Microbiology module compared with Bergey’s manual

Bergey’s Manual is basically a very large textbook, containing all bacteria, including human, environmental, animal, plant etc. The text is divided by class of bacteria, then species by species. Extensive phenotypic data are presented.

GIDEON is much more up to date than Bergey’s. New taxa are added within days of publication. Bergey’s is updated only once every several years. Bergey’s offers no option for identifying bacteria based on phenotypic tests as such; rather, algorithmic keys are displayed starting with gram + vs. -, coccus vs. bacillus, etc.

Although the reader can ‘Characterize’ a given organism or photocopy relevant text, there is no interactive function which allows comparison of user-selected organisms. GIDEON can be used to both identify and compare any combination of taxa.

The Microbiology module of GIDEON covers Yeasts in addition to Bacteria and Mycobacteria.

Bergey’s is limited to Microbiology. The Infectious Diseases Module of GIDEON follows the epidemiology and disease-relevance of all pathogens: Clinical features, Therapy, Susceptibility testing, Vaccines, Images, Maps, and Country-specific epidemiology … as well as information on Fungal, Viral and Parasitic diseases.

As an electronic program, all information in GIDEON can be easily emailed, printed, copied and pasted into PowerPoint.

From our testimonials page:

"With today’s computer literate students, I was looking in the internet for a supplement to Bergey’s Manual of bacteriology, when I came across GIDEON … I currently use GIDEON in two classes, microbiology and a follow-up seminar on emerging infectious disease." George Bazinet, Professor, Siena College