Can you trust Internet health information?
More and more, people are using the Internet to find information on all topics, including health information. A recent article by the PEW Internet & American Life Project estimates that 75-80% of Internet users have searched for health information online, and that most reported high levels of satisfaction with the information they found.
That said, not all sites on the Internet provide reliable health information. And, as Mark Twain famously said: “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint”.
Libraries can help you locate reliable health information on the Internet, by providing classes, electronic resources or by answering your questions in person or online. There are also a number of sites you can check to see if that alarming e-mail you just read is a hoax or fraud.