Merriam-Webster's Medical Audio Dictionary Software

Clinical Laboratory Science, May/Jun 1999 by Scarano, Frank J

Title: Merriam-Webster's Medical Audio Dictionary

Publisher: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Springfield, MA

Available: January 1998 (Copyright 1997). ISBN: 0-87779-461-8

Price: $39.95

Merriam-Webster Inc. has produced a medical dictionary CD-ROM that includes a single compact disk (CD) compatible with both Macintosh and Windows operating systems. The application is very "user-friendly", and within a matter of minutes it was fully installed and ready to go.

The application is comparable in content to traditional paperback or hardcover medical dictionaries but has the distinct advantage of audio pronunciation. This is a great benefit, especially to the beginning student who might be reticent in classroom discussions because of the fear of mispronouncing these new words in this "foreign" language of medicine. There are at least three different pleasant, professional sounding voices used to demonstrate the pronunciations, which are dear and include multiple forms of the word or phrase. Words are pronounced in American English and words with multiple acceptable pronunciations and variations are also articulated. This helps the listener to understand that there is not necessarily only one correct pronunciation.

The cost of this package is slightly higher than the average paperback medical dictionary, but is actually equal in cost, or less expensive than, some hardcover medical dictionaries. The text is comparable to other medical dictionaries and the addition of the audio component for this dictionary makes it well worth the cost. While the MerriamWebster Medical Audio dictionary is inherently appropriate for students and professionals in any medically related field, it could also be an invaluable resource for individuals who regularly communicate with healthcare professionals.

There are diagrams and pictures in sufficient detail and quality to aid in the understanding of many of the entries. Historical or biographical information is provided with the entries as appropriate. This information adds insight into the definition and provides an historical point of reference. Also of value here, when reference is made to an individual, the correct pronunciation of the individual's name is made in the native language as well as with variations.

When using a medical dictionary, students are often frustrated with words that are difficult to understand in the definition of the source word. The need to continually look up the words in the definition until readers can bring the information to their level of understanding is time consuming and labor intensive. This software simplifies the process. When any word in an entry requires additional description or explanation the user simply double clicks on the word in question and then that word is defined. Other handy tools for looking up words include an incomplete word identifier that allows the user to select the word of interest from a pop-up list that continues to narrow as more letters are typed. There is also an extremely helpful spell check function that produces a pop-up box with choices based on the "creative" spelling of the user. In addition to spell check, partial word searches can be performed using the beginning and ending of a word with either an undetermined or fixed number of characters in between. This type of search could be very useful when trying to decipher poor penmanship. Advance search techniques using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) are also very helpful.

There is also online help that is useful for navigating through the functions the first few times, and there is Internet and telephone technical support available. Telephone technical support was tested for the purposes of this review and the individuals reached were very knowledgeable, pleasant, and courteous. Even real humans answered the phone! This software package can easily be linked, via a user defined hot key, to many word processing programs and Internet browsers. The medical dictionary software is compatible with and can be linked to other Merriam-Webster software; however, the ease of the latter connection was not verified for this review.

The software was tested on both Macintosh and IBM compatible Systems. A consistently distracting feature was the significant amount of noise produced when the CID was running. It is possible to run the text portion of the program without the CD, but the CD is required to hear pronunciations.

All things considered, the Merriam-Webster Audio Medical dictionary is highly recommended. It is an excellent value that will be useful at home and at work in the office or laboratory.

The Reports and Reviews Section seeks to publish information on important clinical laboratory-related topics such as technological, clinical, and experimental advances and innovations. Case studies and literature reviews are also included. In addition, brief reviews of books, computer programs, audiovisual materials or other materials ofinterest to readers are appropriate for this section. Manuscripts and literature reviews published as a Report are peer reviewed Direct all inquiries to Virginia R Kotlarz PhD, Peer Review Editor Clinical Laboratory Science Editorial Office, PO Box 5399, Coralville, MA 522415399, (319) 351-2922, (319) 351-2927 (fax). cls @ia. net