The term “information explosion” has been around for over 40 years! The earliest references to this term noted the rapidly increasing rate at which information was accumulating. Today, we have not only an explosion in the amount of information that has been acquired, but we also have unprecedented access to this massive amount of information. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we can now, in a matter of seconds, obtain information that previously required a trip to the library, with the possibility of a wait for several days before being able to get the required material. Now, a few strokes on the computer keyboard and thousands of pieces of information come flooding to the machine. There’s the rub — too much information of too wide a range in quality — nonsense, partly true, outdated, up-to-date, brilliant, and ridiculous. Information with the intent to deceive, opinions masquerading as facts, exciting developments, boring truths, crafty deceptions — they are all part of the internet “information soup.” These developments have given rise to the new term, information literacy — “the ability to discern between information that is relevant and accurate from that which is not.”
The challenge, then, is to separate the wheat from the chaff. What is reliable and what is not? The source of the information becomes a major issue. Who is the author? Is the author who he/she claims to be? Does the author have an axe to grind? Does he/she stand to benefit from a particular spin on the information? The 2006 Pew Internet and American Life Project (http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Online_Health_2006.pdf) noted that about 80% of Internet users in the United States (about 113 million adults) reported searching the Internet for information on one or more of 17 health topics. There are numerous consequences arising from the easy access to information of a range of reliability. Doctors have clients who come with their Internet–based diagnosis and Internet-driven demand for specific tests. “I have been having headaches and I would like you to find out the cause” has been supplanted by “I am experiencing persistent headaches and I would like to have a CAT-SCAN.”
Translation of scientific results is a very difficult area. There is frequently debate even among the experts as to the meaning of the results of scientific enquiry. In most cases, if a question is widely researched it will be possible to find a wide range of contrasting results. Interpretation of the data to support a previously held view is not uncommon. This happens too with nonexperts in the field.
Translation of scientific results is a very difficult area. There is frequently debate even among the experts as to the meaning of the results of scientific enquiry.
Some organizations are trying to help us by providing filtered information. One example of this is the recent creation of “HealthMap,” which is a product of the Children’s Hospital Boston Informatics Program and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. HealthMap is a Web site that seeks to provide “a unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health” by integrating a range of sources of outbreak information. The reputation of the sponsoring organizations for trustworthiness is critical.
Animal health is also getting similar treatment. A recent report from Primenewswire (www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?ref=rss&d=147788) noted that if you do an Internet search for “pet health” you will be rewarded with over 16 million sites and references. Try it — it’s true. The newswire noted that a new Web site (www.webvet.com) has come to the rescue. This is a site, which is supported by a number of pet industry organizations, including the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), provides comprehensive up-to-date health and wellness information on dogs, cats, small pets and birds. Twenty-five writers and over 80,000 veterinarians are said to be involved in providing “credible and unbiased” information. The argument is made that this service will be of value to veterinarians, who will be aided by the improved ability of the well-informed pet owner to understand the impact of the choices they make on the health of their pets.
In practice, veterinarians are called upon every day to interpret information for their clients. The ability of practitioners to keep up with the information, to create trust, to present the uncertainties, to relay the differences in opinion, and to put the welfare of their clients first will all be important in the growth of our profession in the information age.