Websites - Public Health - Guide to Internet & Library Sources

Evaluating Websites and Online Resources

There is a lot of public health information available on the internet. As with any online resource, there can be quite a bit of unreliable information mixed in with accurate and useful materials. Remember to consider the source of your information and whether it can be considered a quality and reliable source. When reviewing websites for reliability, ask yourself these questions:

Who sponsors the website? What gives this sponsor the authority to say what they are saying? Should you believe it? What are their credentials? Are they qualified to write on this topic?
What is the purpose of the website and the sponsoring organization? Are they trying to sell, promote, educate, inform, entertain, or persuade? Be aware of bias.
Is the website current and is it being maintained? Are there copyright dates or other dates indicating the age of the information? Are there broken links?

CRAAP Test for Evaluating Sources
A quick worksheet with qualities to watch out for when evaluating a website.
Evaluating Internet Resources (Georgetown University)
A guide created by the Georgetown University Library that helps identify what to look for when searching for credible information online.

Healthy People

Healthy People 2030
Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For four decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to:
1. Encourage collaborations across communities and sectors.
2. Empower individuals toward making informed health decisions.
3. Measure the impact of prevention activities.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC is a federal agency that conducts and supports health promotion, prevention, and preparedness activities in the United States with the goal of improving overall public health.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) series is the CDC's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. The data in the weekly MMWR are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health department.
CDC WONDER
CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research) is an online program that makes health-related data sets available to researchers. It includes nearly 20 collections of public-use data for U.S. births, deaths, cancer diagnoses, tuberculosis cases, vaccinations, environmental exposures, and population estimates, among other topics
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
The Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Includes prevalence data and data analysis tools, fact sheets, publications, and more.

Other U.S. Data, Tools, Statistics

U.S. National Library of Medicine: Data, Tools & Statistics Portal
Selective links representing a sample of available information on health statistics. Items are selected for their quality, authority of authorship, uniqueness, and appropriateness.
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Medline Plus
Provides information on health topics, human genetics, medical tests, medications, dietary supplements and more.
Explore Census
Provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The data in comes from several censuses and surveys.
Data.gov
Provides public access to U.S. government data sets. These data sets cover a range of topics including health and population.
Data.cms.gov
Provides access to data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO, part of the United Nations, is an agency concerned with international public health.
WHO Global Health Observatory
The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is a source of data on a number of international health-related topics. It provides access to official WHO health statistics as well as health-related data for all 194 Member States.

Non-governmental Organizations and Other Foundations

Kaiser Family Foundation
Kaiser is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. Unlike grant-making foundations, Kaiser develops and runs its own policy analysis, journalism and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with major news organizations.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Many topics, including Nurses and Nursing; Social Determinants of Health; Childhood Obesity; Public and Community Health; Health Disparities; Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a non-profit organization whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, and people of color." Includes tools, data resources, publications and more.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program is run by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with support from the RWJF. This program works to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. Includes What Works for Health, which is a tool that provides communities with information to help select and implement evidence-informed policies, programs and system changes to improve determinants of health.

Grey Literature

"Grey literature" is made up of materials and research produced by organizations outside of traditional scholarly publishing. Examples may include:

Conference Proceedings
Technical Reports
Theses/Dissertations
Statistical Reports
Government Documents
White Papers

Although grey literature usually contains high quality, up-to-date information, it does not undergo the same peer-review process that occurs in academic or commercial publishing. Make sure to evaluate this information carefully.

Harvard Kennedy School: Think Tank Search
Think Tank Search, from the Harvard Kennedy School, is a Google Custom Search of over 1200 think tanks and research centers that generate public policy research and analysis.
NGO Search
NGO Search is a Google Custom Search that searches for your terms across hundreds of websites for U.S. non-governmental organizations. This custom search is a project of the International Documents Taskforce (IDTF) and the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the American Library Association.
IGO Search
IGO Search, like its NGO counterpart, uses Google Custom Search to search for your terms across hundreds of international non-governmental websites, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the UN Development Program, the G20, and more. This search is also a project of IDTF/GODORT.

Other Websites

Demographic and Health Surveys Program
The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, collects, analyzes, and disseminates data on population, health, HIV and nutrition in developing countries. Registration is required to access raw data.
The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide)
The Community Guide contains a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventative Services Task Force (CPSTF), which was established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This is a free resource that can help you select interventions to improve health and prevent disease in your state, community, community organization, business, healthcare organization, or school.
MedlinePlus: Health Topics
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This source, provided by the U.S. federal government, offers background information on a variety of health topics.