[SteveJanesch]

Hang on to as many as you can for as long as you can - you don't know now what you'll be working on in five years. I go back to my comm systems, control theory and circuit theory books regularly (I'm a radio integrated circuit designer by trade). I haven't completely stopped taking classes or buying new texts, so my collection is still growing after 20 years in the field. What I do find is that I refer to the newer books more often than most older ones, because they're the most relevant to what I'm currently working on.

On the other hand, it's not the worst thing in the world if you do jettison a book and find you need it later. Other engineers will have their books in their offices, so you can usually borrow what you need, or go out and buy an updated edition of what you had or something by another author for yourself.

Maybe the best thing is to plan on keeping everything for your first four or five years out of school, then start weeding out the ones you're least likely to need (this is almost exclusively prompted by an office or company move, btw). Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clear some space on a bookshelf...anybody want a 23 year old (and way, way obsolete) microwave devices text?

Steve Janesch