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Naomi Miller, Manager
Consumer Health Information
National Library of Medicine

Colleagues–We’re pleased to announce the addition of a tutorial entitled, “Evaluating Internet Health Information” to MedlinePlus. This tutorial teaches users how to to evaluate the health information they find on the Web. It is about 16 minutes long

You need a Flash plug-in, version 6 or above, to view it. If you do not have Flash, the page helps you perform a free download of the software before you start.

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NLM

1. NLM has announced another enhancement to MedlinePlus: over 100 herbal and supplement monographs in English and Spanish from Natural Standard. Natural Standard is an evidence-based, peer-reviewed collection of information on alternative treatments. Each monograph includes a table of uses of the supplement based on scientific evidence. The herbal or supplement receives a grade ranging from A (strong scientific evidence for this use) to F (strong scientific evidence against this use) for diseases or conditions it treats. In addition, each monograph provides information on dosing, safety, interactions, and selected references. Many monographs also contain illustrations.

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by Martha Pedigo, Librarian, Gateway Health System Health Science Library Clarksville, Tennessee

It was hot summer in Clarksville Tennessee, with the annual fall meeting of the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association beckoning from the island of Puerto Rico. One of the planned continuing education courses Marketing
as if Your Library Depended on It particularly appealed to me. (more…)

by Deniz Ender, MLS, AHIP, Librarian, Rex Healthcare Library

The Marketing as if Your Library Depended on It workshop was presented by Pat Wagner at the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association on October 4, 2005 in Charlottesville, VA.

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by Naomi Miller, Manager, Consumer Health Information
Public Services Division, National Library of Medicine

Background

The National Library of Medicine’s (NN/LM) MedlinePlus is a high-quality gateway to consumer health information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government, professional and voluntary organizations creating authoritative health information. The core of MedlinePlus is over 700 Health Topic pages: highly selective collections of links to Web documents. Health topic pages organize the documents into categories such as overviews, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention1. (more…)

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out the latest version of its “Dietary Guidelines for Americans:” http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/. The new guidelines highlight:

• Variety – eat foods from all food groups
• Proportionality – eat more whole grains, fruits, veggies, and no- or low-fat dairy products, and eat less saturated or trans fats, added sugars, cholesterol, salt, and alcohol),
• Activity – be physically active every day.

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In an effort to remain relevant and responsive to both the needs of our users and the speed with which information is changing and being produced, the NN/LM SE/A newsletter is now in blog format. (For more information on this new format, see the article in the previous issue of SEA Currents, SEA Currents to be Blogged in 2006.)

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