Free or Low Cost Health Information: Sources for Printed Materials on 512 Topics [Paperback]

Carol Smallwood (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786403098 | ISBN-13: 978-0786403097 | Publication Date: November 1997

Whether you are a librarian at a public library helping a patron or a librarian at a small high school needing to build a vertical file or a teacher conducting an AIDS education course, this book can help locate a variety of printed information-free or costing less than $15-on physical health, mental health and safety. A broad range of health topics are covered, such as sex education, immunization, vitamins, first aid, nutrition, drug abuse, pregnancy. Each entry provides mailing address, telephone and fax numbers; TDD/TTY telephone numbers are also given when appropriate. This information is followed by a description of the information available, along with any charges or restrictions on acquisition. The subject and source indexes include extensive cross references for further utility.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Intended for an audience of teachers, librarians, health professionals, and the general public, this up-to-date directory compiles sources of free material on health. The subject matter covers 512 topics from the prosaic to the more complex, from air quality, drug abuse, and nutrition to brain and spinal cord tumors, fetal alcohol syndrome, and reconstructive plastic surgery. Drawing on the same kinds of organizations as Susan Detwiler's Detwiler's Directory of Health and Medical Resources (LJ 6/15/98), this volume is similar in content but with a different emphasis. By its own admission, though, its coverage is limited. Entries, many of which recur under various topics, list mailing addresses and phone and FAX numbers followed by descriptions of obtainable materials with titles, page counts, costs (if any), and formats included. While most of the data are available elsewhere, this reference may be convenient for those seeking to supplement standard resources. For all health collections.?Marilyn Rosenthal, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Here is a directory of more than 1,400 nonprofit organizations, plus a few companies, that provide free or inexpensive (under $15) printed materials on health-related topics. The primary audience is "librarians and teachers for the vertical file and curriculum." Organizations are listed under approxomately 700 topics, which are arranged alphabetically, from abdomen to yellow fever. A listing of the topic headings appears in the table of contents. They cover age and gender groups (adolescent health, women's health); other categories of persons and groups (lesbian health issues, veterans); parts of the body; vitamins and minerals; drugs; pollutants; diseases and conditions; disabilities; and medical specialties and procedures. Other categories cover environmental, ethical, and social issues.

Some topics are not clearly differentiated. There is no apparent difference between alcohol and driving versus drinking and driving, yet different organizations and resources are listed under each, and no cross-references are provided, even in the index at the end of the book. Similarly, smoking is not linked to tobacco, except in the index. Another example is organ transplants versus transplants, confusing because it is organs that are transplanted. One of the vaguer topical headings is institutions, because almost every organization listed could be considered an "institution." Under this heading are listed Consumer Information Center-6A and National Health Information Center.

Listings include the agency name, address, telephone and fax numbers (but no e-mail or Web addresses), a short statement of mission or goals, and up to four publications, with title, price, number of pages, and a brief annotation. Only print materials are cited. Some agencies are listed under more than one category, with different resources highlighted in different listings.

The volume concludes with an index, which, in addition to the topical headings, also includes entries for all the agencies listed, plus some cross-references. A few headings have entirely too many page references and should have been modified with contextual or explanatory subheadings. For example, 75 page references are listed under the index term National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc.

Despite its problems, this volume does achieve the author's goal of providing help to librarians, teachers, and the general public who wish to find inexpensive or free publications "when there is little or no money available for purchases." Since the directory will go out of date quickly, and since a great deal of free health information is now available online, e-mail addresses and URLs would have been a useful feature.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786403098
• ISBN-13: 978-0786403097
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,096,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carol Smallwood is in Best New Writing 2010. She edited Writing and Publishing: The Librarian's Handbook, American Library Association, 2010. She's a National Federation of State Poetry Societies Winner, a Franklin-Christoph Poetry Contest Winner. The co-edited, Women and Poetry: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing by Successful Women Poets (Foreword by Molly Peacock) is forthcoming from McFarland. Carol has appeared in several poetry journals and has a chapbook from Puddling House. Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing: The Key Publishing House Inc., 2011 is her most recent anthology. Compartments: Poems on Nature, Femininity, and Other Realms, Anaphora Literary Press, 2011, a full collection, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Some of the Marquis publications Carol appears in are: Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women.