Consumer Health Library for Patients & Families: Internet and Subscription Resources

Consumer Health Information Tips

• Consider a website’s sponsoring organization. Look for a sponsor or name? Avoid heavily commercial websites promoting biased information or product sales. Note the last 3 letters of a website’s address to see if the website is commercial (.com), educational (.edu), government sponsored(.gov) or, represents a non-profit organization (.org).
• Look for sources. Does the website indicate reliable source(s) of information or is there merely opinion or misinformation?
• Signs of websites to avoid. Red flags can include either grammar or spelling errors, or broken links.
• Publication date. Locate a recent date showing when information was created or last updated.
• Discuss all current medicines with your medical provider and include prescriptions, vitamins, herbals, or supplements – which can potentially interact with your medications.

• Safeguard your personal information. Do not disclose personal information, account numbers, social security number or even driver’s license to any website.
• Consumer health information is available in Spanish and other languages.
• Examples of reliable websites for general consumer health information: Medline Plus: medlineplus.gov - An information and research database hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine • American Heart Association: heart.org - Provides fact sheets on managing heart conditions • American Diabetes Association: diabetes.org - Includes tips on living with diabetes, from medication options to nutrition and exercise habits • American Cancer Society: cancer.org - Information about cancer treatments and support services, searchable by U.S. state and cancer type.
• Contact a health sciences librarian for reliable background information on your topic.
• Don’t diagnose yourself or rely solely on “Dr. Google!”  Always consult your medical provider.