Booknews
A sourcebook that provides representative information about AIDS for the decade 1983-1992. Part I has ten chapters--each representing one year--organized into categories such as books, videocassettes, government documents, atlases, conference proceedings, and review papers. Part II consists of three chapters and focuses on certain people at increased risk of contracting AIDS: health science professionals, law enforcement professionals, and prostitutes. Part III has 20 appendices. They, in part, pertain to: paper indexes and abstracts, databases, CD-ROMs, periodicals, research funding sources, gay/lesbian libraries/archives, public figures who died from AIDS, and a time-line. Reproduced from typescript. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
From The Critics
There are several bibliographies of AIDS literature, including the comprehensive "AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Bibliography for 1981-86" and its annual supplements from Whitson Publishing. This new one does not claim to be comprehensive. Even though there is no clearly stated criteria for inclusion, it appears that the majority of entries are intended for the layperson. Each of the first 10 chapters covers a year from 1983 to 1992. Within each year, citations are arranged as follows: books for professionals and the general public, including teenagers and children; chapters in books; government documents (mostly Canadian) and association publications; chapters in government documents and association publications; conferences, meetings, and symposia; review papers; encyclopedia articles; parts of annuals; poetry; atlases; dictionaries; and videos (including TV programs). Some of the entries for print resources are annotated, though very unevenly. There are no annotations for the videos The entries selected are a good representation of what was published. One wonders, however, why entries are needed for encyclopedias and why poetry was selected but not other forms of literature. Three additional chapters cover AIDS materials that pertain to health-science professionals, law-enforcement professionals, and prostitutes. Several appendixes provide lists of databases and CD-ROMs on AIDS, periodicals about AIDS, notable AIDS deaths, and a brief chronology This bibliography will not be very useful for students because of its idiosyncratic arrangement by year and format and its lack of annotations. It would have been more helpful to isolate those books specifically for teenagers and children. The mixture of materials for the general public with those for professionals means this book doesn't have a clear audience. Public and school libraries will prefer books such as "AIDS Crisis in America" ["RBB" Mr 15 93] and "AIDS Information Sourcebook" (3d ed., Oryx, 1992). This one is only for comprehensive collections.
