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HealthWeb Selection Methodology & Guidelines

Methodology

The health sciences will be divided into subject areas, and each library will choose areas based on its strengths or its institution's areas of excellence. Within each area, the library will perform four functions:
  1. Identify relevant resources available on the Internet.
  2. Evaluate the resources, with input from subject experts, based on criteria established by the HealthWeb Content Working Group.
  3. Annotate, organize and provide access to the resources in HealthWeb.
  4. Make new resources available on the Internet by establishing contacts with key providers, identifying potential resources, and working cooperatively with the resource providers to mount and maintain the the material.

Selection Statement

Introduction

HealthWeb is a tool to facilitate access to health-related resources on the Internet. It is a project of the health sciences libraries in the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation.

Construction of HealthWeb is significant for a number of reasons. HealthWeb is a collaborative effort rather than a solo one. The HealthWeb project comprises a number of librarians and information professionals committed to working together for a common goal. HealthWeb will be a selective centralized resource rather than an all-encompassing one; and HealthWeb will provide an integrated interface to the selected resources.

Purpose

While each institution in the HealthWeb project has existing collection development policies and procedures for their local collections, it is necessary that the project as a whole have unifying guidelines for building and maintaining HealthWeb. This collection development statement reflects the common issues that need to be addressed when selecting resources for HealthWeb. The guidelines will be reviewed periodically to keep them current and relevant.

Each library determines the means of implementing these collection guidelines. A library may choose a sole representative such as the collection development librarian or ask its selectors to consider Internet and Web resources for inclusion in HealthWeb, or some other local process, such as a team approach, may be used.

Scope and Audience

HealthWeb concentrates on the collecting, evaluating and organizing of Internet-accessible health information and education resources for health care professionals and consumers.

Evaluation Process

Each site will adjust the evaluation process to meet the specific needs of their subject area and the availability of staffing. Within an Area of Excellence, the responsible library has the decision-making responsibilities for what will be included under that subject.

Each site may choose different methods to discover new sites or to approach potential information providers about mounting information in HealthWeb. Some methods range from scanning the comp.infosystems.www.announce list to daily Internet surfing. Selected guides to the health sciences Internet 'literature' include:

The formation of an Editorial Board for each subject area that would review the selected resources before they are made public is recommended, but the implementation is a local decision. Editorial Board members may be local experts or national experts willing to participate in the HealthWeb development via email.

Criteria for Selecting Locally-Mounted/Originally-Developed Resources

Locally-mounted resources are those originally developed at the library or the library's institution. Developers may be library staff, faculty, related organizations or others connected to a sponsoring library. These resources are sent to the coordinating library for the evaluation process before they are added to HealthWeb.

Criteria to consider when evaluating local resources are:

  • Is the information under consideration useful outside of the local institution?
  • Does the presentation of the information meet the criteria from the Design Group? Is it a quality presentation?
  • Does this same information exist elsewhere on the web, and if so, is local implementation necessary or desirable?
  • Is the source of the information reliable and from a responsible authority?
  • How will the information be updated and maintained at the host site?
  • Are there any licensing costs or legal aspects that need to be considered?

Criteria for Selecting Remote Resources

Some criteria to consider when evaluating remote resources on the Internet are:
  • What is the perceived quality of the resource? Is this a valuable site or document for the subject area in question?
  • Evaluate the source of the information: Publisher, Institution and Author/Producer. Are they clearly labeled on the resource under consideration? Do they have a tradition or track record of valuable publications? Is the source of the information a reliable authority?
  • Strongly consider the site's design and user interface. Is it easy to retrieve the desired information? Is the presentation visually appealing? (This factor can be important when comparing two comparable sites). See the Design Group's document on design evaluation for additional information.
  • Is the site updated regularly? Is the nature of the information something that needs to be updated regularly?
  • What other sites does this site link to? Are they quality sites?
  • Is the site under consideration a primary resource for information, or does it just point to other sites? If it just points to other sites, should we be pointing to them instead?
  • What is its relationship to other resources?
** Other Non-HealthWeb URLs
  • Is it the best resource on X available on the Internet?
  • If it is of equal value to another site, is duplication necessary or desirable?
  • How many similar resources are necessary?
    (We are striving to include only those evaluated to be of high quality and valuable to health professionals and consumers.)
** Existing HealthWeb URLs
  • Is there a resource already in HealthWeb, and how does the new possibility compare to it?
  • Should the new resource replace the existing one?
  • Is it different enough to warrant duplication?

Ongoing Maintenance

Each library is responsible for maintaining and updating its selected Areas of Excellence. This includes a regular review of pointers in the subject to make sure they are current and to update any locally mounted information on a regular basis. It is expected that some review of existing HealthWeb resources will occur when reviewing of potential resources takes place.

Summary

This outline is designed to provide the HealthWeb participants uniform guidelines for selecting resources to be added to HealthWeb. Each institution names the representative with the selection expertise to apply in their own Areas of Excellence and uses the necessary judgment to alter these guidelines for the purpose of improving HealthWeb.

Disclaimer: HealthWeb is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional medical services. Any medical or other decisions should be made in consultation with your qualified health care provider. The Greater Midwest Region of the National Network Libraries of Medicine and participating HealthWeb institutions will not be liable for any complications, injuries or other medical accidents arising from or in connection with the use of or reliance upon any information on the web.
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