Best Selling Books by Ian McDonald

This book is an account of criticism and controversy surrounding modern medicine. Chapter One provides an overview of the contents. Chapter Four explains the contribution of the concept of paradigm'' to the analysis provided. The argument is that, for all its fine accomplishments in medicine, the science has also damaged the art. This view is an echo of views expressed by eminent physicians early in the last Century, including William Osler and Francis Peabody. Concrete evidence of an ailing doctor-patient relationship is manifest in the form of some serious clinical problems. These include patient dissatisfaction, failure to take prescribed medication, failure of a doctor''s reassurance of normality to allay anxiety, resort to alternative medicine, use of patient advocates and defection'' to alternative medicine. These we see as, not only damaging to treatment and health outcome, and very expensive, but indicators of a basic lack of trust. To compound the problem, the clinical process is essentially hermeneutic; an interpretive exercise. Hence it cannot be studied without interview and qualitative data analysis. Such methods are also indispensable for the understanding of the doctor''s management decisions, particularly the social context. The science of medicine is well served by biomedical research and education which has recently been reinforced by the rise of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine. Of great concern is that the skills of sociology and the humanities have been spurned, even denigrated as journalistic'' or unscientific''. Not only has this prevented physicians from fully understanding the patient''s medical views and social predicament, but has robbed us of the humanistic'' research methods needed to research the problems. These problems cannot be explained simply as side-effects of the impact of science. Rather there are much deeper currents. In Thomas Kuhn''s terms, medicine shifted paradigm from superstition to rationality in Ancient Greece, and again to scientific modern medicine at the time of the French Revolution. Medicine, it seems, is on the cusp of a further paradigm shift to a postmodern paradigm. The goal is that this brings the necessary balance between the already revitalised science and the ancient art of medicine. To achieve this, the establishment of centres for the study of clinical practice'' to train reflective physicians'', who will lead clinical practice research'', with multidisciplinary studies of the process of clinical care is needed. This will mean applying research methods of empirical science, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics and evidence-based medicine, already in progress and, in cooperation with relevant academics hosted by the centre, interview techniques involving qualitative analysis or any other appropriate methods. An important function is to act as a catalyst to inject social science and humanities into the current modern medical curriculum.

Features short stories about robots that depict the complications and questions surrounding rights, human bonding, and freedom.

Explores policy issues relating to copyright owners'' use of technological measures and contractual provisions to control access to, and use of, copyright content.

This is a practical guide for educators, libraries, galleries, museums and people with a disability to the new ''special case'' (''flexible dealing'') exception introduced to the Copyright Act in December 2006. It gives some background to the new exception (contained in section 200AB), but principally focuses on how to apply the exception in practice. The guide include common questions and scenarios, such as converting videos to DVD.

The January 2013 issue of the Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine, Clarkesworld.This issue features the following stories: "Driftings" by Ian McDonald, "Variations on Bluebeard and Dalton''s Law Along the Event Horizon" by Helena Bell and "Effigy Nights" by Yoon Ha Lee. Non-fiction includes an interview with Jesse Bullington, an article on color and perception in the ancient world by Erin Hoffman, an Another Word column by E. C. Ambrose and an editorial by Neil Clarke.

"This practical guide is for librarians and library technicians working in any type of library - public, government or corporate, as well as libraries in non-profit organisations and in institutions such as museums or galleries."--p1.

"This book is for people involved in publishing material online - that is, people who make material available on a network to be viewed, and perhaps also to be downloaded and/or printed. It is primarily for people who are responsible for determining what material is made available on a website, but most of the discussion applies equally to other forms of online publishing. The book will also be of interest to ther people involved in online publishing, including website designers, writers, artists, songwriters and internet service providers. It may also be useful for lawyers, but it is primarly written for people without legal training. It you are new to copyright, we have included an introduction to copyright principles in Appendix 1. We have also included an introduction to other intellectual propery laws which may be relevant to online publishers - such as patents and trade marks - in Appendix 2. Online publishing is usually an ''international'' undertaking and may thus involve laws other than Australia''s. This book, however, is limited to the application of copyright law in Australia." - page 1.

This book provides Australian library workers with a guide to the legislation around managing information. Part 2 provides a general overview of copyright. Part 3 looks at the exceptions to copyright. Parts 4-6 look at copyright in the context of a library supplying clients and other libraries with materials from their collection. Part 7 covers collection management including digitisation, while Part 8 goes through the copyright considerations in situations such as online access, library events, and clients with a disability. Part 9 looks at the relevant copyright licences a library may have to deal with. Many of these chapters contain frequently asked questions. Finally Part, 10 looks at current issues in law reform affecting libraries. [p.1, ed].