70 J Med Libr Assoc 96(1) January 2008

BOOK REVIEWS

The Complete Guide to MedicalWriting. Edited by Mark C. Stuart.London, UK: Pharmaceutical Press,2007. 491 p. $39.95. ISBN: 978-0-85369-667-4.

This multiauthored work is fromthe Pharmaceutical Press (PhP), thepublishing arm of the ‘‘Royal Phar-maceutical Society of Great Britainfounded in 1841. The Society is theregulatory and professional bodyfor pharmacists in England, Scot-land and Wales. Its primary objec-tive is to lead, regulate and developthe pharmacy profession’’ [1]. Thebook is indeed complete andspeaks to novice writers or stu-dents who may be new to thehealth professions, as well asknowledgeable clinicians and re-searchers who need help compilingexamination questions, writingpress releases, or adding publica-tions to their resumes.

The editor is clinical editor forBMJ Clinical Evidence, and the fore-word is written by Julia ForjanicKlapproth, vice president of the Eu-ropean Medical Writers Association.Most of the more than twenty au-thors work in Britain, three are fromMalta, one is Australian, and, finally,there is the Plain English Campaign.Nearly all are trained in some aspectof pharmaceutics, though they covera wide range of topics. One is a qual-ified librarian. The authority of thePhP and the wide range of expertiseand experience among the authorsgive the reader confidence.

The Complete Guide does not justdiscuss how to write. It describesevery aspect of the medical litera-ture and publishing world. Thechapters are collected into six sec-tions that discuss medical writingessentials, reviews and reports,medical journalism and mass me-dia, medical writing in education,medical writing for medical profes-sionals, and medical publishing. Itappeals to medical novices who arecalled on to write but need a betterunderstanding of medicine itself, aswell as seasoned clinicians, aca-demics, and researchers who needa better, deeper understanding ofthe types of writing.

The book is designed to be usedas a textbook. Chapters provide

many summaries, bulleted lists ofmajor points, questions and answers,and other material such as ‘‘FurtherReading,’’ ‘‘Useful Resources,’’‘‘Glossary,’’ and ‘‘Useful Websites.’’‘‘Writing’’ is used loosely to includelive presentations, radio programs,slide shows, advertising and posters,and online research.

Much of the advice is very prac-tical (how to print and bind a the-sis), and some is amusing (askinggrandma to write down her choc-olate cake recipe), but the book ispacked with facts and examples.Some of the ‘‘typical’’ documentexamples are British, but this doesnot detract from its usefulness.

Besides a thorough back-of-the-book index, the book has useful ap-pendixes of ‘‘Common Medical Ab-breviations,’’ ‘‘Measurements,’’‘‘Normal Values for Common Lab-oratory Tests,’’ ‘‘Proof CorrectionalMarks,’’ and ‘‘A to Z of MedicalTerms in Plain English.’’ This lastcontains many British spellings,but most readers should not findthis a problem, especially becauseBritish journals and websites arewidely read and used, and the fewGreek diphthongs (oedema, gynae-cology) are easily grasped.

The British origin of the publica-tion, however, may be its only draw-back. This will depend on how muchthe reader needs certain parts of thebook. Discussion of ethics, copy-right, style, appropriateness of audi-ence, organization of content, variousforums for one’s efforts—all of theseare universal and provide much in-teresting and useful background.However, if one is preparing a newsitem for release to the press, thesources on page 423 are of little useoutside the United Kingdom. Thismay be minor compared to the oth-erwise excellent ‘‘Checklist for Writ-ing Press Releases’’ (p. 186) and thethorough discussion of ‘‘Principles ofGood Advertising’’ that begin chap-ter 12 (pp. 176–).

This reviewer expected consider-able discussion of the professionalliterature, writing of theses, academ-ic material, and similar and indeedwas not disappointed. Highlightsfrom the book, which rather sur-prised this reviewer in their novelty,included ‘‘Differences in Writing for

Magazines and Newspapers’’ and‘‘Important Points to Consider whenWriting for the Lay Press’’ (pp. 156–)and ‘‘The Top 10 Web Design Mis-takes of 2005’’ and ‘‘Writing Stylefor Websites’’ (pp. 416–).

