Evaluating a Website for Credibility
Based upon the infinite information that can be obtained from the internet credibility must be established. Anyone can make a website without being a proper authority on the subject matter. Evaluating a website’s credibility is essential when gathering information related to healthcare. Healthfinder.gov was chosen to evaluate for credibility, it a healthcare website designed to provide information on numerous topics which have been gathered from other government and non-for profit organizations. Google was used to search for key words “healthcare related .gov websites”. A website with a .gov domain was chosen because of the reliability of the information that can be found on a governmental website. …show more content…
The website has been awarded the Health on the Net code of Conduct (HON). HON is a worldwide organization that acts as a watchdog for the internet. “Web site must pass the eight criteria listed in the code: authoritative, complementarity, privacy, attribution, justifiability, transparency, financial disclosure, and advertising policy” (Monheit, 2011, p. 40). The websites domain of .gov means that it is a government managed website which can be trusted as reliable. The website informs visitors that the information does not replace speaking to a qualified health professional and should consult a medical professional before taking any recommendations in consideration. Products for sell nor advisements are displayed on the site. Website authorities are qualified professionals. Information pertaining to website committee members are available and can be contacted. Contact information for the website is clearly displayed. Funding for the site is provided by the federal government. Healthfinder.gov has been identified as one of the top ten health website by the Medical Library Association, (Monheit, 2011). Also, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrated Health (NCCIH) (2014), Healthfinder.gov is a resource for high quality and updated information. O’Sullivan (2011), presented the TRUTHFUL method for evaluating healthcare information on the internet. The acronym which stands for technical, reviewed, understanding, treatment, have you seen, funding, all about you, legitimacy. Using this acronym will help determine credibility and will be easy for non-medical professionals to
Based upon the infinite information that can be obtained from the internet credibility must be established. Anyone can make a website without being a proper authority on the subject matter. Evaluating a website’s credibility is essential when gathering information related to healthcare. Healthfinder.gov was chosen to evaluate for credibility, it a healthcare website designed to provide information on numerous topics which have been gathered from other government and non-for profit organizations. Google was used to search for key words “healthcare related .gov websites”. A website with a .gov domain was chosen because of the reliability of the information that can be found on a governmental website. …show more content…
The website has been awarded the Health on the Net code of Conduct (HON). HON is a worldwide organization that acts as a watchdog for the internet. “Web site must pass the eight criteria listed in the code: authoritative, complementarity, privacy, attribution, justifiability, transparency, financial disclosure, and advertising policy” (Monheit, 2011, p. 40). The websites domain of .gov means that it is a government managed website which can be trusted as reliable. The website informs visitors that the information does not replace speaking to a qualified health professional and should consult a medical professional before taking any recommendations in consideration. Products for sell nor advisements are displayed on the site. Website authorities are qualified professionals. Information pertaining to website committee members are available and can be contacted. Contact information for the website is clearly displayed. Funding for the site is provided by the federal government. Healthfinder.gov has been identified as one of the top ten health website by the Medical Library Association, (Monheit, 2011). Also, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrated Health (NCCIH) (2014), Healthfinder.gov is a resource for high quality and updated information. O’Sullivan (2011), presented the TRUTHFUL method for evaluating healthcare information on the internet. The acronym which stands for technical, reviewed, understanding, treatment, have you seen, funding, all about you, legitimacy. Using this acronym will help determine credibility and will be easy for non-medical professionals to