Kumar V, Cotran RS and Robbins SL:

Electronic Image Collection for Basic Pathology (7th ed), CD-ROM, Philadelphia, Saunders, 2002 ($64).

Electronic Image Collection is designed as a teaching and learning resource to accompany Basic Pathology (7th Edition) by Kumar, Cotran, and Robins. The authors are highly respected medical educators. This CD provides a complete set of textbook illustrations, photographs, and figure legends. The full-color images are displayed at the same size as they appear in the textbook. The files are saved at a resolution (96 pixels/in), suitable for on-screen viewing. They may also be pasted into presentations or other works consistent with the licensing agreement. The software requires a web browser to open and Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing. The program is easy to use, with three basic routes of navigation. ‘View Chapters’ provides a table of contents based on the textbook. A thumbnail image accompanies each figure legend, and links are provided to full-size JPG and PDF files. The PDF files have more authentic color and are best for on-screen viewing and printing. The JPG files are useful for pasting into presentation programs, such as PowerPoint. ‘Get All Legends’ enables you to save a complete set of figure legends for reference (Excel or PDF files). ‘Find Image’ enables you to search the entire set of figure legends for topics of interest; for example, typing in ‘aneurysm’ pulled up six images related to this topic. Navigation arrows are conveniently located on each page, enabling you to jump quickly between chapters. The program also includes a ‘Lightbox’ feature, which enables you to tag selected images for viewing as a group at a later time. Medical educators will find this CD a treasure trove of visual information for teaching basic and systemic pathology. Medical students will find this CD a helpful resource for class study and USMLE review. I highly recommend this beautiful, electronic image collection for all those interested in pathology education.