Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:56:21 +0530
From: Subbiah Arunachalam
Friends:
A number of people are using the net to find information on topics in which
theyy are not experts. In fact I know of people who use this kind of
searches on behalf of others and even charge fees for such 'data mining'
sevices. One should be wary of such searches, indicates the following
report from Australia.
Sinclair, Jenny. "Online Health Sites a Worldwide Worry"
The Sydney Morning Herald (16 September 2003)
(http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/15/1063478109311.html). - A
study by a Melbourne researcher -- who is also a nurse and a
communications consultant -- concluded that most health-oriented
websites "failed to meet basic standards." Many are "commercially
driven," the study found, and others are downright misleading. The
study reviewed the top 100 sites returned by a Yahoo! search for
breast cancer, diabetes and depression, and compared them to the
Health On the Net Foundation's code of conduct. The biggest
failing was the amount of unverified information found on 58 of the
sites. Other issues: "user confidentiality, openness about
sponsorship and, importantly, making sure that users treat the
information as complementary to proper medical treatment, rather
than replacing it." The study did find that there was plenty of
good information out there, and that it is generally a good idea
for people to have unfettered access to online health information.
Arun
[Subbiah Arunachalam]
