MAC Messages Number 86:
March/April 2001

A growing number of consumers are turning to the Internet to search for an ever-increasing volume of health information-information which sometimes is less than accurate. Because the quality of consumer health information on the Internet is a major concern for medical librarians, MLA has devoted the latest in its selective, annotated bibliography series to this subject. MLA BibKit #7, Consumer Health: A Guide to Internet Information Resources, was created to assist librarians in searching for health information on the Internet. The Bibkit allows them to more effectively answer patrons' health questions and communicate with physicians and other health care colleagues.

Compiled by Cecilia Durkin, AHIP, consumer health librarian, NN/LM Network Office of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), Bethesda, MD, MLA BibKit # 7 helps librarians to identify a wide variety of consumer-oriented sites including sites on treatments, specific diseases, complementary and alternative therapies, wellness and prevention, mental health and substance abuse, and drug information. The BibKit includes an accompanying disk that provides bookmarks to the Websites noted in the publication. The first chapter of the BibKit gives users a basis for conducting successful searches by providing Website evaluation criteria and identifying organizations, Websites, and documents that address quality-related issues. The second chapter features online guides, tutorials, medical search engines, and consumer health directories. Each chapter in the remainder of MLA BibKit #7 focuses on a specific topic and provides a list of related consumer-oriented Websites along with their descriptions. A separate chapter in MLA BibKit #7 focuses on special populations such as senior citizens, minorities, and the disabled. While the publication emphasizes English-language Websites, many bilingual Websites are also included.

MLA BibKit #7: Consumer Health: A Guide to Internet Information Resources, is available for $45.00 for MLA members and $68.00 for nonmembers. For a table of contents and order information, visit MLANET at www.mlanet.org/publications/bibkits/ or contact Tom Pacetti in the MLA headquarters office at 312.419.9094 x19 or at mlafa@mlahq.org.

MLA is an educational organization of more than 1,100 institutions and 3,800 individual members in the health sciences information field. MLA members serve society by developing new health information delivery systems, fostering educational and research programs for health sciences information professionals, and encouraging an enhanced public awareness of health care issues.

For more information, please contact Lynanne Feilen at 312.419.9094 x23; mlacom1@mlahq.org. This release is also available at www.mlanet.org/press/

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