Medical Bibliography in an Age of Discontinuity

Abstract

Scott Adams was an active participant in and keen observer of the information revolution that evolved rapidly after World War II. It is from this privileged vantage point that he presents to the biomedical community this well-written and insightful volume. Adams describes how large-scale government and private information and documentation systems developed as a direct result of greatly enhanced scientific and technological programs. He shows clearly how increased emphasis on missionoriented science (as opposed to science based on traditional academic disciplines) led to important changes in the existing bibliographic apparatus. The introduction provides a succinct description of several discontinuities that have resulted both from changes in the ecology of science and the development of new publication and communication technologies. The early chapters that follow give a highly informative historical perspective of how a changing national science policy resulted in vast federal expenditures in support of science. The main body of