Thanks for the advice MC.
I would disagree that you can't do "significant structures" in ASD. The new black books sets both design methodologies side by side so it's really comes down to how you think. Do you think in terms of capacities or in terms of stress? The reality is it probably comes down to your modeling and design software. RAM designs using LRFD but I'm not sure if it can design with ASD.I would avoid any book emphasizing allowable stress design unless you don't ever seeing yourself doing any significant structures. If you want to have a full gamet of design learning, then get a good LRFD book from the http://www.iccsafe.org website and a good seismic book that discusses the multiple types of lateral force resisting systems that are entailed in IBC 2003 (table 1617.6.2).
This is brief and to the point, but it's definitely true.
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