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Cardiology Textbooks on Disk
Hardbound textbooks have many advantages over electronic texts. Hardbound texts do not need batteries, special software, phone lines, or computers. There are never compatibility problems unless the book is in a language that the reader does not understand. Medical reference books also have an exceedingly long shelf life, but they invariably outlive the usefulness of their content. The main advantages of electronic texts are their ability to perform an automated search for keywords and phrases; to link portions of the text to other parts of the book, including references; to access information in dynamic Internet data repositories; and to include video images that augment textual information.
An ideal electronic medical text would provide a variable depth of information; for example, both a medical student and a veteran clinician would be able to obtain useful information. Hyperlinks to more in-depth sections, reference abstracts, and full-text articles would allow a cursory overview of a given subject for the novice user and answer complex clinical or research questions for the medical expert. The information would be current, and the content would be rated by the medical community using references to consensus committees, national medical organizations, and supporting evidence or expert opinions. The electronic text would be easily searchable for keywords, concepts, or phrases. Computer platform independence is essential: the text's owner should be able to use the text on as many computers as possible. It would also provide relevant motion images, such as ultrasound, surgical procedures, or physical examination sights and sounds. Most important, the interface must be intuitive. A paper book does not require a user's manual for its operation—why should its digital counterpart be different?
In this article, I review three CD-ROM textbooks based on an existing paper textbook or text series: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine and …
