Customer Reviews

Mosby Medical Encyclopedia, The Signet: Revised Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have the CD version of the Mosby's, and although I still prefer books to CDs most ways, the CD version is still a good product, so I thought I'd make a few comments on it.

First the interface, unlike a lot of reference works on CD that I have, is attractive, simple, and overall well done. I have at least 10 different encyclopedias and reference works on CDs at this point, and the Mosby's is one of the best I've seen. It's easier to use than the Britannica or World Book encyclopedias, for example, and more attractive. It's actually very similar to the Oxford Encyclopedia that I have, which divides the screen up into articles on the right-hand side, with the photos or other media and search boxes on the left. This makes for a nice, uncluttered screen. It probably looks best on a 17-inch monitor (16-inch viewable) or better where you can run at 1024 x 768 resolution.

The CD's main features, accessible by icons on the top left of the interface, include a drug guide, handbook of diseases, a human body atlas, resource lists, multimedia, search, and online, which is websites for further information and reseach.

The resource lists include lists and charts of various things such as height and weight measurements for girls and boys, selected genetic disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex pointers and risks, summary of carbohydrate classes, mode of action of antibiotics, types and causes of fractures, teratogens, and so on. There are about a hundred of these.

The multimedia section includes about 1400 photos, over 70 video animations, many useful tables, and a prounouncing dictionary of over 4000 terms. The voice has that computer-synthesized quality, but it's okay and this feature has certainly improved over earlier programs I've seen incorporating this feature.

Probably most people will be using the drug and disease entries. These aren't too technical and can usually be understand by the lay person with a little knowledge of basic human physiology and anatomy. I wish the drug entries weren't so short and the disease entries were a little more technical myself, but that's just my preference and one has to consider that this isn't a reference work intended for use by physicians. Overall, this is a quality medical reference for many things and a good value for your money, as the CD isn't very expensive compared to the book.

I found this book to be one of the most helpful books in the many that I studied to write my Paramedic exam. It is a pocket book and its laymen terminology combined with an advanced selection makes it the perfect reference guide when studying. I find it hard to put the book down and learn something new every time I pick it up!!!

The Mosby Medical Encyclopedia is a comprehensive medical encyclopedia that accurately describes conditions and medical related terminology. It is easily used by a layperson.

I use this book at work to look up medical terms I do not understand or can't spell. I use it often and don't know how I ever worked without it. All medicl pesonnel should have one!!

I got rid of this in the caribbean and I HAD to get this back again later...I like the way the info is presented. There might be slightly less info than in Stedman's but its a lot, lot more easier to use than Stedman's.