An overwhelming amount of health information is available on the Internet and finding it can be frustrating and overwhelming. The trick to finding quality health information is knowing where and how to look for the needed information. The Medical Library Association Encyclopedic Guide to Searching and Finding Health Information on the Web has been created to assist information professionals and consumers in finding quality health information that is freely available on the Internet. The three-volume set with an optional CD-ROM has also been created to help information professionals complete more efficient and comprehensive searches on health-related topics.
This book gathers the experience and expertise of health information professionals in one location. The three volumes contain more than 720 search strategies created and tested by “librarian-searching professionals, health care experts or practitioners, computer experts with health expertise, patient experts and advocates” (p. xviii). Whether the reader is a novice searcher needing help with every step of the searching process or a seasoned professional stumped by a reference question, this guide provides advice on how to tackle any health-related question.
The first volume, “Search Strategies/Quick Reference Guide,” focuses on how to search the Internet for health information. “Search Strategies” is an instruction manual on the skills necessary to build a successful search. Each section contains a narrative, a list of important Websites to get more information, and a list of “recommended search terms.” “Health Information on the Web: What's Good and What's Good for You” begins the volume, giving an overview of searching for health information on the Internet and covering such topics as evaluating health information, ethics, and privacy.
The next seven chapters cover the actual search process. “Strategic Searching by Question” and “Strategic Searching by Term” show how to create search strategies: beginning with formulating the question, following with identifying the key concepts and terms, and ending with creating a search strategy. “Strategic Searching with Search Engines,” “Recognizing the Limitations of Search Engines,” and “Choosing a Search Engine to Match Your Question” explore what the different types of search engines are, how they work, what tips and tricks for searching and limitations of the search engines are, how to find missing sites (404 errors), how to search the invisible Web, and how to choose the right search engine. “Strategic Talking: Working with your Health Care Team” discusses working with a health care professional to answer health questions. The “Complete Step-by Step Search Procedure” builds on all of the lessons of the previous chapters, puts the theory into practice, and guides the reader through the searching process. A form to assist in creating and implementing a search strategy is also included.
The final five chapters contain information on frequently asked questions. “Answering Frequently Asked Questions: Diagnosis” focuses on diagnosis, including questions to ask a doctor, health stories in the news, laboratory tests and results, medical procedures, and frequently used terms. “Answering Frequently Asked Questions: Treatments” shows how to find information on prescriptions, drugs, herbs, medical devices, remedies, and therapies. “Basic Health Concepts: Terms, Images, and Starting Points” helps identify the resources needed to choose the correct search terms. “Tools and Support” covers the tools for making health care decisions as well as where to find support. “Statistics and Standards, Guidelines and Government Resources” covers local, state, federal, and international governmental resources; health statistics; health guidelines; and standards of care.
“The Quick Reference Guide” of volume 1 is broken up into five distinct parts. “Selected Health and Medical Terms According to Concept” includes terms a searcher should and should not use for a search strategy. “General and Health Search Engines” lists search engines. “Geographic, Language and Location Codes” covers the anatomy of a uniform resource locator (URL) and a comprehensive list of the codes to search by language, state, region, territory, and country. The volume ends with a chart containing the editors' favorite sources of consumer health information on the Web.
“The Quick Reference Guide” section also includes “Forms to Help You Search”: the Friar Form to help develop a search strategy, the SECT Form to help pick the right Internet search tool, and the WebEval Form to help evaluate the information from a search. This section also references some of the forms used in the “Search Strategies” section. A list of additional forms can be found in the “List of Figures.”
Website evaluation is an important step in identifying quality information on the Internet. While the process of Website evaluation is covered in volume 1, it is scattered throughout and is not as easy to find as it should be. A very helpful Website evaluation form is included in the “Forms to Help You Search” section but is not listed in the “Table of Contents” or the “List of Figures.” “Evaluate” and “evaluation” are listed in the “Cumulative Index,” but the index is not exhaustive, and some information about evaluation is not indexed.
