The questions about information reliability on the net and in print are
very critical issues.

There is a real need to teach the public mini-research design/critical
analysis skills.  I have a very basic slide show in PowerPoint on
interpreting studies, "Behind the Health Headlines."  It's on my home
page at:  http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~kpomeran

I would be very interested in feedback since I'm revising it.

However, there are bigger questions such as authorship and sponsorship.
Lisa Bero and colleagues at UCSF have written several articles in JAMA
and NEJM describing tactics the tobacco and drug industries use to insert
their symposia into the medical literature... which then is picked up by
MEDLINE and its users.

Another good reading on who controls the media is the March (I think)
1996 issue of The Nation which contains a wonderful chart of the 4 major
companies who control news and entertainment.

Librarians will be key in teaching critical analysis skills as will any
health communicator/educator and activists.  What to critically evaluate
and how is a great topic for discussion.


P.S.  Purdue Univ Libraries have a web document called "Evaluating World
Wide Web Information" at:  http://thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/


Karyn L. Pomerantz
Himmelfarb Library, GWUMC
2300 I St., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202/994-2976
[log in to unmask]

On Thu, 11 Jul 1996, Liz Rykert wrote:

> This posting from Craig Silva was caught in the error cycle because it
> included the heading from Judy Quail...Liz Rykert
> >
> >> One of the things
> >> that is happening with so many people gradually gaining access to
> >> the internet is that the health care provider will not be in control
> >> of the information partakers receive.
> >
> >Hmmmmmm? Is that good or bad? Being an info junkie myself I err on the
> >side of it being good. But it opens up an important area of
> >discussion.
> >
> >> What is the process of
> >> becoming informed?  It seems like there might be external and
> >> internal or psychological aspects to this experience. What
> >> assistance do people need to help them to access information, to
> >> understand it and to begin to make some judgements about it, and
> >> then to use it?
> >
> >A good education? No seriously, the availability of mass information
> >requires that everyone should be educated to encourage and develop
> >their critical skills so as to be able to assess the quality and also
> >more importantly to determine the authenticity of the information
> >available.
> >
> >> What needs to be in place to assist people to find
> >> their way through the tremendous amount of information out there.
> >
> >Libraries and librarians will have an increasingly important role in
> >providing indexes of useful and authoritative sources of information.
> >Equally, key institutions in a particular area of study can serve a
> >similar function.
> >
> >> It is almost like people will need mini- research skills, because
> >> they are going to be learning about information itself, not only the
> >> subject matter.
> >
> >A key question in this is the authority of the information available
> >online. The ease with which anyone can publish on the web is a
> >two-edged sword. Whilst it has a liberating effect and breaks
> >certain information monopolies it also allows any crackpot or
> >charlatan to advertise their weird and wonderful views on the world.
> >One area that hasn't yet (to my knowledge) been tested is that of
> >liability for wrong or inadequate information. The lawyers in the US
> >are no doubt wetting themselves over the potential for litigation in
> >this area.
> >
> >>I'd like to do some more reading on this so if
> >> anyone can suggest any articles, research studies whatever I'd
> >> appreciate hearing from you.
> >
> >I can't think of any particular work but I'm sure that a search at
> >Alta Vista will start you off :->
> >
> >Regards
> >
> >Craig
> >---------------------------------------------------------
> >Craig Silva, Electronic Outreach Program Officer
> >Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne Australia
> >e-mail: [log in to unmask], Tel: 61 3 9345 3211
> >---------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
>