Carla Simmons

[jeffrey.williams]

hello Ed

If you are new to MS Project, all of the 'top to bottom' books are going to cause you more trouble than help. I have been using MS Project since MS Project 98 and have eight or nine books on MS Project. The very best book for anyone new to MS Project is 'Dynamic Scheduling with MS Project 2003' by Eric Uyttewaal, ISBN 1-932159-45-2. Eric takes a very practical approach to learning MS Project. Each section has a recommendation for how to use all the appropriate settings instead of just explaining what each one does which is the shortfall of all the 'bible' books written by technical writers instead of real project managers. You can save ten dollars by purchasing directly from the publisher, www.jrosspub.com.

The big difference between Eric's books all the others is Eric is a real project manager with 20 years of experience. All of the other authors, with the exception of Gary Chevetz who only writes about MS Project Server, are technical writers and do not understand the practical application of MS Project.

Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions on MS Project or about project management you might have. It sounds like your company is moving in an exciting direction. It would be interesting to hear more about what you are doing.

Take care