- Email: [email protected]
Current bibliography of epidemiology: A guide to the literature of epidemiology, preventive medicine, and public health
J CbronDis 1970, Vol. 23, pp. 143-144. Pergamon Press. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEW CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EPIDEMIOLOGY: A GUIDE TO THE LITERATURE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, AND PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1969. MORTOND. SCHWEITZER,
Ph.D., Editor. New York: American Public Health Association, 1969. 126 pp. Published in 12 monthly issues and an annual cumulative volume. Subscription price : S35.000 per year. THE Current Bibliography of Epidemiology (CUBE) is a new publication which resulted from a joint effort of the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association and the staff of the National Library of Medicine to provide an index to current periodical literature related to epidemiology, preventive medicine, and public health. The contents of each issue of CUBE are drawn from MEDLARS tapes employed for preparing the corresponding date of issue of Index Medicus (IM), and as a result, citations listed in CuBE are conveniently in the same format as those in IM. Moreover, the restrictive scope of CUBE has permitted a certain degree of regrouping of citations under new headings. In structure, CUBE is divided into two parts. The first section consists of citations which are of interest and value to investigators and administrators, but might not be listed in IM under subject headings more appropriate to the field of public health. Obviously, rearrangement of citations in this manner would be a formidable task if it were not reduced to practical proportions by the miracle of computers. The second section deals with disease, organisms, and vaccines and includes references related to the etiology, prevention, and control of specific diseases. A brief comparison of entries in the May issue, Volume 1, No. 5,1969, of CUBE and the corresponding issue of IM showed that many citations under a particular heading in CUBE usually also were listed under the same heading in IM. Duplication of entries occurred more frequently in the Disease section, the second part of CUBE, and the reason for not including certain citations from IM was not always clear from the titles. Epidemiology, preventive medicine, and public health deal with broad areas of knowledge and cross-disciplinary fertilization is essential for the continuing vitality of growth in these fields. It is hoped that the editors of this new, exciting venture will expand the first section of the bibliography by including citations from bibliographic publications serving biological, chemical, engineering and social sciences. In its present parochial form, this new bibliography will probably find its greatest use in offices and small libraries which do not commonly subscribe to the larger and more customarily employed medical bilbiographies. BYRON S. BERLIN
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHRONIC NON-SPECIFIC LUNG DISEASE (CHRONIC BRONCHITIS). R. VAN DER LENDE. Netherlands : Royal VanGorcum Pub-
lishers, 1969. 146 pp. Publisher, Springfield.
$14.00. Distributed in the U.S. by Charles C. Thomas,
THIS
volume reports the results of surveys for chronic lung disease in 40-64 yr old subjects residing in three Dutch towns. Chest roentgenograms, questionnaires about habits and symptoms, physical examination, sputum bacteriology, blood eosinophilia, skin tests and several pulmonary function studies were obtained. The concentration of SOz, smoke particles, fungus spores and pollen in the atmosphere was measured at two of the towns. The findings were similar to those of others: cigarette smoking was found to be more frequently associated with cough than air pollution which, irrespective of cigarette usage, was associated with an increase in cough and sputum but not with air flow obstruction. Despite the current interest in air pollution and the need for epidemiological data on chronic lung disease, the book has a variety of irritating handicaps. Asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema are considered as a homogenous group. The text is a poor translation of a Dutch graduate thesis; “light symptoms” is an example of the prose. Brief sections on epidemiologic methods and other survey techniques and results are so incomplete that they should not have been included. There are 100 pages of tables which rarely aid the discussion. WHITNEY ADDINGTON 143
BOOK REVIEW CURRENT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EPIDEMIOLOGY: A GUIDE TO THE LITERATURE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, AND PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1969. MORTOND. SCHWEITZER,
Ph.D., Editor. New York: American Public Health Association, 1969. 126 pp. Published in 12 monthly issues and an annual cumulative volume. Subscription price : S35.000 per year. THE Current Bibliography of Epidemiology (CUBE) is a new publication which resulted from a joint effort of the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association and the staff of the National Library of Medicine to provide an index to current periodical literature related to epidemiology, preventive medicine, and public health. The contents of each issue of CUBE are drawn from MEDLARS tapes employed for preparing the corresponding date of issue of Index Medicus (IM), and as a result, citations listed in CuBE are conveniently in the same format as those in IM. Moreover, the restrictive scope of CUBE has permitted a certain degree of regrouping of citations under new headings. In structure, CUBE is divided into two parts. The first section consists of citations which are of interest and value to investigators and administrators, but might not be listed in IM under subject headings more appropriate to the field of public health. Obviously, rearrangement of citations in this manner would be a formidable task if it were not reduced to practical proportions by the miracle of computers. The second section deals with disease, organisms, and vaccines and includes references related to the etiology, prevention, and control of specific diseases. A brief comparison of entries in the May issue, Volume 1, No. 5,1969, of CUBE and the corresponding issue of IM showed that many citations under a particular heading in CUBE usually also were listed under the same heading in IM. Duplication of entries occurred more frequently in the Disease section, the second part of CUBE, and the reason for not including certain citations from IM was not always clear from the titles. Epidemiology, preventive medicine, and public health deal with broad areas of knowledge and cross-disciplinary fertilization is essential for the continuing vitality of growth in these fields. It is hoped that the editors of this new, exciting venture will expand the first section of the bibliography by including citations from bibliographic publications serving biological, chemical, engineering and social sciences. In its present parochial form, this new bibliography will probably find its greatest use in offices and small libraries which do not commonly subscribe to the larger and more customarily employed medical bilbiographies. BYRON S. BERLIN
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHRONIC NON-SPECIFIC LUNG DISEASE (CHRONIC BRONCHITIS). R. VAN DER LENDE. Netherlands : Royal VanGorcum Pub-
lishers, 1969. 146 pp. Publisher, Springfield.
$14.00. Distributed in the U.S. by Charles C. Thomas,
THIS
volume reports the results of surveys for chronic lung disease in 40-64 yr old subjects residing in three Dutch towns. Chest roentgenograms, questionnaires about habits and symptoms, physical examination, sputum bacteriology, blood eosinophilia, skin tests and several pulmonary function studies were obtained. The concentration of SOz, smoke particles, fungus spores and pollen in the atmosphere was measured at two of the towns. The findings were similar to those of others: cigarette smoking was found to be more frequently associated with cough than air pollution which, irrespective of cigarette usage, was associated with an increase in cough and sputum but not with air flow obstruction. Despite the current interest in air pollution and the need for epidemiological data on chronic lung disease, the book has a variety of irritating handicaps. Asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema are considered as a homogenous group. The text is a poor translation of a Dutch graduate thesis; “light symptoms” is an example of the prose. Brief sections on epidemiologic methods and other survey techniques and results are so incomplete that they should not have been included. There are 100 pages of tables which rarely aid the discussion. WHITNEY ADDINGTON 143