Dictionary Reviews

Thanks to this book, I've been able to find less descriptive, but far more romantic, substitutes for some of my more colorful colloquialisms refering to you know what, such as "Driving the pig-skin boat to tuna-town." Highly recommended for those guys whose parents, like mine, saved a bundle of money by not sending me to charm school.

Generally a good guide to these verbal blow-cushioners, though I do wish further explanation was offered on the question of nuance and connotation. Something may attract several euphemisms, each with a different shade of meaning or emphasis - further explanation might have been given to help select the most appropriate. I still feel mortified after inviting my bemused urologist to inspect my spam missile.

I found this dictionary to be a valuable and interesting resource. It was perfect for understanding simple class work or adding substance to an intense research paper. Plus, it was easy to use and understand--even for a high school student!

This new edition of The Facts On File Dictionary Of Environmental Science updates over 4,000 cross-referenced entries on the subject, adding over 1,000 new terms and providing a reference tool on everything from waste management and global warming to population issues. Eight appendixes are presented here, and the blend of a dictionary format with extensive cross-referencing makes for an excellent basic library reference.

Written by the lead Instruction and Outreach Librarian at Stanford University School of Medicine's Lane Medical Library, the main purpose of this pocket guide is to help medical and related professionals construct and conduct faster, easier and more effective MEDLINE searches. It also helps you decide when it's more appropriate to use the free PubMed interface for MEDLINE or Ovid, a commercial (fee-based) alternative, in case you have access to both or wonder whether it's worth subscribing to Ovid.

MEDLINE archives change daily and PubMed services change almost weekly, yet it's been four years since the last guide to MEDLINE was published, and there have been only two books before this one that focused solely on MEDLINE and were intended for professionals, rather than consumers. If you choose only one guide, this is the one to get.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of medical bibliographic databases and tips for when to use which ones. Chapter 2 is an orientation to MEDLINE's structure and to basic search strategies, as well as an intro to the pros and cons of PubMed (free) vs. Ovid (fee). Stave goes into both in considerable depth in separate chapters devoted to each service. The two appendices cover Ovid's evidence-based medicine reviews collection (Cochrane's Database of Systematic Reviews, for instance) and other databases, such as ClinicalTrials.gov and LOCATORplus. There's a five-page glossary at the end, too, so you'll know what terms such as "check tags" and "explode" mean in this context.

HIGHLIGHTS:

This smallish book is filled with full-color screenshots, often two or three to a page, which is invaluable in helping the reader understand the explanations in the narrative text. The author gives detailed instructions for designing search strategies and other approaches to try if your first attempts don't produce the results you need. The effect is like looking over the author's shoulder while he patiently explains things to you, step by step.

The core sections on PubMed and Ovid are each broken down into three subsections:

* Overview, Screens, and Tools;
* Searching (by single citation, author or using various methods for topics); and
* Post-Search Data Management.

The data management section covers downloading and saving your search results, using commercial citation management software, and ordering full-text articles when they're not available free. The orientation to MEDLINE's relatively new Cubby service, alone, will make your searches less frustrating and time-consuming almost instantly. And did you know that, contrary to what many supposed experts say, you can search online for articles published pre-MEDLINE, from 1985-1965? (See LOCATORplus.)

This is a book you need to keep handy while you're working on becoming more of a whiz at online research, so it's designed to tuck into a lab or suit coat pocket (about 8 in. H x 4.5 in. W). It's basically a lucid, logical tutorial. If you invest the time to go through each of the five or so search strategies included in both the PubMed and Ovid sections, you will not only get better results, but you will surely save countless hours ever after.

LIMITATIONS:

Overall, this book is a gem. The only serious drawback is that the narrative text is in 8-point type, which makes it extremely difficult to read if you're over 40 (or younger, but tired). It would also be far easier to use in spiral-bound rather than perfect-bound format. If the publisher reprints it, let's hope they ditch the pocket-sized guide idea and whatever motivation to save printing costs that influenced the decision of the design for this first edition and make readability and usability higher priorities.

SUMMARY:

The Field Guide to MEDLINE is a clear, comprehensive and simple but not simplistic guide. It's an essential how-to and reference book for anyone who needs to search medical literature online, either frequently or occasionally.

This book is an excellent resource tool for searching Medline,
learning more about the intricacies of literature searches, or improving/enhancing skills. This text is incredibly comprehensive and thorough and is a must have for every information professional. Simple to understand, I would also recommend this book to any library user eager to acquire skills needed to run the perfect Medline search. Two thumbs up! We have two copies of this important book in our medical library and both are used continuously.

I bought this for my 6 year old. She loves to read and really loves to write stories. She can use this book, but it will also grow with her. She should benefit from this one for several years. In the meantime, we have a lot of fun as she's learning "what another word for___?"

This is the best young Thesaurus we have found. It's organized similar to "the big boys" and is easy to read and use.

