#9 - Author credentials and curency of book in post #4

My book in blog post #4 is Congressional lobbying: issues and reform, by Peter N. Almande.  I couldn’t find any information about this author using Google, but each chapter of the book is authored by someone other than Almande, so I suspect he merely edited the work by these writers, which doesn’t necessarily require expertise in the subject.  The four chapter authors are R. Eric Petersen, Jack Maskell, Sandy Streeter, and Mildred Amer.  All four of these authors are analyists for the Congressional Research Office.  According to the Library of Congress web page:

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.  CRS approaches complex topics from a variety of perspectives and examines all sides of an issue. Staff members analyze current policies and present the impact of proposed policy alternatives.

Considering that the Congressional Research Service serves the U.S. Congress, this already shows that their analysts must be reliable.  The four authors: Dr. R Eric Peterson (apparently he has a PhD), has the title of Analyst in American National Government; Jack Maskell is a Legislative Attorney in the American Law Division; Sandy Streeter is also an Analyst in American National Government; and Mildred Amer is a Specialist in American National Government.  Given their titles and the fact that they work for the Congressional Research Service, I conclude that these authors have good credentials for writing about the law as it pertains to the U.S. Government, including lobbying regulations.

Regarding my book's currency for the topic: My book was published in 2007.  This is roughly 8 years ago, which is long enough that the information it contains may be somewhat inaccurate, given changes in lobbying regulations that may have occurred since 2007.  Still, the book may discuss larger issues that are still relevant, and much of its information might still be accurate, so it is probably still a good source of information on lobbying regulations, though for a college-level paper it should be supplemented with more current information.