Hi!
Although I�m also pretty new to this forum, I hope I can provide some tips for you.
First go through the
EJB 1.1 specification, and also through the O�Reilly EJB book
Then concentrate on UML with Martin Fowlers "UML Distiled".
With this grounding you can start with the GoF
Patterns book.
But there are also great Resources on the web, like
www.serverside.com they provide lots of information about EJB and Patterns.
Then you can go through the misc. topics, which are provided on the "A very good resource"
thread in this forum
Perhaps more experienced people can give you more info, thats my way to prepare!
Othmar