This was a very useful book for learning Polish. I lived in Poland for a year and a half. This book was one of the things that helped me become fairly fluent in this hard language. I also reccomend the the Intermidiate Polish by Swan.

I worked through this book from cover to cover before a trip to Poland several years ago. The vocabulary is colloquial and current. The book turned out to be an excellent preparation for my trip. I found that I could make myself understood in most everyday situations.

I found First Year Polish to be so useful, that I bought Intermediate Polish...also and excellent book.

I first saw this dictionary at my library. I thought it would be very useful when I write. I write all of the time. Sometimes I get stuck at a certain word or phrase. I know what I want to say but I know there's a better or different way to say it. I would flip through the book and find exactly what I needed. And since having the dictionary--I went out to buy one for myself--my writing has improve. I'm not using little words as often in my writings. I think every writer--or anyone for that matter--should get this dictionary. It'll help improve your vocabulary. I know that I'll be using this book for while! ^_^

Hard to describe how useful this book is. Tell people about it, and they're likely to say, 'Oh, you mean a thesaurus,' and you say, 'No, not exactly,' and then they say, 'Oh, a reverse dictionary?' and you say, 'No. Better.' It's for those times when you sort of know what you're trying to say, but you either can't think of the word or you've used a word too much and you need to jiggle loose from your cranium some new ways of trying to say it. And it leads you on and on down an ever branching set of references so pretty soon you find yourself just sitting down and reading the Flip Dictionary instead of writing. It's that much fun.
An invaluable resource, recommended to me by a fellow writer.

It was my delight in find in one book history, application, meanings and references. I consider this book to be user friendly for the absolute beginner and of interest to the professional florist. It has even provided new insight to classic literature. I consider this book to be of excellent value for its price.

What a dynamite packed book! Filled with a rather thorough history of Victorian flower giving and the rules associated with sending messages in the language of herbs and flowers. A very complete dictionary cross-referenced by both herb and sentiment. This book is a dream for those of use who study the emotions, sentiments, messages, symbolism, origins, folklore, and mythical side of herbs.

Ó Dónaill's dictionary, by most accounts, is the absolute standard for modern Irish language studies. While the typeface isn't the loveliest sight to look upon, the dictionary itself, in terms of organisation, is very tidy. Helpfully, many words are given entries just for the purposes of pointing you back to the original root-word entry. This is useful if you're chasing down a declension and need to find the source word.

If you're not fully committed to working with the Irish language, you could do worse than owning the Collins Pocket Irish Dictionary (with 'helpful colour layout'!). This dictionary, however, cannot even begin to compete with Ó Dónaill's scope.

There are many enthusiasts of Dinneen's classic _Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla_. Dinneen's dictionary, admirable from a scholarly and cultural-historical view, uses un-standardised spellings and the archaic typeface. This isn't much of a problem once you're used to it, and you may even become very fond of it. Dinneen's dictionary is also invaluable for its treatment of folkloric items.

Overall, if you're an intermediate and beyond student of the Irish language, this book here is for you. Even beginners, while perhaps intimidated by the size of this dictionary, will be greatful for the thoroughness of the entries.

This one really is the standard to get if you need an Irish dictionary to last you through your enjoyment of modern Irish writing and art. Get the Dinneen along side of it if the money's available.

One more bit--this dictionary is a tough fella and has survived many's a trip crammed into my rucksack.

That's it. If you are serious about learning Irish, you simply cannot do without it. I gave it five stars because it is simply the best, and not too expensive, for such a big and comprehensive dictionary.

I plan on going to Europe soon, and hopefully, this guide will make it a smoother trip than the one I made to the eastern bloc some years ago.

This is a true story. During this trip I drove all the way from Germany to Bulgaria and Romania on the Black Sea back in 1981, which was interesting, because I got to see all the eastern bloc countries before the wall came down 10 years later.

I was in Sophia trying to ask a Bulgarian policemen where I could buy a map, which in Russian sounds like "Gedzye ya pokupaiyu carteeriye? and instead I pointed to the phrase in the Russian phrasebook which said, "Where can I find a mild laxative?" He gave me a look that indicated I hadn't quite communicated my real intent, and then I noticed where I was pointing in the phrasebook, and I guess the expression on my face did the rest, because at that point he basically realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Anyway, hopefully my next trip will go smoother in the cross-cultural communication department.

This phrasebook should see you through most encounters you are likely to have as a tourist in the German speaking world. Easy to follow and well laid out, it certainly helped me through a recent trip to Germany. Apart from a minor misunderstanding with a Stuttgart hotel clerk whom I mysteriously told "I am not normally flaccid" in response to a routine credit card inquiry, I coped marvellously.

I first saw this book at my sister's house and loved it. It's been updated under a new title, The New Food Lover's Companion. ISBN 0764112589

This is one of the best books on cooking, excellent refrences and is a must in any kitchen were people love to cook . I am disapointed that it has been discontinued. I haven given this book to my friend's and need more, as this is an excellent gift.