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Dragonfly, Winter 2001 Is This Health Information Good for Me?

When we help members of the public find good health information, how can we promote the information that is right for them? In the RML we have been asking ourselves: can we come up with a succinct, easy-to-use list of criteria that will help the public to choose the best health information?

We couldn't find a ready-made list, so we started with some raw materials:

We looked at classes taught by Sherri Fuller, RML Director, on evaluating the clinical literature. Sherri teaches librarians to note such good study design techniques as use of control groups, adequate sample size, etc. We attempted to restate those principles in lay language.

Our next step was to look at other published lists of criteria for evaluating general Web sources (including such as authority, currency, or readability). Those are great lists, but we wanted to consider what's different or more specific in health information.

Then, we interviewed two members of our Consumer Health Information Advisory Group. Margo Harris, a health educator, gave us such practical rules as, "Read the whole thing!" Jane Saxton, the librarian at Bastyr University (an accredited university for the natural health sciences), proposed thoughtful ways to evaluate complementary and alternative literature.

We will continue to try to simplify and refine the list. All suggestions are welcome! Though this list may never be finalized, you may find our current draft useful. Revised versions will be up on the Web at:

http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/pnr/hip/criteria.html

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200101/goodinfo.html