Book Review

Scientific American Medicine on CD

N Engl J Med 1998; 339:1647-1648November 26, 1998

Article

Scientific American Medicine on CD
With manual, 32 pp. System needed: Multimedia IBM PC or compatible with 8 MB RAM. (Also available for Macintosh System 7.0 and 8 MB RAM.) New York, Scientific American, 1998. $245 (individual subscription). ISBN: 0-89454-009-2

Extremely user-friendly, yet comprehensive and thoroughly updated, Scientific American Medicine on CD is the electronic counterpart of the well-known Scientific American Medicine. This CD-ROM contains the full text as well as every illustration, table, diagram, and appendix appearing in the printed version. The computerized version has several advantages over the printed version, such as the fact that one can conduct fast data searches and retrieval of information, as well as extended possibilities for data management.

The same CD-ROM can be used with either IBM personal computers or Macintosh computers. After installing the software — a simple procedure — the user is presented with the introductory screen, containing control and navigation buttons that lead to various options, such as topic selection, search, “what's new,” and the self-test sections. Prior use of a personal computer is of value, though the shortcut buttons supply all the necessary functions, allowing even the most uninitiated an easy go of it right from the beginning.

For straightforward use as a textbook, one can just click a button, choose a topic, and plunge in. To assess specific subjects or items, the CD-ROM provides efficient search functions, including logical (Boolean) and proximity operators, wild cards, and the ability to save a search strategy and even to search within items retrieved by a previous search as a specified function. An elaborate annotation system allows users to organize and use personal references or notes, which can be typed and placed anywhere in an open document, much like bookmarks, aiding future retrieval and review of the material. Text, figures, or entire documents can be printed, saved as a file for future use, or exported to other programs.

Throughout the installation process and subsequent use of the CD-ROM, we were guided by a user-friendly on-line help system. The written manual provided with the software is concise, and we believe that a look through it is worthwhile, especially as an aid at the beginning.

We found that the software performed considerably better on a Pentium-based personal computer (130 MHz or higher) with at least 16 MB of RAM. This configuration allows parallel use of a word processor and graphics software, transforming the system into a powerful tool for preparing lectures or presentations on virtually any subject in the internal-medicine field. The CD-ROM is replete with very-high-quality pictures, both photographs and drawings. These, together with the appropriate text, figures, and tables can be copied and pasted into other software to form an organized continuum of illustrations and text.

The CD-ROM is updated quarterly, which cannot be done with a traditional printed textbook. We found that some of the references had actually been published just a few months before the CD-ROM became available. The current updating process involves one's accepting another CD-ROM by mail; thus, annotations created in previous versions may be lost if an updated disk adds or deletes articles or portions of articles in which the original annotations appeared. Since registered subscribers can also use the Scientific American Medicine data base, including the continuing-medical-education program at http://www.samed.com, we hope that in the future users will be able to download updates directly from the Web site, thereby avoiding the need to modify their annotation system.

Scientific American Medicine on CD includes two additional features: self-assessment questions and the United States Pharmacopeia Dictionary. The self-assessment questions give users an opportunity to evaluate their diagnostic and therapeutic skills and to earn continuing-medical-education credits. Three new tests are included within each software update. The dictionary is a complete data base of drug information that is published by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention. This data base is updated together with the CD-ROM and can be used in the same manner as the medical section. An excellent source of information on drugs, this data base has a vast advantage for both clinical and research settings: its search function allows users to look for a combination of subjects or strings of text. A combination search strategy can be used for both the dictionary and the material from Scientific American Medicine.

Michael Gdalevich, M.D., M.P.H.
17 Yahalom St., Kiriat Ekron 70500, Israel

Daniel Mimouni, M.D.
Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva 49100, Israel