“We have chosen those tools that librarians may use on a daily basis in reference work in the health sciences—those that may be considered foundation or basic works” (Preface).
The fourth edition of this classic textbook and collection development guide comes nearly ten years after the publication of the third edition and has been extensively revised and enhanced to reflect not only new online resources, but the recent emphasis in the profession on consumer health and evidence-based medicine. It should be an essential reference guide available in all health sciences libraries and a key textbook for courses covering health sciences reference sources.
The book has three parts: “The Reference Collection,” “Bibliographic Sources,” and “Information Sources.” Part I on the organization and management of the reference collection covers issues related to building, maintaining, and assessing a reference collection, including licensing issues for online formats. Part II on bibliographic sources (monographs, periodicals, abstracting and indexing resources, etc.) and part III on information sources (terminology, drug information, consumer health, statistics, etc.) form the bulk of this work with thirteen chapters by various contributors, including the volume editors. For this edition, the audiovisual chapter in the third edition has been dropped, and a timely and excellent new chapter on consumer health sources has been added. Separate chapters in the third edition on abstracting and indexing (A&I) services and bibliographic databases have been combined into a single new chapter in this edition, “Indexing, Abstracting, and Digital Database Resources.” Although every previous edition has included electronic resources, the focus of this edition is on electronic resources that have become the principle method of providing excellent and timely reference services.
The authors have included the “best resources for answering questions from health professionals, students, researchers, and consumers interested in health information” and have ably described the resources and the context in which they are used. A real bonus is the book's readability. The book is not a simple listing of resources with annotations, but includes valuable context and discussion of issues that serve the purpose of the book extremely well. For example, librarians who infrequently deal with history of medicine questions and need a reminder of key sources will find a highly readable guide in McClure's chapter on history sources. Librarians who need a primer on medical statistics will find a wealth of resources with succinctly written contextual information in Rankin and Burgess's chapter on medical and health statistics. US sources and libraries are emphasized, but Canadian sources are also included. In chapter 14 covering grant sources, the editors acknowledge an unfortunate error in the first printing that excluded a footnote thanking Tom Flemming of McMaster University for supplying information about Canadian grant sources.