Access Part I

Accessing Health Information Through the Internet

Access Overview

Part I: Introduction and Searching Part II: Population and Health

Resources

Introduction

Basic terminology Why has the Internet become so

important? What can you use the Internet to do? Common frustrations Navigating websites Credibility

Basic Terminology

Internet: complex system of computers and networks that are connected through a common electronic language and work together to share information

World Wide Web (www): graphical Internet service used to distribute information through text, images, and sounds

Electronic mail (e-mail): message sent from one computer to another via a network of computers

Basic Terminology (cont.)

Listserv: list of e-mail addresses for a group of people interested in the same subject

Portable document file (PDF): file that retains the layout of the original document

Uniform Resource Locator (URL): the Internet address of a particular website, for example: http://www.popnet.org

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): the computer language used to create web pages

Why has the Internet become so important? Key communication tool Easy to share information Breaks down barriers of time and

distance Large amount of information is available

to a greater amount of people

What can you use the Internet to do? Send mail to colleagues around the world Share documents, presentations, datasets Join discussion groups Receive news announcements Request information Research best practices Read online journal and newspaper articles Participate in online courses

Common Frustrations

Connections can be slow Searching can be time consuming Information overload Services are expensive Services are unavailable Difficult to find information you need Sites are not in local language Not all information is available free of charge

(journals)

What if you only have e-mail or browsing is too slow or expensive?

Websites can be received via email: Text in the body of the email message Website content in the body of the

message page@grabpage.com

Navigating Websites

Going to specific websites directly Using links to go to other pages Using favorites (bookmarks) Saving and printing web pages Viewing pages offline

Navigating Websites (cont.)

Credibility of Online Information

Source: Author? Organization? Message: Timeliness? Perspective?

Related Literature? Accuracy? Usability: Information easily accessible?

Links?

Searching

Search directories and search engines Plan a search strategy Search techniques

Searching the Internet

Internet is a valuable resource for finding information

However, being able to find the information you want can be difficult and time consuming

Search directories and search engines can help locate and narrow information

Search Tools

Search Directories Yahoo!

Search Engines AltaVista Google Copernic Agent

Basic

Plan a Search Strategy

Define topic in one sentence Ask questions to clarify your topic Identify similar search terms or

synonyms for main keywords Determine how you are going to find the

information

Define topic in one sentence

Funding for best practices to control multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in East Asia

Ask questions to clarify your topic

Who: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard Medical School, World Health OrganizationWhat: tuberculosis, model DOTS, drug-susceptible TB, grantWhere: China, VietnamHow: DOTS-Plus

Identify similar search terms or synonyms for main keywords

Tuberculosis TB

Multidrug-resistant TB Drug susceptible TB

Funding Grant Best practices

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Harvard Medical School World Health

Organization WHO

Model DOTS DOTS- Plus

China Vietnam

How are you going to find the information? Search directory? Uses general categories

and sub-categories for structured search with some knowledge of the topic

Search engine? Uses keywords and phrases requiring some knowledge of the topic

Specific database? May be a better choice for collecting data and statistics

Search Techniques

Wildcard matching Phrase matching Boolean searches Inclusive/Exclusive operators Filters Site specific searches

Wildcard Matching

Attaching an asterisk * to the stem of a word conducts a search on variations of word

SEARCH: program* (for program, programs, programme, programmes, etc.)

Widens your search

Recommended sites: AltaVista or Yahoo!

Phrase Matching

Narrow your search by including quotation marks “ ” around words to match words in exact sequence

SEARCH: “Asia-Pacific Population Journal” (name of journal)

SEARCH: “family planning”

Recommended sites: AltaVista Advanced, Google, or Yahoo!

Boolean Searches

AND, NEAR, AND NOT, OR infant mortality child mortality infant mortality AND child mortality (narrows) infant mortality NEAR child mortality (narrows) Infant mortality AND NOT child mortality

(narrows) infant mortality OR child mortality (widens)Recommended site: AltaVista Advanced

Inclusive/Exclusive Operators

Including a plus sign (+) in front of a word requires that word to be in the search

Including a minus sign (-) in front of a word will prohibit that word from being in the search (similar AND NOT)

+maternal +health +programs +asia +maternal +health +programs +asia

-africa –europe (narrows)

Recommended sites: AltaVista Main only, Google, or Yahoo!

Filters

Limit the type of sites a query will search By date: restricting search to webpages

updated since a certain date By using host: all webpages from a particular

host are found, host:www.hsph.edu.vn By using link: all webpages linked to a particular

site are found, link:www.hsph.edu.vn

Recommended sites: AltaVista, AltaVista Advanced

Site Specific Searches

The techniques discussed are also useful when searching specific websites using their local search engine

If a site doesn’t have a local search engine, use Google Advanced. In the field Domain: choose only return results from the site or domain _________ and type in the URL for the site you want to search.

Tips

Pay attention to correct spelling Include alternative spellings Keep construction of searches simple Limit the number of concepts in a

search to three or four with a limit of six to eight

Review

Navigating Evaluating Searching

– Directories vs. Engines– Plan a Strategy– Techniques (Wildcard, Phrase, Boolean,

Inclusive/Exclusive Operators, Filters)