Anyone involved in the healthprofessions, whether readers or writ-ers, will appreciate and enjoy thisbook. While not as much fun as Eats,Shoots and Leaves [2], it is easier tonavigate than the excellent reference,The Chicago Manual of Style [3], andis a joy to read by any lover of lan-guage and its many applications.

Elizabeth H. Wood, MA, MSLS,AHIP, woode@easystreet.com,Portland, OR

References

1. Pharmaceutical Press [web docu-ment]. The Press. [3 Jul 2007].�http://www.pharmpress.com�.2. Truss L. Eats, shoots and leaves.Penguin Group, 2006.3. University of Chicago Press Staff, ed.The Chicago manual of style. 15th ed.Chicago, IL: The University of ChicagoPress, 2003.

DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.96.1.70a

Pickard, Alison Jane. ResearchMethods in Information. London,UK: Facet Publishing, 2007. 336 p.$99.95. ISBN: 978-1-85604-545-2.Distributed in the United States byNeal-Schuman Publishers, NewYork �www.neal-schuman.com�.

The instant contribution of this intro-ductory handbook about informa-tion and communication sciences re-search is its ecumenical attitudeabout qualitative and quantitativemethods. Some descriptions of quan-titative methods that suggest non-empirical approaches are ascientific.Alternatively, Pickard, University ofNorthumbria (UK), discusses re-search from both qualitative andquantitative angles and attempts tofoster diverse approaches.

Considering introductory gradu-ate (or honors undergraduate) textsoften are a student’s first exposure toresearch, Pickard’s even-handed ap-proach provides a safe haven for ex-ploration and thinking. Regardless

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of a student’s orientation, the texttours diverse approaches and pro-motes thinking about research. Thehandbook also emboldens facultywho wish to provide creative op-tions for students, in lieu of steeringthem toward a predetermined path.

The text is organized into four ar-eas: ways to organize research, an in-troduction to research methods, datacollection techniques, and data anal-ysis and research presentation. Thechapter topics in each range fromways to conduct a literature reviewand write research proposals in thefirst area to an introduction to ex-perimental research and to ground-ed theory in the second. The thirdarea, data collection techniques, ad-dresses interviews and question-naires, while the fourth area, dataanalysis and research presentation,discusses qualitative analysis andquantitative methods.

This topic variety is at least as ex-pansive as most similar researchmethods texts. Hence, the book’srange meets expectations for an in-troductory research class for stu-dents in the information-commu-nication disciplines. Pickard’s ini-tial description of both quantitativeand qualitative paradigms (andtheir juxtaposition) borrows heavi-ly from Lincoln and Guba’s fre-quently cited book that was aimedat students in the communicationsciences [1].

Further regarding the provisionof context, it is easier to inspire stu-dents about research if they have aninterest in a field’s past, present,and future. In many graduate pro-grams, this introduction often isprovided in a separate course thatuses a different text. Nevertheless,it helps anchor the relevance of aresearch methods text by startingwith a short review of a field’s un-answered questions, opportunities,methodological diversity, and re-search traditions as well as an ex-planation of how research methodsare integral to a field’s evolution.Similarly, all the book’s researchmethods chapters feature exam-ples, such as scales or research ab-stracts that illustrate the type of ap-proach under discussion. But thebook’s research methods chaptersfocus on a broad introduction rath-

er than applied uses of the methodin question. The applications of re-search methods and tools are pro-vided in chapter inserts or sidebars.

Overall, Pickard’s commendablyequitable approach is one of thebook’s major strengths. Other assetsinclude a good variety of topics,careful annotation, clear questionsfor readers to consider at each chap-ter’s end, a glossary, and consistentlycrisp writing. However, even a hand-book with a reserve of commendableelements has blemishes, and a fewareas of this text could use some fur-ther polishing. While a few additionsare suggested, they are not intendedto detract from the book’s funda-mental fairness and the author’s gen-uine attempt to provide diverse re-search options.

It might help students distinguishamong research approaches if surveyand experimental research were clus-tered as normative examples ofquantitative methods, while casestudies, ethnography, delphi studies,action research, history, and ground-ed theory were more clearly identi-fied as normative (and in some cases,iconic) examples of qualitative meth-ods. Along the same lines, the bookcould use more discussion and ex-amples of research with mixedmethods. For example, it would beinstructive to introduce researchwhere investigators combine quanti-tative and qualitative methods in thesame study. Finally, in providing ex-amples of quantitative software,Pickard only mentions SPSS andMINITAB. This is a short list, whichseems ripe for rebuttal by the pub-lishers of SAS and other comprehen-sive statistical programs. Similarly,the only qualitative software men-tioned is NUD.IST. Although a chap-ter devoted to research software isvaluable, why not provide a morecomprehensive list and briefly ex-plain in what research areas they arefrequently used?

