The document emphasizes the importance of finding background information for health science research, recommending authoritative resources like MedlinePlus, healthfinder.gov, and various FDA and CDC websites. It outlines their quality control measures and the types of consumer-oriented information they provide, as well as tools for maintaining health. Additionally, it suggests using these reliable sources to develop research topics and gather keywords before searching for scholarly information.

1. Where to Begin Your Research
Information Literacy
for the Health Science Student
Mark D. Puterbaugh
Reference Librarian
Paul Robeson Library
Rutgers University – Camden
Sept. 2018

2. Finding Background Information
To begin your research, finding
background information is essential.
Background information provides you
with the keywords and ideas necessary
to do proper research on a subject.
Reference works with consumer-oriented
information afford an excellent point to
start your research.

3. No Lack of Resources
There are many quality resources available on the
Internet it can be overwhelming.
Let’s look at some of the most authoritative and
reliable consumer-oriented resources you can use
for background information.

4. MedlinePlus
MedlinePlus is the National
Institutes of Health's website
for patients, their families, and
friends.
Produced by the National Library
of Medicine, it brings you
information about diseases,
conditions, and wellness issues
in plain language.
You may access the latest medical
research or find on-going
clinical trials.

5. An Authoritative Reference Tool
MedlinePlus draws its information from the
authoritative consumer health information
sources.
– Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Center for
Disease Control (CDC)
– National Diabetes Information Clearing House
– The Mayo Clinic
– American Diabetes Association
– American Heart Association
– and more

6. One Stop Shopping
MedlinePlus offers access to
instructional videos, medical
dictionaries, and medical
encyclopedias.
Tutorials provide additional
instruction on searching for
reliable medical information on
the Web.

7. Browsing healthfinder.gov
The website healthfinder.gov links
to sites designed to educate
consumers. Its focus is on
preventative medicine and
health maintenance.
The site provides you with easy
access to free information,
meeting the interests and needs
of consumers.
http://healthfinder.gov

8. Quality Control
Information and sites linked from
healthfinder.gov must meet the
quality control guidelines laid down
by the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
Theses quality control guidelines
assure that resources linked
through healthfinder.gov are
authoritative and reliable.
http://healthfinder.gov/aboutus/QualityGuidelines.aspx

9. Reviewed by Respected Advisors
Experts in related health fields review and assemble
the information found in healthfinder.gov.

10. Accurate and Current
Sites selected for inclusion in
healthfinder.gov must
accurately reflect the current
thinking of the scientific
community.

11. Quality Standards
An external site selected for inclusion in
healthfinder.gov must adhere to
quality standards.
The Health on the Net Foundation Code
of Conduct (HONcode) is an example of
one of the standards followed.
The Health On the Net Foundation has
elaborated the Code of Conduct to
help standardize the reliability of
medical and health information
available on the World-Wide Web.http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/

12. Health Topics A to Z
The healthfinder.gov provides an A to Z
directory of Web resources on an
extensive selection of health topics from
the most authoritative sites.
The directory is not only for government
sites. The directory includes non-profit
organizations and commercial resources
that have met the quality control
standard.

13. HealthFinder Tools
There are several tools on the site
with advice to stay healthier.
The myhealthfinder tool
recommendations come from the
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
(USPSTF), the Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices (ACIP),
the Bright Futures (BF) Guidelines,
and the Institute of Medicine’s
(IOM) Committee on Preventive
Services for Women.
http://healthfinder.gov/myhealthfinder/

14. What is Foodsafety.gov?
FoodSafety.gov is the gateway to food
safety information provided by
government agencies. The agencies
include:
– Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS)
– U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
– Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)
– Unites States Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
– Others.

15. A Variety of Information
Provides consumer-oriented
information on:
– Recalls
– Food safety
– Food Poisoning
– The Latest News

16. Your Questions Answered
Want to know how long you can safely
keep meat in the refrigerator? Or
how long to boil an egg? How about
whether it’s better to use wooden or
plastic cutting boards?
Ask Karen is your guide to expert
knowledge on handling and storing
food safely and preventing food
poisoning.
http://www.foodsafety.gov/experts/askkaren/index.html

17. U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration
The FDA is responsible for
protecting the public health
by assuring the safety,
efficacy, and security of
human and veterinary drugs,
biological products, medical
devices, our nation’s food
supply, cosmetics, and
products that emit radiation.
http://www.fda.gov

18. Consumer Oriented Information
FDA provides a wide variety of
informative information for
consumers.
– These include:
– Consumer Updates
– Consumer Advice
– Print Publications
– Multiple Language Resources
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/default.htm

19. Information for Everyone
FDA provides information relating
to Children’s Health, Women’s
Health, Minority Health,
Educators, Student, and
Patients.
There is even an Animal Health
Literacy section.

20. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
CDC works 24/7 to protect America
from health, safety and security
threats, both foreign and in the U.S.
Whether diseases start at home or
abroad, are chronic or acute, curable
or preventable, human error or
deliberate attack, CDC fights disease
and supports communities and
citizens to do the same.
http://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.htm/

21. Health Security
CDC increases the health security
of the nation. As the nation’s
health protection agency, CDC
saves lives and protects people
from health threats. To
accomplish our mission, CDC
conducts critical science and
provides health information
that protects the nation against
expensive and dangerous health
threats, and responds when
these arise.
http://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.htm/

22. Categories of Information
The CDC provides a large selection of
information with sections including:
– Diseases and Conditions
– Healthy Living
– Traveler’s Health
– Emergency Preparedness

23. Statistics
The CDC offers the most
complete and authoritative
statistical information on
health.
Data comes from a variety of
government agencies.
Includes a diversity of tools to
access the datasets.
http://www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics/

24. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)
HHS through its many agencies
offers information services for
consumers and professionals.
You will find that the resources are
both reliable and authoritative.
The organizational chart displays
the many offices and agencies
of the HHS.
https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/orgchart/index.html

25. NIH Institutes and Centers
Under the HHS is the
National Institutes of
Health (NIH). Posted
here are links to the
institutes and centers.
You can consult the
institutes and centers
for information that is
reliable and
authoritative.
NIH INSTITUTES
• National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• National Eye Institute (NEI)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
• National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
• National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) —
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) —
• National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
• National Library of Medicine (NLM)
NIH CENTERS
• Center for Information Technology (CIT)
• Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
• Fogarty International Center (FIC)
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
• NIH Clinical Center (CC)
Text from NIH site http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/ .

26. Commercial Sites
There are many excellent
commercial websites for
consumer health information.
Remember that you can also
search the most reliable sites
through MedlinePlus or
healthfinder.gov.

27. Why Would You Use Google?
With so many reliable and
authoritative resources available
through the U. S. Government, why
would use Google?
Maybe you’re feeling lucky?

28. Use reference and consumer-oriented
information to gather ideas and keywords.
Use the ideas and keywords to formulate a
research topic.
Then search for the scholarly information you’ll
need to support your research.
A Road Map

29. The End