Books for the Professional Library

[M_R_Thurman]

Hey there everyone! So, I just completed my first tour as a 3rd Engineer after leaving the Navy....

It was a great tour with quite a bit of learning experience compared to sailing in the Navy. One of the biggest things I looked for while sailing though was a good comprehensive library onboard the ship.... After discussions, It seems I will need to build my library myself.

So, I ask of you guys.... What books would you recommend for the professional seafarer? Obviously I'm more interested in Engineering books with topics of Gas turbines, Steam & Diesel plants, Electricity, Refrigeration, ect... However this could become a good topic for Mates and Deck guys also...

Thanks a ton,
Matt

[highseasmechanic]

The Modern Marine Engineers Manual Volumes #1 and #2 cover everything you listed with great depth. I uised them quite a bit when I was in school.

[tengineer]

The US Navy tech manuals for machinist mate, BT, motorman, ET etc. are some of the best you can get. They are readily available and you can download them on a thumb drive. Many of the exam questions are drawn directly from them. Also, books available from Amazon regarding SCR and VFD subjects are very valuable . A good physics book should be the beginning of your library. My library covers a good size wall in my house but even at my age I seem to always be going back to my mechanical engineering handbook book from college [Marks] and an old book on power engineering by a guy named Elonka. My most recent books are drilling and hydraulic reference manuals.
In my opinion you can never have too many but they aren't easy to carry around. I wish more were available that I could put on my Kindle.

[rshrew]

Admiralty law, Cornell maritime press I believe.

[DeckApe]

I wish more were available that I could put on my Kindle.

One option is to scan a book page by page. But you knew that.

A better option is to take your books to a print shop. They can cut the bindings off a book cleanly and run the pages threw a professional/ industrial scanner that slams out an entire book fairly quickly. The scanned book is now a PDF that can go on a kindle, laptop or flash drive.

They can then rebind the book. I like spiral binding because the book will lay flat and can be folded back to one page easily.

Depending on the shop the job can be fairly cheap. Binding is less then four bucks per book. Scanning is more but worth it if you want to haul a library around in your pocket.

There is the problem of copyrights. I doubt a place like Kinkos would PDF a copyrighted book. (I've never asked.) Non-chain print-shops are your best bet.

Even if you don't PDF a book the spiral bindings are the way to go.

[injunear]

U.S. Navy Salvor's Handbook is very good to have on hand. Loads of useful info. I think it's out of print but I have down loaded it in PDF. I have a well-worn water- proof copy also.

"Ugly's electrical reference" is another good one. It's available in PDF also.