Getting up to Speed

I've currently got loads of time to 'get up to speed' for a new contract. How best to do this?
Well, I've read through the manuals and read through the project plans from several years ago. Then I dashed out to Indigo to buy a Dummies book on Business Intelligence. I've been reading that, and it's very interesting. It gives a bit of the history of some of the technology I've been encountering. My knowledge of databases, business intelligence and specificially data mining could use an upgrade.
I've also chatted a bit with the co-workers sitting with me, only one of whom is actually on my team. It gives me a bit of an idea of the culture here.
One thing I know - they are not in a hurry. :-)