ARCH -- Access to Resources for Community Health

Internet Tutorial

Accessing Online Information

This tutorial may be worked through in a linear fashion, or you may explore only those topics that interest you. If you would like to work through the entire tutorial, click on BEGIN TUTORIAL. Otherwise, select any of the topic areas below. At the end of each section in the tutorial, you have the option of returning to this page. You may do this by selecting .

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Resources Available to ARCH Users from the Treadwell Library at MGH and Greater Boston Center for Healthy Communities Library Databases, electronic journals and catalogs from Treadwell Library and Greater Boston Center for Healthy Communities Library.

Search Tips and Strategies Boolean operators and how they can help you in searching many online databases and search engines.

Searching PubMed The National Library of Medicine's biomedical literature database.

Using MEDLINEplus The National Library of Medicine's health information site for consumers.

Online Databases available through Massachusetts public libraries EbscoHost, Infotrac Health Reference Center and other databases can be accessed from home using your public library card.

Information on the Internet What is meant by "on the Internet"? What kind of information is freely available and what isn't?

Evaluating Information on the Internet How to evaluate health information sites.

Major Internet health sites The best places on the Internet to find consumer health information.

Searching the Internet Search engines, meta search engines, and subject directories explained. When is it acceptable to use search engines to find health information?

Final Exam Put into practice what you've learned.