Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:56:21 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun@mssrf.res.in> Friends: A number of people are using the net to find information on topics in which they 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]