The Medical Library Association Guide to Finding Out about Diabetes

Starred review from July 1, 2013

Ladd and Altshuler, both librarians, provide other librarians "with a background of key diabetes concepts [to] aid them and patients in finding reliable information about the disease from a variety of print, audiovisual, and web resources." The 25 chapters are organized into four parts covering basic resources, diabetes management resources, resources on daily life with diabetes, and resources on related health complications and care. Noting in the first chapter that much of the overwhelming amount of information available on diabetes is either outdated or incorrect, the authors offer an excellent general overview of diabetes mellitus plus a discussion of the reference interview and website evaluation. Chapters 2 through 5 each discuss a specific type of diabetes: type 1, type 2, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes. Chapter 6 concentrates on resources for children who have the condition as well as those close to them. Each chapter includes a brief, succinct topic overview followed by a current, annotated bibliography organized by resource format and special groups such as women, children, parents, and teens and multiple languages including sign language. Some annotations include language information (e.g., Healthy Roads Media's materials come in languages "including Amharic, Bosnian, Karen, Somali, and Spanish"). Resources and websites were current, and links were active at the time this review was written. Even though the book is well organized and designed for easy access, the detailed index provides another access point. The title's three-person medical content advisory board consists of a case manager, a pharmacist, and a pediatric dietician, all with experience in diabetic care. VERDICT This basic, plainly written bibliography is a must for any collection expected to provide current resources on diabetes to health-care students, medical professionals, or patients and their families.--Laurie Selwyn, formerly with Grayson Cty. Law Lib., Sherman, TX

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