Building a Google™ Custom Search Engine (CSE) for Foreign Language Health Information: One Library's Effort to Create a New Tool for Health Professionals

Abstract

The objective of this article is to create a search tool healthcare professionals can use to retrieve quality foreign language health information to assist in educating patients who are not fluent in English. A Google™ Custom Search Engine (CSE) was devised that will accept English language queries and return results in a specified language. Engines in Vietnamese, Burmese, Russian, Arabic, and Nepalese were constructed, tested, and advertised to clinicians and other personnel on campus. The tool provided a convenient way for local healthcare providers to identify high quality health information materials in five languages and improve communication with local immigrant communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Custom Search Engine
• foreign languages
• Google
• limited English proficiency
• patient education
• search tools

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Darell D. Schmick

Darell D. Schmick, MLS ([email protected]), is Information Services Librarian;

E. Diane Johnson

E. Diane Johnson, MALS, AHIP ([email protected]), is Assistant Director of Information Services;

Caryn L. Scoville

Caryn L. Scoville, MLS ([email protected]), is Information Services Librarian; all at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Columbia. Columbia, MO 65212;

Prasanna K. Vaduvathiriyan

Prasanna Vaduvathiriyan, MALS ([email protected]), is Reference and Instructional Services Librarian, Robert Bird Health Sciences Library, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK 73117.