Finding and Evaluating High-Quality Clinical Information on the
Internet
Steps to successful searching
include:
1. Selecting the right
tool
2. Understanding search engine features
3. Developing a good search strategy using
the correct tool and available
features
4. Evaluating search
results
Please send
any comments concerning this page to Karen Odato.
1. Selecting the right tool
General Subject Directories
Use subject directories to find higher quality websites. They work best when
your topic is a broad concept or single term.
- Librarians' Index
http://lii.org
A searchable, annotated subject
directory of more than 10,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by
librarians. The Librarians' Index is a reliable and efficient guide to
described and evaluated Internet resources.
- Internet Public Library Subject
Collections
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/
An
annotated collection of high quality Internet resources, selected by IPL staff
at the University of Michigan School of Information for their usefulness in
providing accurate, factual information on a particular topic or topics.
- Yahoo
http://dir.yahoo.com/
Yahoo is the largest
subject directory of Internet resources; it is not as selective as the others
in this list.
Medical Subject
Directories
- MedWeb from Emory University
http://www.medweb.emory.edu/SPT--Home.php
MedWeb is a catalog of biomedical and health related web sites maintained by
the staff of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory
University.
- Hardin Meta-Directory of Internet Health
Sources
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/index.html
Hardin
MD is a "list of lists" providing access to comprehensive resource lists in
health-related subjects. Lists that are most frequently cited by people in the
field are selected, offering a rudimentary form of peer evaluation.
Popular Search Engines
Use
search engines for comprehensive or obscure searches, to find a specific
website, when you're searching for more than one concept, or if you haven't
found what you are looking for in the directories.
Metasearch Engines
Use
metasearch engines to search multiple engine databases simultaneously with a
single interface.
Deep or Invisible Web Search
Tools
Use these tools to search pages that cannot be found in
search engines and rarely are in subject directories, including:
- Databases where you enter search terms.
- Sites that require log-ins.
- Web pages that are not linked to from other
"visible" or "known" pages.
- PDF documents (except at Google and
AllTheWeb)
2. Features of popular search tools
3. Web searching tutorials and information
sites: strategy development
4. Evaluating search results
General website evaluation
tools
Medical website evaluation
tools
Need Help?
Please email:
Biomedical
Libraries Reference or call 650-1660/7660.
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