48 Advisor Reviews / The Charleston Advisor / October 2020 www.charlestonco.com
ADVISOR REVIEWS—STANDARD REVIEW
Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957–1995 Date of Review: September 4, 2020
doi:10.5260/chara.22.2.48
Composite Score: HH 7/8 Reviewed by: Elisabeth Leekley <eleekley@gmail.com> Information Management Consultant for UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Abstract Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957-1995 from Readex is a sub-collection of Readex’s Joint Publication Research Services (JPRS) Reports, 1957-1995 which created reports for the U.S. government from translations of unclassified news, radio bulletins, journals, and reports from foreign countries and international agencies. The department responsible for these reports shifted during the years of 1957 to 1995, which also shifted the focus of these reports from Cold War interests to a more comprehensive global overview. Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957-1995 contains health-related topics pulled from the larger collection of reports. Limited indexing and sorting features possibly obscure what might be rare translations from the Cold War era.
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Overview Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957-1995 from Readex is a sub-collection of Readex’s Joint Publication Research Services (JPRS) Reports 1957-1995, which created reports for the U.S. government from translations of unclassified news, radio bulletins, journals, and reports from foreign countries and international agencies. The department responsible for these reports shifted during the years of 1957 to 1995, which also shifted the focus of these reports from Cold War interests to a more comprehensive global overview. Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957-1995 contains health related topics pulled from the larger collection of reports.
User Interface It’s unclear what metadata is indexed. The Advanced Search includes the search fields All Text, Full Text, Article Title, Article Date, Language, Source, Citation Text, and Author. Source is often whatever was translated or the report by the JPRS, which results in an unclear definition of resource. For instance, newspaper titles often incorporate city names or reports are titled by government departments, so a researcher must investigate historical geography to further identify what is referenced. There is no explanation for Citation Text. The only options for sorting search results are Best, Newest, and Oldest.
The records themselves include the following metadata fields: Database, which is always Joint Publications Research Service Reports (JPRS); Date, meaning the date published in JPRS; Published in, which is unclear; and Source, which is also unclear. Original Date refers to the date of the source translated or summarized for the JPRS report. Author appears to reflect the responsible person or entity for the report and not the translator. There is no explanation or example available for searching by Date, such as what format to use; though dates are written in American style (e.g., August 15, 2020). Search results will display the JPRS publication date, but if a researcher opens the View Details of a bibliography record, the original source’s publication date is revealed, as well as the number of pages in the record. The original JPRS reports are only found in microform at very few libraries, so the records are scans of typewriter pages, sometimes with editing marks, and the view of records is limited to paragraph lengths or partial pages, depending on the use of the zoom feature. The zoom and viewing features include a Help option, and there is no other such assistance built into the database. The only way to navigate a document is to page through. The viewing and navigation options are similar to a microfilm machine experience. The options to print, download, and e-mail include only the bibliographic details of the record and a hyperlink back to the database record. The home page includes a chart of Suggested Searches, which are broader topic terms linked to coded Boolean searches. For instance, under Social Aspects is a list of subtopics that include Health Education. Following this link, the search results display a query of “health education” NOT “welfare.” Rural healthcare, also a subtopic of Social Aspects, is linked to the search combination of “rural medical” OR “rural health” OR “(rural NEAR35 (doctor OR medical OR health OR clinic OR nurse)).” A researcher could take cues from these preloaded searches to discern the best search strategy. How to use this Database, which is linked from the home page, shows previews of the records with very basic searches but only contains a table of advice for search strategies, including “Find a focused result set,” “Find articles on an event as it unfolds,” and “Find a person” due to transliteration issues. This table does not demonstrate its recommended searches.
Critical Evaluation Public Health: Global Origins of Modern Health Policy and Management, 1957-1995 originates from microform of typewritten documents and attempts to recreate the retro experience with its viewing design. This is possibly unintended; however, the original documents were published in print and microform, and thus most likely lacked in-depth indexing. The presentation of this database is misleading.
