The encyclopedia of deafness and hearing disorders /

The second edition is called "updated," but very little has been changed or added to the original second edition (2000, CH,Jun'01). Additional entries bring the total to more than 600 on hearing disorders, audiology, and deafness. Appendixes list useful contact information, and there is a good index. The bibliography is dated; very few citations cover the field for the last three years. Libraries that own the original second edition should acquire instead Brad Stach's Comprehensive Dictionary of Audiology (2003). ^BSumming Up: Not recommended. L. Windsor Ohio University

Hearing impairment is an invisible disorder that affects more than 20 million people in the U.S. The degree of impairment varies from a mild loss that can be restored with a hearing aid to total deafness. Information about this disability is scattered among sources in the medical, education, and social welfare fields. The Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders is a one-volume overview of the subject. Compiled by a medical writer and a professor at Gallaudet University, this source contains more than 500 entries. These are arranged alphabetically and range in length from a few sentences to one page. The entries include clinical and anatomical terms (tinnitus, eustachian tube, auditory adaptation), biographies of hearing specialists and famous deaf people (Gallaudet, Thomas; Bove, Linda), devices and equipment (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, Audio Loop Systems), and organizations (Deaf Artists of America, National Captioning Institute). See and see also references are included when necessary. Fifty charts complement the text, providing information on such topics as ototoxic drugs and the range of sounds audible to humans. An extensive bibliography of sources, mostly from the 1960s through the 1980s, is also included. The index provides additional subject access, listing all relevant entries under sign language, for instance. The 13 appendixes will be extremely useful for referrals. They include state-by-state listings of community services and associations for the deaf, devices for the hearing impaired, federal programs for the deaf, general organizations and resources for the deaf, genetic and deafness information, homes and housing for the aged deaf, performance groups, periodicals, religious organizations, summer camps for hearing-impaired children, training centers for Hearing Ear Dogs, and where to learn communications skills. These resources will be most helpful for serving the deaf community and families with hearing-impaired members. The Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness [RBB Ja 15 87] is the comprehensive reference tool in this area. This three-volume set contains 237 signed, detailed scholarly entries with bibliographies. Included are 87 pages on sign language that are heavily illustrated with examples of various signing systems, a very technical article on acoustics, and entries dealing with philately (Deaf People Honored on Stamps) and literature (Deaf Writers in All Genres). It is an excellent source, but at $300 many libraries have not been able to afford it. The Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders is a fine alternative for public, special, and community college libraries with small budgets. (Reviewed Apr. 1, 1992)