The Lymphatic System of the Dog by Hermann Baum.
The English version of The Lymphatic System of the Dog, translated by USask staff and students, has been named to Pressbooks' 2022 favourites. Photo: Christina Weese.

Translated USask dog anatomy textbook one of Pressbooks’ 2022 favourites

A German textbook translated by a team of University of Saskatchewan (USask) students and faculty made the “2022 favourites” list of Pressbooks, an international open-source publishing platform.

By Jessica Colby

“Our goal is to share this book worldwide to increase access to this valuable resource, so I hope this list helps us achieve that goal,” said Dr. Monique Mayer (DVM), a board-certified veterinary radiation oncologist and a professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM).

With the help of a USask team of staff and students as well as her mother, Mayer translated Hermann Baum’s textbook, The Lymphatic System of the Dog, to English in 2021.

Originally published in 1918, the century-old textbook’s content and illustrations were in German.

“I found it to be an excellent reference, but we always faced the problem of it being in German,” Mayer said in a 2021 interview. “Nobody really does this type of research anymore. The German anatomists really went into amazing detail.”

In the new English version of the book, the team added notes about key clinical points, interactive student learning tools — including flashcards on canine cancer patients’ lymphatic drainage patterns and lymph node labelling activities.

“I felt very proud of the team of students, faculty and instructional designer that worked together to create the final Pressbook, not only providing a translation but also the interactive learning resources developed by students for students,” said Mayer.

The textbook was published to the USask Openpress site as well as the open-source publishing platform Pressbooks, which allows those around the world to access the information.

The “2022 favourites” list includes Pressbooks staff members’ preferred books recently published with the company. The Lymphatic System of the Dog, which was listed as a favourite of Pressbooks founder and CEO Hugh McGuire in 2022, also made the company’s 2021 list as a top selection of account manager John McLeod.