The author of the previously-published Online Textbook of Microbiology, Dr. Ken Todar, makes the following statement on the website: “Welcome to Todar’s Online Textbook of Bacteriology. Its contents are suitable for reading or presentation in courses or course modules concerning general microbiology and medical bacteriology at the college and advanced high school levels.” As the author would agree, this resource is set up as a reference source or supplement, and not for use as a stand-alone text. For example, there are no references, study guides, study questions or instructional guides, for example.
To ensure a fair comparison of the two resources in terms of content, approach, and teaching benefits, I chose a single topic: Control of Microbial Growth. After describing and then offering a few thoughts about Todar's resource, I will then move on to Through the Microscope.
First, it was easy to jump to the chosen topic from an opening drop-down menu of chapters on Todar’s site. At the entrée page for this topic, one sees a narrative that is highlighted with many useful graphics. For example, photos of Pasteur and Lister are accompanied by brief biographies and explanations of their historical discoveries related to controlling microbial growth, followed by the topic of discussion with descriptions of different physical and chemical methods used to control growth.
Should students be encouraged to supplement their text with this resource? My answer would be a definite YES, for three main reasons:
Each page may be printed individually. Unlike a printed text, both students and instructors can use or print topic information as they choose.
Descriptions are brief and concise. For example, the description of sterilization methods (incineration, boiling, autoclaving, etc.) is sufficient but not extensive.
Simple diagrams, photographs, and summary charts are utilized throughout. This is very helpful to students at all levels, in particular students whose first language is not English (English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Learners (ELL) students), something we don’t always consider when choosing resources.
Relating to my own experience, the section on filtration was more extensive than the text our college currently uses (Tortuna/Funke/Case, 10th ed.) and includes photographs showing filtration setups. It also includes a great section on chemical sterilization using gases such as ethylene oxide and ozone, and – something unfamiliar to me – Low Temperature Gas Plasma (LTGP) that uses radio frequency waves to energize liquid H2O2 into gas plasma!
An additional important part of this chapter on controlling microbial growth is devoted to chemotherapeutic agents. Though the use of chemotherapeutic drugs is often a topic treated separately in other texts, it makes sense to me (and for many students) to include this information here because it definitely relates to controlling microbial growth. The section begins by listing many antibiotic classes and their mode of action. This is followed by brief descriptions of each mode of action, complete with structural diagrams, followed by a discussion of antibiotic resistance, how resistance is acquired, and then alternatives to antibiotics. This is standard information, but it is well-organized and clearly presented.
Dr. Tim Paustian’s Through the Microscope is a very different type of online resource and functions more like a standard text in e-book format. For $30.00, a subscription to the book may be purchased, which allows users to access to all chapters, interactive figures and graphics, etc. A hardcover edition is also available, if desired, for under $100.
Chapters are accessed with a drop-down menu on the home page. The interactive figures are great and at the end of three to four chapter sections there is a multiple choice quiz that can be self-scored. A very useful feature can be found on the right side of the screen under Tools. Clicking on Chapter Highlights allows one to highlight sections of any chapter. Then, if the Collect Highlights tool is used, all highlights are displayed in once place, listing chapter section numbers and the name of the section. This self-collected synopsis of highlights is, of course, printable, as are all chapters or pages at the discretion of the student or instructor.
Using the same topic, Control of Microbial Growth, for comparison as the previous resource, a couple of things stood out as noticeably different. Again, from my perspective as a teacher of primarily ELLs, the ability to click on any green highlighted word in the text and be sent directly to the glossary for definitions, as well as the ability to determine one’s level of reading comprehension using the self-scoring quizzes is especially supportive. Nevertheless, the text did not feel as “readable” as that found in the Todar resource. While the interactive figures and graphs are nice touches, the relative paucity of graphics on the reviewed pages may not make reading this text online particularly enjoyable for long stretches of time. On the positive side, though, this text could also be used for upper-level microbiology courses because, in some cases, explanations are much more detailed (i.e., Thermal Death Time (TDT) and the calculation of some quantitative variables).
Given the price of regular hardcover microbiology textbooks and the financial hardship many students face, this text is definitely worth considering simply for economic reasons.
In my humble opinion, combining Paustian’s Through the Microscope with Todar’s Online Textbook of Bacteriology may offer the best of both worlds for many instructors.