Running head: MEDLINEPLUS EVALUATION

MedlinePlus Evaluation
Jentry Hess (Nielsen)
Dixie State University

Website Evaluation
MedlinePlus claims to provide trusted health information for you, I intend to prove just
that. I choose this site for my evaluation due to the fact I rely on it quite often and want to ensure
I am right in doing so not only for my own benefit, but providing my patients with the most
reliable, up-to-date information as well. In attempts to doing just that I will evaluate the sites
appearance and usability, recent and current updates, evidence of objectivity and lack of bias,
financial costs associated, tone, and last but certainly not least its credibility.
MedlinePlus
Relevance of Website
MedlinePlus is relevant to Nursing Informatics as integrates nursing practice with
information and computer science by providing useful information and knowledge to the
healthcare professionals, patients, and their families alike. Evaluating this website, which I use in
my profession quite often, will help to build my confidence in this site to enhance my clinical
practice. It provides information as basic as definitions to more in depth explanations about
disease processes and medications and even as fun as interactive tools and games. Evaluating
this website is significant to providing me with skills necessary to analyze and utilize this
information in the clinical setting.
Description of Criteria
The criteria I will use to help aid my evaluation include: appearance and usability, recent
and current updates, evidence of objectivity and lack of bias, financial costs associated, tone, and
credibility. By using these six different criterias it will ensure that it is not only providing
credible and current information to the healthcare professionals, but that it is easy to access and
user friendly for our patients.

Appearance and Usability

MedlinePlus is not only engaging to the eye, but it is very user friendly and easy to
navigate. I like that it is not too cluttered, yet has the basic tabs based on the certain topic you are
researching, and then gets more in depth the deeper you click. With the search bar right on top it
gives users ease to find exactly what they need. I also appreciated how it has the popular
searches to the left, as majority of people may be looking for similar topics. I like that they
provide you with the most basic information without being overwhelming, yet gives you links to
more detailed information if you need. The site map at the top was another aspect I enjoyed,
providing a basic, yet detailed, list of resources in aiding to find the desired information (NLM,
2012). I truly believe MedlinePlus would be easy to navigate for even the most computer
illiterate.
Recent and Current Updates
Jim Kapoun (2015) suggests that to effectively evaluate the currency of a web document
you must ask yourself: When was it produced? When was it updated? How up-to-date are the
links? Are there dead links? Is the page content outdated? MedlinePlus does a great job at
providing all this information. On the bottom of every specific health topic they provide you with
the date of the last review and update., all of which are very current.
MedlinePlus goes to the extent of informing its viewers about their update schedule. They
state that not only do they review their material constantly, their news content is updated every
weekday. They are also added new links daily, which shows they are committed to providing us
with the most up-to-date information possible. (NLM, 2013).
Evidence of Objectivity and Lack of Bias

MedlinePlus and the National Library of Medicine are very adamant in saying they do
not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes or services (NLM, 2012, par.
4). While they do frequent add links to other internet sites for references and convenience, they
again express in doing so they are not endorsing any products, services or information that are
offered or described on the external site. At that point they encourage users to explore the site for
their credibility by looking at their copyright and licensing restrictions to ensure the information
is credible and secure (NLM, 2012, par. 2).
Financial Costs
To access the available information is free to all users, healthcare workers and patients
alike. Its great to have a reliable site with current information that we can refer to our patients
and the public so they are better able to be educated on their health, especially without a cost to
them. The up-to-date information, along with interactive tools, is provided free to the public due
to the sponsorship from the National Library of Medicine.
Tone
The overall tone of MedlinePlus is very realistic in my opinion. They provide lots of
useful, reliable information without being too outrageous or showy. The tone of the site was
professional while also being fun with interactive games for the public.
Credibility
Health on the Net Foundation (HON) certifies MedlinePlus as being credible for
providing reliable information (HON, 2013). HON saw there was no issue finding health
information online, but knowing whether the information you were given was reliable or not.
They developed the HONcode to help standardise the reliability of medical and health
information available on the World-Wide Web (HON, 2013, par. 6). As a user you download

their toolbar then simply visit your sites as usual. The HONcode will appear in color if the
website is compliant with their codes. MedlinePlus does indeed comply with their codes and
lights right up. Along with that MedlinePlus has many rewards and recognition including: 2013
Dr. Oz-Approved Medical Websites, 2012 Good Housekeepings !4 Most Trusted Health
Sites, and in 2009 was recognized as the government health web site that is most reliable and
easiest to navigate (NLM, 2014).
Conclusion
Overall, MedlinePlus is an excellent source for health information online for both
healthcare workers and patients alike. There are so many pluses to the site such as the fact it is
user friendly for all populations, easy to understand for those not in the medical field while
providing enough in depth information for those who are, providing up-to-date and reliable
information, and to top it all off free. As a new nurse I rely on this site daily to provide myself
with the knowledge to better understand diseases or medications on my patients. I would highly
recommend this site to any one of my patients and family members as I believe it is a highly
trusted site.

References
Health on the Net Foundation, (2013). Honcode certification. Retrieved from website:
http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Patients/
Kapoun, J. (2015, February 13). Evaluating Web Pages: Questions to Consider: Categories.
Retrieved from http://guides.libarary.cornell.edu/c.php?g=32334&p=203771
MedlinePlus. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US). Updated Oct 28, 2013.
Retrieved from www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. (2012). Medlineplus Disclaimers.
Retrieved from website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/disclaimers.html
National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. (2012). How often is MedlinePlus
updated. Retrieved from website:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/faq/updateschedule.html
National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. (2014). Medlineplus awards and
recognition. Retrieved from website:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/recognition.html
National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. (2012). Medlineplus awards and
recognition. Retrieved from website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sitemap.html