Copies of the newest update of AFP on CD-ROM have just become available. This year's disc contains six years' worth of materials published from January 1992 through December 1997. If you have not yet explored the convenience of having a whole collection of AFP at your fingertips, you may want to check out the CD-ROM version.

The disc contains articles and most departments of AFP (“Inside AFP,” “Newsletter,” “Quantum Sufficit,” “Clinical Quiz,” “Editorials,” “Letters to the Editor,” “Diary from a Week in Practice,” “Medicine and Society,” “Conference Highlights,” “Tips from Other Journals,” “Family Practice International,” “FDA Perspective,” “Resident and Student Voice,” “Special Medical Reports,” “Clinical Briefs” and “Physician's Bookshelf”). Over 2,000 “Tips from Other Journals” appear on the disc, as well as over 200 patient information handouts.

Topics of interest can be quickly located using several different methods. A search engine allows readers to look for topics by key words, titles and authors. The disc also contains an index of main key words with a listing of titles of articles and departments containing those key words. Certain subjects can also be located by choosing a year of publication, clicking on a particular issue and then searching the table of contents. Items in the table of contents are linked with the text.

Articles, patient information handouts and quiz questions are also organized into six main categories on the disc (“Community and Family Medicine,” “Medicine,” “Surgery,” “Pediatrics,” “Obstetrics and Gynecology” and “Psychiatry”). Each of these categories is further divided into subcategories for ease in locating particular subjects. Readers have found that the compilation of quiz questions offers a particularly convenient way of studying for recertification examinations. Quiz questions are linked with articles so that readers can rapidly gain access to the areas they'd like to review.

Discs can be obtained by calling the AAFP Order Department (800-944-0000). The cost of the disc for first-time purchasers is $175 plus shipping for members and $195 plus shipping for nonmembers. The cost of annual updates is $85.50 plus shipping for members and $95.99 plus shipping for nonmembers.

Discs can also be obtained by writing to CMC ReSearch, Inc., 322 N.W. Fifth Ave., Suite 201, Portland, OR 97209, or by calling CMC at 503-242-2567 or toll-free at 800-854-9126.