There's a good article in the current issue of C&RL News (v. 69, #7, July/August 2008). In The Issues Facing Librarians and Physicians: Facilitating Quality Research in the Internet Age, Mary Francis [Dakota State University, Madison, South Dakota, USA] notes the common proglems that the two professions face.
She "heard a doctor comment on how his patients were turning to the Internet to conduct research on their health. My thought, 'Welcome to my world.' As a reference and instruction librarian, I have
continually been faced with students who use the Internet as the end all and be all of their research. I spend time during each instructional session I teach to note how the Internet will not provide the same quality material as that found within the academic journals indexed in the library’s databases. Physicians face a similar problem when patients find poor-quality health information online.
To the suggestion "that doctors provide their patients with a list of Web sites they would recommend as containing quality material," she comments, "Fortunately, this list has already been compiled by the Medical Library Association." It's a shame that haven't gotten the message to more MDs that we've already done much of their work for them. We have to do better!
URL:http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2008/july_aug08/qualityresearch.cfm
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