Rating: 
Summary: A great introduction
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Robert's Rules in Plain English
Review: I threw this book out. If you are serious about learning how to run a meeting using Robert's Rules, this book will not meet your needs. It was too simple, too general and just too lacking of concrete information.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Beginners Book
Review: 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:
Summary: A Great Beginners Book
Review: 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:
Summary: Good Introductory Text
Review: This book was written in simple English and easy to understand and a good introductory text to parliamentary procedure. Since it is an introductory book, one may not find the information or details required on some topics. After reading this book, if you want for more information, then go and buy Roberts' Rules of Order Newly Revised (9th Edition, 1990), the source of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Short, Simple, and Easy to Use for Beginners
Review: 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:
Summary: Short, Simple, and Easy to Use for Beginners
Review: 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:
Summary: Another indespensable elementary primer!
Review: This is another book that should be required and rigorously reviewed and taught at all levels of education, elementary, secondary, high school and first year college. One of the troubles with our society and our young people today is that the more we seem to try to spend on them and teach them the more we move aways from basic critical thinking and basic knowledge requirements for success, towards merely using them as social or political tools for our own ends. They need basic foundational knowledge to survive in the world and the school systems are not giving that due to purely partisan curriculums on many campuses. This basic knoweldge of how meetings and debates/government should work is essential to giving our children the skills necessary to be active, participating citizens in our ever shrinking world. A great beginning book that even children can learn from. I have already given out dozens to organizations for both adults and youth groups as a means to enlighten them on appropriate processes in getting involved in groups, clubs, government and other entities.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer for Church Leaders and Members
Review: This short book is certainly no substitute for the full Robert's Rules of Order, but it is a good way for the reader to get a good grasp and overview of parliamentary procedure. It is tempting to get so bogged down in the particular rules of procedure that the underlying principles of order and efficiency for the assembly are overlooked. The author says in the opening portion of her book, "Parliamentary procedure should be used to help and not hinder decision making. Robert said, 'The assembly meets to transact business, not to have members exploit their knowledge of parliamentary law.'" (p. 6). I recommend reading this work first, then referring to the full volume of Robert's Rules if more detail is needed. For most people however, this work should be all that is required to possess a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure. As a Baptist pastor, I see this book as being particularly helpful to church leaders and members for their participation in business meetings, board meetings, and other decision-making assemblies. The knowledge contained in this volume is well-worth the price!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer for Church Leaders and Members
Review: This short book is certainly no substitute for the full Robert's Rules of Order, but it is a good way for the reader to get a good grasp and overview of parliamentary procedure. It is tempting to get so bogged down in the particular rules of procedure that the underlying principles of order and efficiency for the assembly are overlooked. The author says in the opening portion of her book, "Parliamentary procedure should be used to help and not hinder decision making. Robert said, 'The assembly meets to transact business, not to have members exploit their knowledge of parliamentary law.'" (p. 6). I recommend reading this work first, then referring to the full volume of Robert's Rules if more detail is needed. For most people however, this work should be all that is required to possess a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure. As a Baptist pastor, I see this book as being particularly helpful to church leaders and members for their participation in business meetings, board meetings, and other decision-making assemblies. The knowledge contained in this volume is well-worth the price!
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