Evaluating On-line Resources

Today there are many Internet sites providing health information, and it is important to know which sites provide quality information from authoritative sources. This section offers links to resources that provide guidelines for evaluating Internet resources and teach how to look for quality information on the Internet.

Evaluating Internet Health Information A 16 minute Flash tutorial from the National Library of Medicine that teaches you how to determine if a site is credible or if it is questionable.

Medical Library Association’s User Guide to Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the Web This site provides content evaluation guidelines as well as several recommended websites. The "Top 10" most useful consumer health websites are also listed.

MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web Surfing This site provides a list of questions you should ask to determine if a website is credible or not.

MedlinePlus Evaluating Health Information Provides a list of related websites that help you learn to be critical about health websites and health information.

Evaluating Health-Related Web Sites
The Rollins School of Public Health Office of Health Promotion at Emory University has developed a reliable and valid instrument to critique the credibility of health-related Web sites. The instrument is an evaluation form intended for health educators and clinicians who refer their clientele to Web sites as an additional source of patient education.

QuICK - The Quality Information Checklist
This resource, developed by the The Centre for Health Information Quality and the Health Development Agency (U.K.) is intended to help young people evaluate the information they find on the Internet. This illustrated Web site uses imaginary examples, quizzes and puzzles to allow participants to explore for themselves the concepts around information quality. This is designed to be used as a teaching aid in an educational setting.