This column will highlight some specific search tools for finding health-related Web sites - directories, search engines, and megasearch engines. In fact, Coelho (1998) cited classic informatics theory which "shows that as information increases, the amount of irrelevant and inaccurate information (often referred to as ‘noise’) also increases." So it is little wonder that health professionals and consumers can easily be swamped and find that the time spent searching for credible, current information on the Web is not used efficiently. Of these, 83% are commercial and only 6% have scientific/educational content. A 1999 report by the same authors put the number at 800 million pages (Lawrence & Giles, 1999). Lawrence and Giles (1998) estimated that publicly indexable Web sites minimally contain 320 million pages. Network Wizards, in their 1999 Internet Domain Survey found over 43 million named, Internet host addresses (Network Wizards, 1999).
This influx of users has been accompanied by tremendous growth in the number of individuals and organizations publishing and offering services online. A recent article in JAMA reported that Internet users in 1998 were estimated at 80 million in North America alone, up from 3 million worldwide in 1994 (Coelho, 1998). Web growth is a cycle fueled by more users, more sites, more Web pages. Available: How big is the haystack?įinding information on the Web can be time-consuming and unpredictable. Information Resources: "Needle in a haystack? Finding health information on the Web." Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.
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