Introduction to
MedlinePlus
Jamie Dwyer
University of Illinois at Chicago
Visiting Assistant Information
Services Librarian
Objectives
• Discuss Health Education & Health
Information
• Introduce & Explore MedlinePlus
Health Education
• Awareness of health topics
• Understanding of medical conditions
• Limited time with (or access to)
health professionals
Evaluating Information
• What makes you trust a website?
• MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web
Surfing:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hea
lthywebsurfing.html
• Assess: Currency, Relevancy, Authority,
Accuracy, Purpose
Health Information Resources
Top 5 most popular health websites:
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/health-websites
What is MedlinePlus?
• Free, trusted, quality health information
for over 900 topics
• From the National Library of Medicine
(National Institute of Health)
• Links to a variety of resources
• Videos, quizzes, and interactive tutorials
• No advertising!
Who should use MedlinePlus?
• Patients
• Family & friends
• Consumers
• 5th-8th grade reading level (“Easy to Read” and
“Interactive Tutorials”)
• Many items in Spanish & other languages
When to use MedlinePlus?
• Look up a medical term or condition
• Explore a health topic
• Get drug information
• Find trustworthy organizations
Why use MedlinePlus?
• Free, trusted health information following
quality guidelines
• Continuous review/updates
• Links to over 35,000 additional
authoritative resources
Where to use MedlinePlus?
• Website is available 24/7
• Access on a computer, laptop, tablet, or
smart phone at public libraries &
community centers with internet access
• Mobile version: http://m.medlineplus.gov/
• Regular version: http://www.medlineplus.gov/
How to use MedlinePlus?
• Browse by health topic
• Search for health information
Homepage
Homepage
Search box: enter terms to
search all MedlinePlus content
View by category or
browse alphabetically.
Over 900 topics!
Browse alphabetically for
prescription & over-the-counter
medicines as well as herbs &
supplements
Videos, interactive
tutorials, quizzes,
calculators, and
games
Medical Dictionary
Look up definitions of
medical terms.
Popular Searches
Click word to view related
information, or “See more”
for the top 100 search terms
Search Cloud.
The bigger
the word,
the more
times it
has been
searched.
Featured Site
Health topic of interest
About Your Health
Health topics of interest
to specific populations
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General
Seniors
Men
Women
Children
NIHSeniorHealth & Clinical Trials
Link to
NIHSeniorHealth.gov
Information for older
adults
Link to
ClinicalTrials.gov
Information on drug &
treatment studies
Directories
Find libraries, health
professionals,
services & facilities.
Organizations
Alphabetical by name
Alphabetical by topic
Medical Encyclopedia
Articles & images
Health News & Stay Connected
New health information
Sign up for email
updates on health topics
Magazine
Read issues of NIH MedlinePlus:
The Magazine
Easy to Read
5th-8th grade reading level
Multiple Languages
Trusted resources in various languages
Browse by language or topic
Sample Search
Sample Search Results
Sample Search Results
All results
•
•
•
•
Health Topics
Videos and Tutorials
Medical Encyclopedia
External Health Links
Sample Search Filter Options
Filter results by Type or Keyword
Health Topic Sample
• Summary
• Medical
Encyclopedia
• Related
Topics
Health Topic Sample
• Basics
Learn More
Multimedia
Research
Reference
Shelf
For You
• Overviews
Latest News
Directories
etc.
• Languages
Thank you!
Jamie Dwyer
Librarian
jamied@uic.edu
http://library.uic.edu