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The medical textbook in a digital age
The medical textbook in a digital age Epilepsy: The Comprehensive CD-ROM Jerome Engel Jr,Timothy A Pedley (eds). Philadelphia:Lippincott,Williams, and Wilkins. 1999.US$379·00. ISBN 0-397-51639-8. o say that medical textbooks on CD-ROM are a phenomenon of the future is, perhaps, already dated. We live in the digital age now, and it is only natural that medical texts are available in a format that takes full advantage of digital technology. Epilepsy: The Comprehensive CD-ROM is an example of an authoritative, major textbook that affords the reader a variety of innovations and advantages in this new format.
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Kiki 1993
How does the CD-ROM version of Epilepsy compare with the original text? The CD-ROM version includes the full text version of the original textbook, including more than 800 images; not a word has been omitted, but the CDROM version includes many extra features compared with the original. 13 chapters have been revised, and there is one video clip of a seizure in an infant. Perhaps the greatest advantage of using a textbook on CD-ROM is in the poten-
Chuck Close
Since he completed his first (self) portrait in New York in the late 1960s, Chuck Close has become world-renown for the experimental yet realistic nature of his portraiture. Each of Close’s portraits begins with a simple photograph of the subject.Then,whichever medium is chosen, whether oil or acrylic on canvas, pastel or ink on paper, etching or lithography, Close works to recreate that photographic image, yet at the same time transform it from an apparently banal close-up into something quite astonishing. The result can be an uncannily precise and realistic depiction of a person on a huge scale, or a shape-shifting and quasi-abstract kaleidoscope of colour and form. An exhibition of Chuck Close’s work is now showing at the Hayward Gallery, London,UK, until Sept 19, 1999.
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tial to connect instantly with all medical literature. Medline abstracts of more than 500 references are included on the CD-ROM. Even better, the program supports Medline searches and a link to the publisher’s web page. It is therefore possible to read about a topic in this book, and then immediately pull up additional, updated references. This textbook of the future is more than a self-contained body of knowledge. It is really a guide map. It introduces the basics of a topic, and then allows the reader to direct their interest directly into the medical literature at large. What is it really like to use a textbook on CD-ROM, compared with using a regular book as has been done for centuries? How long does it take to find something? Is it worth the hassle of plugging in a computer? Can you scribble in the margins? Is the whole matter hopeless for the technophobe? Topics can be found quickly with the “Query” feature, which allows you to type in a subject or phrase, and then instantly gives you a list of related passages in the text. A disadvantage of a computer text is that you have in front of you only one screen at a time. You can’t leaf through the text; you have to scroll down, and this takes time, even with a fast computer. Each chapter does include an outline and overview, though. Phrases may be highlighted in multiple colours and sections may be bookmarked. The video of a seizure is an excellent feature, and perhaps future editions will have more examples. This CD-ROM textbook requires basic computer skills, and is compatible with both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. For a person with limited computer skills, a textbook on computer disk may be daunting, but the programme does include an extensive tutorial. A computer disc will always be a less romantic object than a well-worn paper text to be read by a fireplace on a cold winter’s night or to be scribbled on through residency. On the other hand, a thin metallic disc is easier on the neck and the back. Traditional textbooks are not obsolete, and it will be a long time before medical libraries have only discs on their shelves. Nevertheless, the advantages of rapid information retrieval, including the capacity to do an instant computer literature search while reading a book chapter, make the CDROM format the way of the future and well worth the acquisition of the required computer equipment and skills. Helene Price Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA
THE LANCET • Vol 354 • August 14, 1999
T
Kiki 1993
How does the CD-ROM version of Epilepsy compare with the original text? The CD-ROM version includes the full text version of the original textbook, including more than 800 images; not a word has been omitted, but the CDROM version includes many extra features compared with the original. 13 chapters have been revised, and there is one video clip of a seizure in an infant. Perhaps the greatest advantage of using a textbook on CD-ROM is in the poten-
Chuck Close
Since he completed his first (self) portrait in New York in the late 1960s, Chuck Close has become world-renown for the experimental yet realistic nature of his portraiture. Each of Close’s portraits begins with a simple photograph of the subject.Then,whichever medium is chosen, whether oil or acrylic on canvas, pastel or ink on paper, etching or lithography, Close works to recreate that photographic image, yet at the same time transform it from an apparently banal close-up into something quite astonishing. The result can be an uncannily precise and realistic depiction of a person on a huge scale, or a shape-shifting and quasi-abstract kaleidoscope of colour and form. An exhibition of Chuck Close’s work is now showing at the Hayward Gallery, London,UK, until Sept 19, 1999.
606
tial to connect instantly with all medical literature. Medline abstracts of more than 500 references are included on the CD-ROM. Even better, the program supports Medline searches and a link to the publisher’s web page. It is therefore possible to read about a topic in this book, and then immediately pull up additional, updated references. This textbook of the future is more than a self-contained body of knowledge. It is really a guide map. It introduces the basics of a topic, and then allows the reader to direct their interest directly into the medical literature at large. What is it really like to use a textbook on CD-ROM, compared with using a regular book as has been done for centuries? How long does it take to find something? Is it worth the hassle of plugging in a computer? Can you scribble in the margins? Is the whole matter hopeless for the technophobe? Topics can be found quickly with the “Query” feature, which allows you to type in a subject or phrase, and then instantly gives you a list of related passages in the text. A disadvantage of a computer text is that you have in front of you only one screen at a time. You can’t leaf through the text; you have to scroll down, and this takes time, even with a fast computer. Each chapter does include an outline and overview, though. Phrases may be highlighted in multiple colours and sections may be bookmarked. The video of a seizure is an excellent feature, and perhaps future editions will have more examples. This CD-ROM textbook requires basic computer skills, and is compatible with both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems. For a person with limited computer skills, a textbook on computer disk may be daunting, but the programme does include an extensive tutorial. A computer disc will always be a less romantic object than a well-worn paper text to be read by a fireplace on a cold winter’s night or to be scribbled on through residency. On the other hand, a thin metallic disc is easier on the neck and the back. Traditional textbooks are not obsolete, and it will be a long time before medical libraries have only discs on their shelves. Nevertheless, the advantages of rapid information retrieval, including the capacity to do an instant computer literature search while reading a book chapter, make the CDROM format the way of the future and well worth the acquisition of the required computer equipment and skills. Helene Price Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA
THE LANCET • Vol 354 • August 14, 1999