Bioterrorism and Political Violence: Web Resources

Citation

Jax, J. (2003), "Bioterrorism and Political Violence: Web Resources", Collection Building, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 212-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/01604950310501799

Today’s world is dynamic, complex and increasingly volatile. Much of the volatility is directly attributable to the emergence of militant religious groups which perform acts of terror throughout the world. Unfortunately, one of the cruel realities that coincides with this state of turmoil is the increasing threat of global terrorism. This threat has been exacerbated by catastrophic events such as the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. More important, terrorists are becoming even more dangerous as they take advantage of advances in technology.

This book, Bioterrorism and Political Violence: Web Resources, is a compilation of articles previously published in Internet Reference Services Quarterly (Vol. 6 No. 3/4, 2002). This resource is intended for anyone who wants to find reputable information quickly and for those who want to keep abreast of information relating to terrorism, biological agents and other weapons of mass destruction. The critera for Web site inclusion in this work relates to reliability, credibility and stability. The majority of listings appear mainstream in nature, as they come from government agencies, professional organizations and educational institutions. Health professionals, people with civic authority and the general public can all benefit by utilizing this tool, which makes it easy to find Web sites and valuable information on bioterrorism, 11 September, political violence, disaster planning and preparedness, and emotional and physical survival in the event of an attack by terrorists.

The editor, Sandra Wood (Pennsylvania State University in Hershey), has over 31 years of medical reference library experience and has published many articles in this field. She currently serves as editor of Medical Reference Services Quarterly and Health Care on the Internet. Wood also has been an editor of various other health related publications from Haworth Press.

The coverage of this timely topic is fairly extensive but by no means comprehensive. This book provides a unique perspective missing from other similar resources that publish Web link information on bioterrorism and health. Chapters devoted to political violence and Islam, anthrax, victims of 11 September, nuclear terrorism, bereavement and grief, and post‐traumatic stress disorder make this work stand out. Web sites are listed alphabetically under each chapter’s varying categories. Each Web site includes an Internet address and brief summary allowing users to better determine the usefulness of each site relative to their needs. The level of indexing is decent, with excellent cross‐referencing. For example, when searching for survival during a biological attack, one is referred to the “see also” heading “disaster preparedness”.

The only detraction to an otherwise valuable resource was having to key in all the Web addresses. Users would surely benefit from having immediate electronic access to all of the Web addresses included in this tool. Libraries wishing to augment or update their bioterrorism and political violence collections will want to purchase this resource.