These quibbles aside, Pickard pro-vides a diverse and methodological-ly balanced entry point for students.This is a laudable asset—especiallyfor research novices and their men-tors. The text is recommended foruse in introductory research meth-ods classes in the information andcommunication sciences.

Robert A. Logan, PhD,loganr@missouri.edu, ProfessorEmeritus, School of Journalism,University of Missouri–Columbia

Reference

1. Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalisticinquiry. London, UK: Sage, 1985.

DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.96.1.70b

Kovacs, Diane K. The Virtual Ref-erence Handbook: Interview andInformation Delivery Techniquesfor the Chat and E-mail Environ-ments. New York, NY: Neal-Schu-man Publishers, 2007. 132 p. $65.00.ISBN: 978-1-55570-598-5.

Virtual reference is hardly a newtopic. Well over two dozen currenthandbooks, readers, and manualsconcerning it are currently on themarket. They range from starting avirtual reference service [1], throughupdating skills and reviewing casehistories [2], to expanding and en-hancing the service [3].

Kovacs’s The Virtual ReferenceHandbook may be unique amongthem. Its aim is to answer thepointed question of what it takes tobecome a competent virtual refer-ence librarian. To accomplish this,the author identifies and discussesforty-two specific competenciesthat should be mastered to reachthat state and provides practicallearning activities to assist.

The author is a specialist in In-ternet and web-based training forlibrarians, has taught related con-tinuing education courses for theMedical Library Association andother professional organizations,and has published numerous booksand articles on Internet resourcesand staff training. She structuredthis book for use by either individ-uals or groups.

The Handbook’s first chapter ex-plores the technical, communica-tions, reference skills, and knowl-edge needed by virtual reference li-brarians. It reviews reference inter-viewing and search strategydevelopment and provides a num-ber of learning questions for each.The remaining chapters present

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72 J Med Libr Assoc 96(1) January 2008

competencies, which include com-petencies for acquiring and im-proving technical skills and knowl-edge for virtual reference, practic-ing and expanding communicationskills and knowledge for the vir-tual reference interview, and main-taining and building reference re-source skills and knowledge.

The competencies are phrased aseducational objectives and are dis-cussed in depth. A typical exampleis ‘‘CI.9. Demonstrate awareness ofwhen and how to teach or instructduring a virtual reference transac-tion’’ (p. 88). The book discusses dis-covering whether a user just wantsan answer or wants help finding it.For the latter situation, helpful strat-egies are suggested, such as typingdialogue as if speaking directly tothe person, performing separate butsimultaneous searches while remain-ing connected, and employing co-browsing technology.

Learning activities are also pro-vided for select competencies, forexample, ‘‘Learning Activities 2–3:Minimal Multitasking Practice’’provides online practice activitiesappropriate for either Windows XPor Mac OSX machines (p. 42). Ad-ditionally, a list of common emailabbreviations, emoticons, andemoting (body language indica-tors) is included in the book. Ref-erences and recommended read-ings are provided at the end of eachchapter.

A special feature of the handbookis the transcript of email interviewswith eight experienced librarians.The author builds scenarios, such aswhat to do when encountering a‘‘bad’’ chat reference customer orhow to decide whether a librarian isgoing to be good at chat. She thenasks the librarians to comment ontheir own experiences and solutions.Being in a live conversation, the li-brarians are able to build on eachother’s comments. This results indeepened insight and valuable ad-vice on those topics.

The book’s format is a little‘‘choppy.’’ Some competencies arefollowed by ‘‘Learning Activities,’’some by ‘‘Interviews,’’ some nei-ther. A number of font types andsizes are used, sometimes in thesame section. Quotes from other

authors are interspersed at differ-ent spots throughout chapters toenrich the content. These variationsmay detract from browsing easebut do not affect the book’s integ-rity of focus.

