an annotated guide by Gloria Miccioli on Researching Medical Information on the internet, published September 22, 2008 on LLRX (Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals)
Evaluating Websites
How can you tell if a web site is trustworthy or not? It's not always easy, but there are things that you can look for that will help you decide.
Who is the author? Are they qualified to talk about this subject?
How accurate is the information? You may need to compare what you find with another source to answer this question.
Who is the audience? This can influence how much detail is included.
What point of view is being represented? All sites have a bias, but is it obvious or are they trying to hide something?
How up to date is the site? Older information may no longer be accurate.
Good Places to Go for Information
See additional web sites by clicking on the down arrow on the Web Sites tab.
An excellent one-stop site for health topics from the country's leading institution for health information. Information is also provided in multiple languages. See next two links.
Overwhelmed by the information available through MedlinePlus? Start with this guided tour! The tour lasts approximately 8 minutes, requires Flash version 8 or above, includes audio, and will give you valuable information on how best to use this excellent resource.
Healthfinder™ is a consumer gateway to health information from the U.S. government. It can be searched by category or specific words for information. Check out the Free interactive tools to check your health, get personalized advice, and keep track ...
Guidelines for treatment of disease, this database can be useful to health care consumers as well. Guidelines are arranged by disease or treatment, and guidelines can be compared electronically. Also, many of the guidelines are available in full-text.
Need More Help?
Need more help finding credible information on the Internet?
