Jade Clayton's Pages at privateline.com (1) (2)
New! -- Jade's writing on voice over IP, as well as some comments -->
Introduction
I've put up this page about Jade Clayton and The McGraw-Hill Illustrated Telecom Dictionary because the author has been so patient with my questions and because I think this book is well worth having.
Book Review: The McGraw-Hill Illustrated Telecom Dictionary
Jade Clayton's McGraw-Hill Illustrated Telecom Dictionary, now in its fourth edition, is a wonderful work I consult first when looking up a term. Deliberately focused on telephony terms, the book contains 3,000 definitions, along with 400 photos, diagrams, or charts. Clayton has a strong background with telephone companies and explains topics well.
The only comparable dictionary in this price range is Harry Newton's Telecom Dictionary, which tries to cover the entire field of communications. Keeping in mind Clayton's emphasis on traditional but up-to-date telecom definitions, Jade's book has many things Newton's work does not have: original writing throughout, photographs and diagrams, and a searchable CD ROM that features the book's entire text, as well as content from other McGraw Hill publications.
This CD makes the book an even greater value, letting you keep the dictionary open on your computer while you work on your telecom research or writing. The extra material also lets you go further with many topics. This CD ROM and book project is quite an accomplishment.
Author's Background and Experience
"To answer your question, Tom, about my background -- I have done lots of wireline work in the last 13 years. I put in seven years with US West, and have also worked for ATT Broadband when it was TCG. That work involved SONET and DS3 Radio. I've done wireless, too, a couple of short projects with Sprint PCS, as well as wireless wide area and local area network jobs in my current position. I now specialize in IP (Internet protocol) telephony design and implementation."
Author's Comments On The Book
"Contrary to popular belief, my book was never intended to be a book. It was originally written to be used by the Baby Bell Companies in several different training materials. Those involved with the project set aside the training idea after the Communications Act of 1996 brought anarchy to the industry. I sent a portion of the manuscript to Steve Chapman at McGraw-Hill, telling him he was welcome to use the material as a standard glossary for telecommunications related textbooks. Steve ultimately requested the entire manuscript. Upon receiving it, he determined there was too much material to attach it to the back of any textbook. He then contracted me to be the author of the book that they chose the title for (I wanted it to be the "Bitchin' Illustrated Telecom Dictionary" or something ridiculous)."
"I was very happy to have my work published. I want it in time to be a more of a standard than Harry Newton's Telecom Dictionary. I think Newton does a great job of outlining terms, trademarks, and marketing words, that manufacturers use for their products. These all bring much confusion to the industry and Newton is very good at defining these terms. Where I feel that I make a contribution is by spending more time on the core technologies, and less time on the corporate marketing specifics. For readers, I think that it does them a favor. It makes the information in the book less erroneous, more information rich, and less likely to go out of date. It is also better time spent for people that like to browse. I am also a firm believer that illustrations can keep a would be learner's attention longer than a joke or two."
"I mentioned before that many definitions were written for different audiences, some technical and some non-technical, depending on the training material I was developing. Since 1998 I've tried writing definitions from an Open Systems Interconnection model so that readers can fit what they learn into the big picture. The definitions you mentioned were defined from different OSI perspectives, and from different industry point of views. I had a huge challenge in the first edition, for example, reconciling LAN environment definitions. I have since gone through the book to make those definitions better agree with each other. I continue to make adjustments to existing definitions and to try to keep up with the pace of new stuff amidst the flurry of new products and technologies introduced to the industry weekly." Jade Clayton
Jade Clayton's Page at TelecomWriting.com Page 1 (2) -->
