Robert's Rules in Plain English
Author: Doris P. Zimmerman
List Price: $6.95
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ISBN: 0062734768
Publisher: HarperResource (17 September, 1997)
Sales Rank: 1,146
Average Customer Rating: 4.18 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Short, Simple, and Easy to Use for Beginners
This is a short, easy-to-use and understand book about parliamentary procedure. It's well laid out, and the beginning of the book has a good explanation of how and why parliamentary procedure works. It was written with beginners in mind. The order of precedence for motions is painstakingly and clearly laid out for the reader, as well as an explanation of why one motion takes precedence over another. Explanations of exactly what a motion does and an example of its use are included as well. Chapters are also included explaining the responsibilities of the chair, secretary, and treasurer, as well as a guide to setting agendas. That said, this is not, nor was it intended to be, a comprehensive guide to parliamentary procedure. For small or somewhat informal meeting, this book is all you need. For a large, formal group with professional officers, however, a full copy of Robert's Rules is recommended. This book is a great intro to parliamentary procedure, and is all you need to run most meetings. Even with larger groups, this is a wonderful book to keep at your elbow at meetings to use as a reference.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Great Beginners Book
This book is amazing for younger people who are starting out learning parliamentary procedure. I am involved in 4-H, and in our county, all officers of 4-H clubs are required to learn parliamentary procedure. I am going to incorporate this book into their training. It is very simple to read, very easy to understand, and the examples are concise and relevent. I would not recommend this book for someone who is older and is involved in serious meetings that require a more in depth knowledge of Robert's Rules, but it works perfectly for my purposes, which is to educate people who have never been exposed to this information before. It is an excellent book for the beginner who is interested in the basics without getting bogged down by the hefty rules and vocabulary of Robert's Rules Newly Revised.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A great introduction
A gentle introduction for people just starting out with parliamentary procedure. Contains great examples of how to run meetings and includes good advice for beginning chairman, all from an accomplished professional parliamentarian. For example, Zimmerman recommends using unanimous consent whenever possible to expidite business, and gives concrete examples on how to do this.
You will probably eventually want to buy the full "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised" to complete your study of parliamentary procedure. If you read Zimmerman first, RONR will be alot easier to digest. On the other hand, you may not need RONR, as all the most commonly encountered rules are covered quite well in Zimmerman. Sure, if you run into disciplinary problems, or want more details about how to write bylaws, you will need to look in RONR, but for the day to day running of most club/association/church meetings Zimmerman's book is a great guide.
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