Brandon Hill Selected Lists
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Print Nursing Books and Journals 2002 Introduction
Since initial publication of the nursing list in 1979[1] the mission of the authors has been to produce a publication that serves as a guide for nurses and librarians who find themselves responsible for choosing a collection of current print nursing literature. The emergence of electronic publications has had an impact on the way nurses find, access, and retrieve the information they require. Nurses must determine which media is most appropriate for their informational needs. Print publications continue to provide a reliable way to preserve and deliver information and knowledge, while technology provides tools to enhance the publishing process. Perhaps, the forgoing text sounds familiar, and you may be correct! We are aware that most of our readers are familiar with the introductory text that has appeared in the previous Brandon/Hill nursing lists. However, for those who are new to the Brandon/Hill nursing lists, we felt that it would be appropriate to call attention to what we have said, at various times in the past. We plan to continue reviewing print nursing books and journals as long as the list is of value to the nursing and health sciences library community. Publishing has changed, but our mission regarding the nursing list has not. Since the beginning, the nursing list has not been presented as the "authoritative" nursing collection, but rather a collection of print books and journals the authors would select for their nursing library. The following list of books and journals is focused on current publications, predominantly of United States origin, that are geared specifically to nurses as the primary audience. Since we have concentrated on current publications, older standard texts and "classics" may not have appeared in our lists. We have made no attempt to cover the literature of nursing retrospectively. If retrospective information is needed, in addition to past "Brandon/Hill" Lists, there is an extensive bibliography of nursing literature, based on the holdings of the Royal College of Nursing in London, covering 1859 through 1980 [2]. Another retrospective index compiled by the late Virginia Henderson, Nursing Studies Index, includes the years 1900-1959 [3]. Of the 370 books on the 2002 list, 88% of the titles were published
from 1999 to 2002. The oldest books are dated 1997. Eighty-five titles
were removed from the 2000 book list, while 94 titles were added. The
books and journals that we have listed would not adequately support
most nursing programs since nursing is an interdisciplinary profession
that depends on the literature of the biomedical and social sciences
in addition to its own. For nursing libraries that need to acquire medical
publications, comparable lists that we have compiled for small medical
libraries[4] and for allied health
should prove helpful [5]. The intent of the nursing lists has always been for use as a guideline for making one aware of the current print literature that we would select for a nursing collection, at the time the manuscript was submitted. At a later date, it is possible that we would have made other choices, particularly book choices. Because we have chosen one book or journal over another does not mean that it is the right choice for everyone. We have attempted to select print publications that both accurately represent the contemporary concepts, theories, and trends of nursing and set forth sound clinical methodologies. Readability, clarity of topic, and information accessibility via format and indexes have likewise been taken into account. Input from nurses and librarians has influenced our selection of books and journals. We have gathered a useful set of articles, dealing with the evaluation of nursing textbooks, that we have frequently consulted [6-12]. When the nursing list was first published in 1979 there were few selection guides for nursing literature. Twenty-three years later, there are still few such sources. "Books of the Year Awards" is published annually in the January issue of the American Journal of Nursing. It is a subject category listing of 40 to 50 books selected as "most valuable" by a panel of judges who have expertise in the various subject categories.13 "Essential Nursing References" compiled by the Interagency Council on Information Resources for Nursing includes print, media, and electronic sources to supplement various aspects of nursing; it also contains a Canadian supplement [14]. The journals are reviewed every 2 years along with the books. This year only one journal was added to this list-Pain Management Nursing. Four journals ceased publication and were removed from the list, and there were 4 title changes. Because journals of a profession do, over time, provide an ongoing record of the theory, progress, and unique knowledge of that profession, we have reviewed current nursing journals from that aspect. In subject areas where there are several journals, we list those that we feel are the best in their respective subject coverage. Generally, it is difficult to make that decision from the first issue or even the first volume of a journal, so it may take several years before we feel that a "new" journal should replace one that has become a "standard." The bibliographic and price information given here is accurate at the time of manuscript submission, but undoubtedly a number of these prices will increase over time. Based on the prices that we have quoted, approximately $32,925 would be necessary to purchase the entire collection that we have listed--$18,334 for the 370 books and $14,591 for 2002 subscriptions to the 86 journals. Since many libraries and others using the lists will not want or perhaps need to purchase every item, we have indicated the books and journals that we recommend for initial purchase with an asterisk. The purchase price of the 143 asterisked books and 35 asterisked journals will be approximately $12,887--$7,446 for books and $5,441 for 35 journal subscriptions. The increases in book and journal prices in the current list and for those that have appeared in past lists are shown in Table 1. Book prices have been cited at list price, and journal prices at institutional prices. We were surprised by the substantial increase in the average book and journal prices since the 2000 update-10.9% for books and 24.6% for journals. Table 1 Increases in price
*Percentage increases calculated on the average prices of the preceding list. Books are arranged according to 55 broad subject headings as they have been in previous lists. The subject heading for communicable disease nursing was removed because we did not receive any relevant works. When a book has more than two authors or editors, the notation "et al" is made after the name of the senior author or editor. In the index of authors and editors that follows the book list, we have routinely included only the senior author/editor; coauthors and coeditors do not appear. When the name of the original author or editor is an integral part of the book title, that name appears in the index. When a new edition of a book was scheduled for early 2002 and the publisher had reported a tentative price, we have indicated that price in the book list. Journals are listed alphabetically by title. Between biennial revisions, this list, along with the small medical library and allied health lists will be updated in A Major Report, a quarterly newsletter published by Majors Scientific Books in Dallas, Texas [15]. The "Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print Nursing Books and Journals" continues to play a prominent role in providing information to the nursing profession. Certainly, the nursing profession has not abandoned its recorded knowledge base-its print books and journals. References
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he
list that follows is the twelfth version of the "Brandon/Hill Selected
List of Print Nursing Books and Journals"--370 books and 86 journals.
Originally, it was scheduled for publication in the January/February,
2002 issue of Nursing Outlook. As some of you may already know,
Dorothy Hill's unanticipated hip replacement surgery made it necessary
to revise the publication schedule for the 2002 list. The Brandon/Hill
allied health list was also affected and now is scheduled for publication
in the January, 2003 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library
Association. We anticipate that the Brandon/Hill small medical library
list (hospital list) will be published on schedule in the April, 2003
issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association.