While volume 1 teaches how to create a search, as well as evaluate the results, the authors put the theory into practice in volumes 2 and 3 and create search strategies for hundreds of health topics. As in volume 1, each topic includes recommended search terms and important sites and some or all of the following information: issues related to a specific topic; special terms related to the topic; places to start a search; questions to ask when creating a search; a profile of the topic including the who, what, when, and where; common abbreviations; hotlines; Internet publications; professional organizations; and support and discussion groups.
Volume 2, “Diseases and Disorders/Mental Health and Mental Disorders,” covers specific diseases, illnesses, and conditions. “Disease and Disorders” covers “nearly 300 specific topics in 32 major areas” (p. xxvii) with some fairly complex information. For example, the major topic of cancer has information on more than twenty differences types of cancers—including cancers specific to women, digestive cancers, and head and neck cancers—and has more than fifteen sections on cancer issues like alternative choices, biopsies, pain, and survival. Other major topics in this section are AIDS and HIV, dental and oral health, heart and circulatory diseases, and neurological and neuromuscular disorders. “Mental Health and Mental Disorders” begins with an overview of mental health and mental disorders and then covers “150 specific topics in 23 major areas” (p. xix): specific disorders such as anxiety, dementia, and addictions and related topics such as causes, etiology, prevention and risk, diagnosis, management, prognosis, recovery and survival, and persons and populations.
Volume 3, “Health and Wellness/Life Stages and Reproduction/Cumulative Index,” begins “Health and Wellness,” which includes more then 160 topics organized under 11 major areas. The “Living with Disability” area includes more than 30 topics, including specific disabilities such as hearing impairments, blood disorders, and back and spinal injury and wellness issues such as housing options, advocacy, and education. Other health and wellness topics include hospice and end-of-life care and multicultural health. “Life Stages and Reproduction” has 114 specific topics grouped under 11 general areas. Some of the topics covered in this section are newborn and postpartum health; children's, adolescents', adult men's, adult women's, and seniors' health; birth defects; and pregnancy problems and complications. The “Cumulative Index” for the entire MLA Encyclopedic Guide includes all of the major topics, related topics, and concepts. Each volume also has cross-references to other areas of the books.
Volumes 2 and 3 cover more than seventy-seven individual main subjects and a wide variety of related topics. The topics for these two volumes have been chosen from four sources: “statistics from the United States government for death for all populations reported; statistics from the United States government for disabilities for all populations reported; top-reported chronic, acute and infectious disorders; [and] FAQs reported by major health search engines and health information services” (p. xxi). A wide range of health issues is covered in these two volumes, but the editors could not cover all issues. The search strategies have been designed to be easily adapted to health topics not explicitly covered in these volumes.
The book can be purchased with a CD-ROM containing a hypertext markup language (HTML) version of all 3 volumes with links to the approximately 11,000 Websites listed in the “Important Sites” sections. The “Table of Contents” and the see also references link to the appropriate sections; however, the “Cumulative Index” only provides text page numbers and no links to the content. Each section is one long HTML file. For example, the thirteen different chapters of “Search Strategies” all appear in one file on the CD-ROM. The only way to find a chapter is to link to the section from the table of contents and scroll through the file or use the browser's find feature within the section. The CD-ROM does include a search engine that is available for some, but not all, of the files. Another criticism of the CD-ROM is that the forms are inline tables in the files, so they are hard to print out.
A lot of books are available on searching the Web for health information, but none is as comprehensive as the MLA Encyclopedic Guide. The “Search Strategies” section of volume 1 is mainly targeted at consumers who want to learn how to search effectively for the quality health information that is freely available on the Internet. While information professionals may find some new tips and tricks, they should already have the techniques for search strategies up their sleeves. Information professionals who do not have a health sciences background will like some of the “Important Sites” links. All users will benefit from the “Quick Reference Guide,” with seven easy-to-browse guides to assist searchers. The real strength of this guide rests with volumes 2 and 3: not only do these volumes provide tested search strategies on various health topics and recommended Websites, they include background information, topic profiles, related issues, and frequently asked questions. The combination of all of this information in one place makes this guide stand out.
This three-volume set is not for the person who wants to find something that is only good enough. The MLA Encyclopedic Guide to Searching and Finding Health Information on the Web is for the searcher who wants a comprehensive search of the Internet for quality health information.