The index is effective for identi-fying numerous acronyms andproduct names and has several un-usual entries that strengthen it,such as ‘‘Ways to Make Virtual Ref-erence Users Disconnect and NeverVisit Your Virtual Reference ServiceAgain’’ and ‘‘Empathy in the Vir-tual Reference Interview.’’

The Virtual Reference Handbook isa practical manual for identifyingand learning the skills and knowl-edge sets key to building librariancompetence in providing virtualreference. It should prove a con-structive tool for librarians andparaprofessionals in health sciencesand other types of libraries and forfaculty who teach library sciencereference courses.

David W. Boilard, AMLS, MPH,AHIP, dboilard@earthlink.net,Raymon H. Mulford Library,University of Toledo–Health ScienceCampus, Toledo, OH

References

1. Coffman S. Going live: starting andrunning a virtual reference service.Chicago, IL: American Library Associ-ation, 2003.2. Lankes RD, White, Domas M, AblesEG, Haque SN. The virtual referencedesk: creating a reference future. (TheVirtual Reference Desk Series.) NewYork, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers,2006.3. Katz B, ed. Digital reference servic-es. Binghamton, NY: The HaworthPress. 2002/2003. (Published simulta-neously as The Reference Librarian,nos. 79/80, 2002/2003.)

DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.96.1.71

Schiavo, Renata. Health Commu-nication: from Theory to Practice.New York, NY: Jossey-Bass, 2007.464 p. Paperback ed. $60.00. ISBN:978-0-7879-8205-8.

With a myriad of relatively recentbooks on health communicationand related topics available, there

would need to be a pressing needto publish yet another one. In herintroduction, Schiavo states thatsuch a need became evident duringher search for a textbook to use inthe course that she was teaching. Inshort, she wanted a book that‘‘combined a theoretical and prac-tice-based overview of current is-sues and topics . . . with a step-by-step practical section that wouldhelp readers acquire technicalskills.’’ At well over 400 pages, in-cluding a glossary, a lengthy list ofreferences, subject and name index-es, abundant tables and figures,and two appendixes, this bookseems a likely candidate to fill anyvoid in previous offerings. Al-though this book appears to be theauthor’s first major foray into printpublishing, she has written severalunpublished reports and has beenan active contributor to The HealthCommunications Initiative [1],where she first presented some ofthe concepts later included in thebook. She continues to teach nu-merous workshops in the field andis actively involved in the Ameri-can College of Public Health.

The book itself is divided intothree parts. Part one, ‘‘Introductionto Health Communication,’’ definesthe concepts and clearly establishesthe importance of various sociocul-tural/socioeconomic influences onhealth beliefs and models. A majorstrength of the book is the liberaluse of practical examples to illus-trate and reinforce the theoreticalissues being presented, as thesemay be minimal in less exhaustivetexts, such as Berry’s Health Com-munication: Theory and Practice [2].Health sciences librarians involvedin outreach activities or those whowork with patients or the publicwill find chapter 3, ‘‘Cultural, Gen-der, Ethnic, Religious, and Geo-graphical Influences on Concep-tions of Health and Illness,’’ of par-ticular interest.

Part two, ‘‘Health Communica-tion Approaches and Action Are-as,’’ provides a more in-depth lookat the various types of communi-cation presented in part one, in-cluding interpersonal communica-tion, public relations/public advo-cacy, community mobilization, pro-

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fessional medical communications,and constituency relations, wherethe constituents range from pa-tients to health care providers,drug companies, policymakers,and other key stakeholders. Again,the numerous case studies, lists (doversus don’t, definitions of com-munication formats, etc.), and eventestimonials from other experts areparticularly helpful in the selectionand integration of the most appro-priate tools for engaging constitu-ents and for implementing actionprograms.

