Medical Journal

The authors of the Brandon/Hill list of print medical books and journals have been releasing biennial updates for forty years. Every year, the list contains hundreds of books and journals that give assistance for small libraries in the selection process to offer visitors. It can potentially serve as a library consortium as well. The list of books and journals is categorized by subject, followed by an index organized by author/editor.

Medical book and Journal list purpose:
The purpose of the Brandon/Hill list is to provide small libraries with a list of medical books and journals that have the highest quality of information. The reason why it was created was because of the immense number of medical books that were released every year. Since 1970, the number of published medical books doubled on average. Many of these books contained similar titles, but were contrasted greatly by the quality of information they provided. To minimize the overwhelming confusion experienced by many medical librarians, the Brandon/Hill list began and was released once every two years for the past forty years.

Brandon/Hill List Statistics:
The first Brandon list released in 1965 contained a medical book count of 358 and 123 medical journals. Over 600 books and 140 journals are now contained on the list today. Another major change since its origin in the 1960s, is the inclusion of the word “print” to the lists official title. It is called Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library. People who are looking for electronic info will not find any luck with the Brandon list. Although Brandon/Hill acknowledged the importance of electronic publications as an emerging source of quality information, they have not yet, as of 2001 implemented electronic informational resources.

Other Publications:
Many other lists, such as A Core Collection of Medical Books and Journals has been presented by British researchers as an alternative to the Brandon list, but has not been active since 1997. The Joint Commission on Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has endorsed the Brandon/Hill list and A Core Collection but have stopped mentioning it.

Minimal Medical Book and Journal List:
To help librarians purchase a smaller and more affordable amount of books from the list, as well as minimize complications, librarians and medical staffs have requested that a smaller list be made in medical book selection. In response, Brandon/Hill assembled the “minimal core list” for medical book selection. While the medical book and journal value in the full list amounts to about $77,300, the minimal list is worth approximately $14,300. It is designed so that smaller librarians can update their medical book library by choosing a few titles from each category.

Content of the Medical Book and Journal List:
The publicans range from extremely detailed, to general in nature. The science journals, however, are clinical and detailed in nature because general journals are not cost efficient. With the ease and accessibility of the internet less-detailed, general journals have been rendered obsolete. In the 2001 medical book list, 89% of the books were published in 1998 or later.