Healthy Connections for Consumers: National Library of Medicine Web Sites

Abstract

This article describes and evaluates eight of the consumer health Web sites developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), with an emphasis on matching the resource to the informational needs of the user. The eight Web sites evaluated are ClinicalTrials.gov, Genetics Home Reference, Haz-Map, Household Products Database, MedlinePlus, NIHSeniorHealth, TOXMAP, and Tox Town. Each Web site is evaluated on the basis of the following categories: Features, Navigation, Timeliness, Search Options, and Search Results. These five categories were rated on a 4-point scale. Topics appropriate to each Web site were searched to determine their effectiveness in retrieving relevant results. Based on our analysis, six of the NLM Web sites are rated “Excellent,” and two are rated “Very Good.” The categories and search queries provided an effective way of evaluating these NLM Web sites. Other health-related Web sites could be assessed using this methodology.

Keywords:

• clinical trials
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• consumer health
• genetics
• Genetics Home Reference
• Haz-Map
• hazardous materials
• Household Products Database
• MedlinePlus
• National Library of Medicine (NLM)
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM)
• NIHSeniorHealth
• senior health
• TOXMAP
• Tox Town
• Web sites