Every field of endeavor has one resource that is universally acclaimed among practitioners as its “bible.” For clinical microbiologists, it is the Manual of Clinical Microbiology (MCM). Some 30 years after the first edition appeared, the MCM is now in its eighth edition, in 2 volumes and 141 chapters spanning all areas of this expanding field. If there is one word that can be used to describe the MCM, it is, most assuredly, “encyclopedic.” From the introductory chapters discussing laboratory management, design, and information systems to the chapters discussing identification algorithms and media preparation and the extensive and authoritative chapters reviewing the microbiologic and clinical laboratory features of all medically important infectious agents, the MCM offers a single, comprehensive reference source for the clinical-microbiology laboratory. Volume 1 includes sections I and II, which, in part, review general clinical microbiology topics as well as discuss the principles of infection control and the detection of potential bioterrorism agents. Section III is a review of technologies and instrumentation, and sections IV and V extensively discuss bacteriology and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Volume 2 comprises sections VI–IX, which discuss virology, mycology and parasitology.
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Murray et al. (2004) studied this question.