Magill's Medical Guide

Gr 10 Up—This thoroughly revised version of a standard reference title supersedes the 2008 edition with updated general content, special "In the News" features and resource lists, and entries for 161 new topics such as "H1N1 Influenza" and issues related to "Health Care Reform." The alphabetically arranged articles, also available free online with better, color illustrations to owners of the print edition, range in length from 500 to 3500 words. Coverage includes human anatomy and physiology, diseases and their treatment, surgical and other medical procedures, broad topics ("African American Health" and similar surveys for American Indians and Asian Americans), and discussions of subjects such as "Aging: Extended Care" and "Rape and Sexual Assault" from medical perspectives. The authoritative articles are systematically organized and full of specific detail. A few also offer a sharp black-and-white photo or a labeled diagram. Complete tables of contents plus subject and relevant medical specialty indexes in each volume and helpful lists of symptoms and diseases and name and general indexes in volume six enhance accessibility. Back matter in the last volume also includes comprehensive annotated lists of organizations and websites. The sparse number of illustrations lends this set a utilitarian look. Like its predecessors, though, this is a solid source of reliable information and will also serve as a replacement for The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Gale, 1998).—John Peters, formerly at New York Public Library