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Access Part I

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?

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Access Part I

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  1. Access Part I Accessing Health Information Through the Internet

  2. Access Overview • Part I: Introduction and Searching • Part II: Population and Health Resources

  3. Introduction • Basic terminology • Why has the Internet become so important? • What can you use the Internet to do? • Common frustrations • Navigating websites • Credibility

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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)

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. Navigating Websites (cont.)

  12. Credibility of Online Information • Source: Author? Organization? • Message: Timeliness? Perspective? Related Literature? Accuracy? • Usability: Information easily accessible? Links?

  13. Searching • Search directories and search engines • Plan a search strategy • Search techniques

  14. 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

  15. Search Directories Yahoo! Search Engines AltaVista Google Copernic Agent Basic Search Tools

  16. 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

  17. Define topic in one sentence Funding for best practices to control multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in East Asia

  18. Ask questions to clarify your topic Who: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard Medical School, World Health Organization What: tuberculosis, model DOTS, drug-susceptible TB, grant Where: China, Vietnam How: DOTS-Plus

  19. 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 Identify similar search terms or synonyms for main keywords

  20. 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

  21. Search Techniques • Wildcard matching • Phrase matching • Boolean searches • Inclusive/Exclusive operators • Filters • Site specific searches

  22. 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!

  23. 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!

  24. 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

  25. 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!

  26. 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

  27. 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.

  28. 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

  29. Review • Navigating • Evaluating • Searching • Directories vs. Engines • Plan a Strategy • Techniques (Wildcard, Phrase, Boolean, Inclusive/Exclusive Operators, Filters)

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