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BIO 7C - Microbiology: Web Resources

Search Engines

Google Advanced Search - Information on educational and governmental websites tend to have more reliable information.  In the advance search, along with your search terms, enter .edu or .gov in the box labeled "Search within a site or domain:".

Evaluating Websites

The quality of the information you find on the Web varies tremendously so it is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, you evaluate its quality based on the following criteria:

  • Accuracy (Is it free from mistakes and errors?)
  • Authority (What are the qualifications of the author?)
  • Objectivity (Is there any strong bias?)
  • Currency (Is the information up to date?)
  • Coverage (To what extent is the topic explored?)

That's just the basics.  Learn more!

Tutorials on Evaluation Criteria

Health/Medical Web Resources

Centers for Disease Control:  For over 60 years, CDC has been dedicated to protecting health and promoting quality of life through the prevention and control of disease, injury, and disability.

American Society for Microbiology:  The American Society for Microbiology is the oldest and largest single life science membership organization in the world. Membership has grown from 59 scientists in 1899 to more than 39,000 members today, with more than one third located outside the United States. The members represent 26 disciplines of microbiological specialization plus a division for microbiology educators. (**Great resource for illustrations and images.**)

Health.gov: This site is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

FDA: Home Page for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

NIH Human Microbiome Project: The Common Fund's Human Microbiome Project (HMP) aims to characterize the microbial communities found at several different sites on the human body, including nasal passages, oral cavities, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and urogenital tract, and to analyze the role of these microbes in human health and disease.

Medline Plus: A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health: NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.

CDC MMWR: The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The MMWR series is the agency’s primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.

MicrobeWorld: MicrobeWorld is an interactive multimedia educational outreach initiative from the American Society for Microbiology that promotes awareness and understanding of key microbiological issues to adult and youth audiences, and showcases the significance of microbes in our lives.

EPA: EPA Microbiology Resources

USGS: U.S. Geological Survey microbiology efforts span the disciplines and cover many broad research areas, including fish and wildlife health and disease, climate change, microbial ecology, public health and water quality, geomicrobiology, and ecosystem function.

USDA: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the Federal Government.

WHO:  WHO (World Health Organization) is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

Evaluating Health Information on the Internet

Evaluating Internet Health Information: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval.html

 

Evaluating Web-Based Health Resources: National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).http://nccam.nih.gov/health/webresources/