Review Detail

The 1976 Admin dictionary is old but still perfectly functional. It has a LOT of terms including abbreviations that you can't define anywhere else. Its focus is definitely more on "Green on White" which means LRH Policy or administrative terms. There is a separate "Technical Dictionary" for auditing tech. But in most studies of Scientology, you will run into admin terms and need to get them defined. So you need one of these.

The editors also thought fit to include a smattering of normal marketing terms, as I recall someone (I think LRH) thought maybe non Scientologists might use the dictionary as regular business dictionary and if so, they might gain an interest in Scientology along the way. I doubt that ever happened, but no real harm done in trying I suppose.

As for readability, it's not bad but could be a bit nicer. This whole book could be upgraded — I'd recommend thinner, whiter, but not heavier paper. I personally would NOT want to try to study Admin Tech without this dictionary by my side. It does make the going quite a bit easier. And of course any study of LRH tech or policy is infinitely worthwhile.

I did a marketing campaign for the publishing of a new Scientology dictionary in the mid 1990s. The manuscript was almost there. It included both tech and admin terms in one book — smart. Of course, since every student NEEDS a good Scientology dictionary to study Scientology, LRH set the priority for a dictionary to a high. It is a sad comment on David Miscavige that the new dictionary is still not done, despite the fact that other books and courses have been released, re-released and even re-re-released during the same time. Obviously he is only paying lip service to the necessity of training auditors.