Watch out for coverage of DIY Web sites in the December issue of PC Update. There is more to design than making something look pretty, and that is what we will be talking about. In the meantime, if you see any of these books while browsing, take the time to look through them. They provide interesting, and quite important, insights into the planning and design of Web pages and Web sites. I will be reviewing them in the December issue.

Most books about the Web don't deal with management issues. This one is about just that. It is pitched at two audiences: people who have to make management decisions about setting up and launching a Web site, and the people who do the design and implementation work. Written primarily for managers, it is worth being read by ordinary users for the discussions of issues not touched on in most other texts.

Ashley Friedlein: Web Project Management ISBN 1-55860-678-5 Published by Morgan Kaufmann,  324 pp., RRP $93.50 incl. GST

A discussion of principles rather than specific technology; this is a good read for those who want to design something that is both attractive and useful.

Jeffrey Veen: The Art & Science of Web Design  ISBN 0-7897-2370-0 Published by New Riders, 259 pp.,  RRP $95.95 incl. GST

How to make a Web site easy to use. That may sound easy, but there's quite a bit to it, and the author of this book is expert on the subject. Detailed with good technical depth, but readable.

Jakob Nielsen: Designing Web Usability ISBN 1-56205-810-X Published by New Riders,  419 pp., RRP $79.95 incl. GST

So, you thought you knew all about search engines (or what you thought 
were search engines)? This is a reference that provides detailed information about Yahoo!, Google, and all the others. For those with a serious interest this is an essential text. It lays out how to get a Web site recognised by each of the search engines. Technical, but you don't need a university degree.