BEV BUTULA: Get reliable medical research

Need to do some medical research and want to ensure that the websites you are searching contain reliable information? The first step is to remember a basic set of questions as you search the Internet.

Those questions were outlined in my 2008 blog post, “Ever Changing Internet – Same Evaluation.” The second step is to locate relevant quality websites.

Many legal researchers are familiar with Medline Plus and PubMed, resources maintained by the National Library of Medicine.

In addition to these resources, I recommend beginning your research at the Medical Library Association’s “Top Health Websites.” This extensive list of websites has met the following criteria:

1. The sites have been reviewed by members of Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of Medical Library Association.
2. The sites have been evaluated by those members for “credibility, sponsorship/authorship, content, audience, currency, disclosure, purpose, links, design, interactivity, and disclaimers.”
3. The association believes these websites are “particularly useful” in their respective areas.