Workbook

Workbooks in the American education system are paperback textbooks issued to students. Workbooks are usually filled with practice problems, where the answers can be written directly in the book.

Advantages

Workbooks are often used in schools for younger students, either in middle school or elementary school. They are favored because students can work directly in their books, eliminating the need for looseleaf and copying questions from a textbook. In industry, they may be customized interactive manuals which are used to help provide structure to an otherwise complex problem.

Workbooks also hold an advantage because they are usually smaller and lighter than textbooks, which equates to less trouble when the student brings the book home to complete their homework.

The term workbook is also used to describe other compilations of questions that require the reader to complete scratch-work when dealing with higher-level mathematics. It can also be used as a training tool for certain job positions.

Workbook (album)

Workbook is the 1989 debut solo album by American guitarist and singer Bob Mould, following the breakup of the influential rock band Hüsker Dü. The album has a strong folk influence and lighter overall sound than he had been known for up to that point, although heavy guitar still features occasionally. Drummer Anton Fier and bassist Tony Maimone, both of Pere Ubu fame, served as Mould's rhythm section on the album and on the subsequent live shows. The single "See a Little Light" was a hit on the US Modern Rock chart.

The album has been influential in the alternative rock community: its acoustic elements would later be echoed in R.E.M.'s 1992 album Automatic for the People, while Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero used cellos in a similar way.

In the liner notes of the Hüsker Dü live album The Living End, critic David Fricke noted that Mould had an embryonic version of the song "Compositions for the Young and Old" in the waning days of that band.

The album was reissued on CD & double LP for its 25th anniversary in 2014 as Workbook 25, by Omnivore Recordings. This remastered edition includes an extra track, "All Those People Know", and a second CD-only disc, "Live At The Cabaret Metro".