Part three, ‘‘Planning, Imple-menting, and Evaluating a HealthCommunication Program,’’ out-lines practical methods for convert-ing communication initiatives intoactions. While most readers wouldnot need a rationale for the need toplan, the differentiation betweentraditional (vertical or centralized)and participatory (horizontal or de-centralized) planning may be of in-terest because of the cultural impli-cations. As in the previous twoparts, this section of the book offerspractical examples and applica-tions, complete with a review ofpreferred channels and barriersand strengths and weaknesses ofactual projects. A review of quali-tative versus quantitative researchmethods is somewhat cursory butmay be helpful to those not famil-iar with the concepts. Unfortunate-ly, libraries are mentioned only inpassing as ‘‘good places to start asearch’’ as they ‘‘provide access todatabases and online journals’’ (p.269). The author then advises, how-ever, that ‘‘most health organiza-tions now have the internal capa-bility to conduct these searchesfrom their offices.’’ MEDLINE re-ceives but a token nod here, alongwith Lexis-Nexis and ‘‘several com-mercial databases to which userscan subscribe or access using apublic library system’’ in an equal-ly abbreviated section on databaseand Internet searching. The authorinstead focuses on the Internet andthe evaluation of websites, includ-ing Table 10.2, reprinted from a1999 BMJ article (p. 271). Literaturereviews of peer-reviewed and tradepublications, newsletters, and so on

are once again suggested as ameans of monitoring results in Ta-ble 13.1, along with ‘‘internetsearches’’ (p. 344), but there is nei-ther any mention of electronic alert-ing services by journal or topic norany direction given in the text onhow or in what resources suchsearches should be performed.

The book is clearly designed tobe a used as a teaching tool, and,in this regard, it is successful. Eachchapter ends with a ‘‘Key Con-cepts’’ review that reiterates themain points. Suggested activities inthe ‘‘For Discussion and Practice’’sections could be used in a class-room or workshop setting to helplearners apply the principles toreal-life situations.

Most disappointing, but proba-bly not surprising to most healthsciences librarians, is the conspic-uous absence of the roles that theyor libraries, including the NationalLibrary of Medicine (NLM), play inany of the types of presented com-munication; the planning, design,and implementation of actionplans; or the subsequent evaluationprocess. In chapter 7, ‘‘ProfessionalMedical Communications,’’ for ex-ample, neither librarians nor infor-mationists appear in the pathwaysdescribed, although the author em-phasizes that professional commu-nication is an important componentof health communications pro-grams and that it requires special-ized skills and tools that may notalways be used with other audienc-es (p. 178). Moreover, clinical li-brarian and reference services arenot mentioned in the discussion ofeffective ways through whichhealth care provider behavior canbe influenced, particularly in en-couraging evidence-based practice(pp. 182–5). This oversight maytouch a nerve with librarians whoroutinely teach, use, and promoteevidence-based health care.

Academic health sciences librari-ans may find this book quite use-ful, as the author has provided athorough overview of factors thatmust be considered to achieve suc-cess in implementing instructional,patient/consumer health, or out-reach programs. A sampling of

similar current texts reveals a sim-ilar disregard for the profession, solibrarians clearly need to apply theprinciples outlined here in market-ing themselves and their abilities.Readers seeking more in-depthcoverage of professional and pa-tient or consumer communicationor health literacy may want to con-sider Consumer Health Informatics:Informing Consumers and ImprovingHealth Care [3]—which includeschapters on NLM outreach efforts,patient-to-patient or patient-to-computer communication, and de-sign of consumer health websites—or the American Medical Associa-tion’s Understanding Health Literacy:Implications for Medicine and PublicHealth [4]. Health Communication inthe 21st Century [5] explores the im-pact that new technologies havehad on health communication.Chapters on interdisciplinary andsynergistic health care teams andon interpersonal communication is-sues related to hospice or palliativecare, caregivers, and support pro-viders may make it of more prac-tical value in these settings.

Stephanie Nicely Aken, AHIP,saken@email.uky.edu, University ofKentucky Libraries, Lexington, KY

References

1. Health communication vs. related dis-ciplines. The Drum Beat [serial online].324. The Communication Initiative, 2005.[7 Nov 2005; cited 30 Jul 2007]. �http://www.comminit.com/drum�beat�324.html�. (Discussion at �http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?p�152769�.)2. Berry D. Health communication: the-ory and practice. New York, NY: OpenUniversity Press, 2007.3. Lewis D, Eysenbach G, Kukafka R,Stavri PZ, Jimison H, eds. Consumerhealth informatics: informing consum-ers and improving health care. NewYork, NY: Springer, 2005.4. Schwartzberg JG, VanGeest JB,Wang CC. Understanding health liter-acy: implications for medicine and pub-lic health. Chicago, IL: American Med-ical Association, 2005.5. Wright K, Sparks L, O’Hair D.Health communication in the 21st cen-tury. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.

DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.96.1.72