648 J. Chem. In& Comput. Sci., Vol. 33, No. 4, 1993
BOOK REVIEWS
BOOK REVIEWS How to Find InformationAbout Aids,Second Edition. By Jeffrey T. Huber. Haworth Medical Information Sources. Harrington Park Press: Binghamton, NY. 1992. 290 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-918393-99-X. Since the first tentative and puzzling descriptions of the immunodeficiency syndrome, now called AIDS, 10 years ago, the amount of knowledgeconcerning this disease and the number of information sources have mushroomed. Organizations, publications, databases, and research centers on AIDS have proliferated. Jeffrey Huber has attempted to list all of the major organizations and information sources on AIDS. He has given us a book of lists, large useful ones at that. The average reader would need an incalculableamount of time to compile any one of these lists. He begins by noting 450 service organizations devoted to AIDS. The function of most of these organizations is apparent from their names. He provides brief annotations for those whose function is not readily obvious. In a separate section he lists 22 federal government agencies that provide AIDS information. He lists state health departments, at least one for each state. These departments provide multiple services that include educational materials and epidemiologicaldata. Anyone needing quick information on AIDS can call one of the more than 100 telephone hotlines listed in the book. He notes the 63federallyfunded educationand training centers established to train health care professionals working with AIDS. Of interest to researchers is his section on research institutions and funding sources. The 34 grant funding sources listed here provide a starting point for anyone seeking research funds. Nearly 100 private, corporate, academic, and government institutions are involved in AIDS research. He provides annotations for a third of these, but more clarification is needed here. On this list are the publishers Wiley and Elsevier with noindicationof how they areassociated with AIDS research.
Much of the data generated by AIDS is now available in various electronic forms: databases, CD-ROMs, computer assisted instruction packets, and electronic bulletin boards. Twenty-one of the more than 100 diverse products described here are devoted exclusively to AIDS. This cornucopia includes comprehensivebibliographic databases such as AIDSLINE, electronicnewsletten, full text articles,educationalmaterials, health care worker instruction, and legal aspects of AIDS. He notes which sources have printed equivalents. These are all described here with the addresses and telephone numbers of their producers, but not their costs. Huber gives us useful hints on formulating database search strategies and reminds us of the importance in using several databases when a comprehensive search is needed. I wish he had used his expertise to evaluate rather than just describe some of these databases. For example, in the few AIDS searches I have done, I found the National Library of Medicine’s AIDSLINE far more productive than MEDLINE because AIDSLINE includes all AIDS references from MEDLINE plus material from other sources. Tocomplement elcctronicsourcts, he lists printed bibliographics(some of which have monthly updates) and dozens of specialized journals and newsletters. To provide an overview, to the constantly changing and growing AIDS literature, he lists over 200 monographs and reference sources. Huber also notes numerous suppliers of videotapes and the specific titles of some of these products. This handbook, the second edition since 1988, is a vital reference for anyone having more than a superficial interest in AIDS. This book and a phone will get you a long way. One hopes that books of this type will becontinuouslyupdatcduntil AIDS iseliminatedand is onlyanacademic curiosity like smallpox.
Philip Barnett SciencelEngineering Library City of College of New York
