Suggestions wanted for EE/EET bench reference books

[beaker353]

It's that time of wonderful time of year when our corporate overloads tell us to spend our yearly budgets or risk loosing them for next year. I have $150'ish US for "reference materials" that I have to clear by November 15th. I'm looking for suggestions of some more electronics reference books that I can add to my current collection. I have a list of my current library below. As you can probably guess by the first three books, I'm currently perusing a EET (electrical engineering technology) degree at a local college. Luckily for me, my employer will pay pretty much all my education expenses as long as the degree benefits my current position in the company. For the past 10 years, I'm essentially been a bench technician repairing and modifying existing equipment as well as some small custom design projects were available commercial products can't fulfill all the required specifications. What titles would you suggest I look into to I improve my selection of bench reference materials? Thanks!

- Grob's Basic Electronics (Schultz , 11th edition) [Textbook from my DC & AC courses]
- Digital Systems (Tocci, 11th edition) [Textbook from my Digital Logic I and II courses]
- Electronic Devices: Conventional Current Version (Floyd, 9th edition) [Textbook from my Solid State I and II courses]
- The Art of Electronics (Horowitz, 2nd edition) [I’ve stopped holding my breath for the 3rd edition]
- Basic Electronics (U.S. Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1972) [A local bookstore was going out of business and offering it for $2.50US, I couldn’t resist]

-EM

[Kohanbash]

Instead of getting a general electronics book maybe you can get a specific book for one of your interest areas. For example micros, FPGA's, communications, motor controls, robotics, etc..

[lapm]

I would go to something more specific lice microcontrollers, etc.... What ever you happen to be working at work...

But if you want good general reference The Art Of Electronics is good if some what outdated a bit... third edition how ever is in works and im planning getting it when they finally manage to print it...

[robrenz]

Even though it has a huge amount of errata (compiled and corrected here.) I find Practical Electronics for Inventors my all time favorite go to book. But I am not an EE so take that with a grain of salt.

[Bored@Work]

Either you go more special, as others have suggested. Or you go more general. I.e. math book(s).

[TerraHertz]

If you're having difficulty spending company dollars, this may help.
A 'book' I stumbled on while searching for something else. I'd never heard of it. Has anyone even seen this?

Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
This 24 volume set offers comprehensive coverage of the electrical and electronics engineering field. Covers wide range of information from power systems and communications to advanced applications in neural networks and robotics.
Hardback    $14359.20  1st edition, 1999

I wonder if they'd sell you one if you didn't happen to have the twenty cents on you?
If that's a bit rich, there's a cut-down version:

Wiley Survey of Instrumentation and Measurement (Google eBook)
Stephen A. Dyer
John Wiley & Sons, 7 Apr 2004 - Technology & Engineering - 1112 pages
In-depth coverage of instrumentation and measurement from the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
The Wiley Survey of Instrumentation and Measurement features 97 articles selected from the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the one truly indispensable reference for electrical engineers. Together, these articles provide authoritative coverage of the important topic of instrumentation and measurement. This collection also, for the first time, makes this information available to those who do not have access to the full 24-volume encyclopedia.

[saturation]

I regularly refer to Finks texts or whatever its called today to give me general overviews of technology [ he's been deceased for some years but the handbooks live on. ]  One is electronics while the other is electrical.  There are also many "reference" "handbooks" to use as search terms from different authors but Fink was the authority for decades; the topical coverage of the other handbooks are similar, the difference is the degree of detail.  I also own the others, but the author's names escape me.  Finks name and books were continuously published since ~1970s.

New each text is $100 each, but sadly, many libraries are downsizing their collections or closing entirely, so interested individuals can pick up used latest versions in ~ $30 range or one edition older for << $20, I budget about $5-10 tops each, delivered.  Many libraries sell their books via eBay or used section of Amazon.

There are pdf versions both legtimate and pirated which are easier to search than using paper indexes, I use both, navigate with the pdf and read topics via the book and I buy the used pdf via CD versions from McGraw Hill.

If you upgrade these texts over time, the older editions remain valuable if you have interest or may run into older technology that you maintain, such as NTSC analog TV or vacuum tube designs, laserdisc, VCRs, etc.,


Electronics Engineers' Handbook


Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers