Mission Statement

Knowledge River Ltd design, develop and distribute high-quality digital learning products that satisfy the technical requirements of computing practitioners, academics and students within the database development, information systems and software engineering domains. By emphasizing technical depth, accuracy and hands-on applicability, we strive to provide a structured, authoritative and enjoyable e-learning experience that is of direct benefit and interest to all computing and information technology professionals who value knowledge.

Company Background

Knowledge River Ltd offers customers a web-based e-commerce platform for the viewing, purchase and downloading of computer science educational resources in a purely electronic (PDF) format. In short, we have constructed a world-wide electronic shopping platform that retails purely electronic ‘packages’ of computer science knowledge – specializing in database technology.

Knowledge River Ltd is a United Kingdom registered company that is owned and operated by a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Senior University Lecturer in Computer Science – whose real-world experience also includes working for the UK Government, including The Cabinet Office (in Whitehall, London) as well as doing advanced post-graduate Computer Science research at Manchester University – one of the United Kingdom’s premier Computer Science institutions. This means that you can have confidence in the credibility and accuracy of our e-learning products.

In addition to the above impressive profile, Knowledge River can also offer an outstanding level of intellectual depth which includes MENSA membership, several years experience as Computing Examiner for the Oxford & Cambridge Examination Board and the British Computer Society, plus (at a personal level) multiple technical degrees in Computer Science, Electronics, Physics & Astronomy and memberships of the Institute of Physics, the Royal Astronomical Society and the Institute of Electrical Engineers. When you buy a Knowledge River product, you get all this weight of intellectual credibility too.

Company Ethos & Values

Knowledge River Ltd is all about building a long-term, high-quality, successful and responsible e-learning platform that satisfies the knowledge requirements of Computing practitioners, students and teachers across the globe. To achieve this strategic goal, we always strive to be:

Bizarre as it may sound, the primary aim of Knowledge River Ltd is not to make money at all costs (unlike some companies!) but rather to make money as a by-product of offering a world-class on-line educational service. To us, quality, service and helping others comes ahead of simply making money for the sake of it.

Please do not misunderstand us – we are not a charity and we have nothing against the profit motive but Knowledge River Ltd has higher values than merely grabbing every passing pound (£) or dollar ($). We hope you share these values and look forward to doing business with you in a civilised and decent manner.

Our Learning Philosophy

Our Learning Philosophy employs 5 Key Principles…

Here we explain how Knowledge River approaches the task of constructing and conveying very technical and specialized knowledge to our customers and how best to use these e-learning products.

Remember – the acquisition and application of new knowledge (especially highly technical knowledge) is not an easy task for anyone to master – it is commonly underestimated in terms of intellectual effort and time taken. Therefore, it needs to be done in a clear, systematic and structured way – precisely how Knowledge River presents its material. We value knowledge very much and that is why we say:

• Learning is like breathing – best done slowly and deeply, not shallow and superficial

Knowledge River has adopted the following learning philosophy to maximise your e-learning experience and ensure that you get the best possible benefits.

Principle 1: Questions, Questions and more Questions…

Undoubtedly, the best way to learn any new subject is to go to an acknowledged expert in that field and directly ask that person as many questions as possible until you have mastered the topic. Unfortunately, by its very nature, e-learning means that you cannot have such an expert physically sat next to you – so the next best thing is for the expert to anticipate the kind of questions novices are likely to ask and then prepare very detailed responses to those questions – thus producing a pre-packed set of questions and answers that can act as a surrogate physical presence. This is why Knowledge River products are all question-led with each question having a very detailed answer that you can refer back to at will. We give you an expert on the written page – an expert that never leaves.

Principle 2: Examples, Examples and more Examples…

To paraphrase – ‘a good example is worth a thousand lines of explanation’.

In addition to emphasizing the above ‘expert on a page’ concept, we also reinforce this by having lots and lots of real, concrete examples for you to look at. So listen to the expert then look at real examples. You now have explanation and demonstration.

Principle 3: Learn by Doing…

So far you have listened to the expert and studied real examples – now your turn. The best (deepest) learning occurs with ‘learning by doing’ – so we provide lots and lots of hands-on practical activities to really embed your knowledge. Some activities will need a computer, some not – please try and do all the activities if possible – you will reap a great benefit.

Principle 4: One Chunk at a Time…

We appreciate you are busy and have other priorities in life so all our material is presented in small, self-contained packages of knowledge – so you can dip in quickly, focus on a specific topic, master it and move on. This way, you stay alert and fresh and the whole e-learning experience does not become a long, tedious slog. Just take what you want, when you want it. Then come back for the next chunk of knowledge when you are ready. Each package does form part of a larger whole and we will provide clear navigation through these various learning packages so that you can develop deep, embedded compound knowledge.

Principle 5: From Beginning to End…

The final principle we employ is to round-off your learning experience by showing you some fully completed case studies that demonstrate the technical issues in a much deeper and more comprehensive way. Case studies are the culmination of the other above learning principles and are as near to actually doing the job for real as is possible to get in a learning situation.

Five steps to success…

So there you have the Knowledge River learning philosophy. In summary, you will take manageable chunks of knowledge by having an expert answer your questions, study detailed examples, try your hand at some practical work to embed your learning and finish-off by looking at some larger scale case studies that accurately reflect real-world tasks. We hope you enjoy using our products.

Key Benefits

We offer the following key benefits:

• Credibility – Knowledge River is a United Kingdom (UK) company and is owned, and all e-learning products produced, by a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Senior University Lecturer in Computer Science – so you can trust this technical material – we know what we are talking about.
• Convenience – no need to travel down to a traditional bookstore or wait for orders to be delivered from a web-based supplier – get the computer science knowledge delivered instantly to your desktop in electronic PDF packages. Don’t carry around heavy, bulky textbooks – carry weightless, convenient electronic packages of technical knowledge – in familiar PDF format.
• Confidence – Knowledge River is a reputable company owned and operated by reputable IT professionals based in the United Kingdom. We only work with internationally recognized brand-name companies like Barclays Bank to provide the technical and financial services needed to support this website. All card payments go into a Barclays bank account. So relax – you can be assured that all payments made via this website are safe and secure.
• Value – each PDF document has a unit price well below any high street book or even on-line e-book (please compare our prices with those for traditional hardcopy Computing books or even for on-line Computing e-books – you will be pleasantly surprised!). If you then add in the various forms of discounts that we offer then the ‘value for money’ factor becomes very impressive – for example, you can get 650 pages of high quality technical material for just for £20.
• Flexibility – you only order the knowledge that you need. Unlike traditional textbooks (or even e-books), our e-learning products are supplied in a modular ‘packaged’ format – so you can purchase just the technical knowledge you need and avoid paying for material that you don’t. You can buy a single PDF document, the complete set or any permutation of documents in between (although the more you buy the bigger the discounts).

Please have a look around our website, download the free samples and if you like what you see then either place an order or contact us for further help. Thanks for dropping by.