Booklist

The Current Issues subset of the Compact Research series presents different points of view on topics students may be researching for papers or debates. Brightened with colorful graphics and charts as well as the occasional photo, each volume opens with a broad overview followed by four chapters and sections of related quotes and statistics. DNA Evidence and Investigation discusses the usefulness of such evidence as well as civil-liberties concerns raised by DNA databases. Back matter in each book includes a chronology, annotated lists of “Related Organizations” and “Key People and Advocacy Groups,” and bibliographies of books, periodicals, reports, films, and Internet sources. The books’ “Primary Source Quotes” sections, which define the term primary source rather broadly, offer quotes out of context (and sometimes with ellipses or bracketed additions) and identify their sources. Each volume’s cover uses the same design and photos. Although the books’ reading level is higher than the colorful, accessible format suggests, students may find the books more usable than the densely packed essays in comparable series