The purpose of the HealthGate Web site is expressed in its mission statement : “Our objective is to facilitate improvements in patient care, biomedical research, and education by employing state‐of‐the‐art technology to make information access and coverage both thorough and easy, while maintaining the highest standards of academic and scientific integrity”. Does the site do this? Yes. By use of a computer hooked up the Internet, the average person can browse through numerous, free databases, several magazines, and a list of over 100 medical health topics. The numerous links provide easy access to more topics than this reviewer could begin to cover even after several hours of browsing. The objectives of the mission statement are definitely met.
Beginning with the site’s home page, the eye is immediately drawn to the scrolling Reuters Health eLine box. The box contains one sentence headlines of up‐to‐the‐minute medical news. Clicking on the “All of today’s headlines” link brings up Reuters Daily Health eLine Index, which couldn’t be more current. This provides a list of those same headline statements followed by a one paragraph summary. Should you desire more information or wish to read the entire abstract, click on the headline again. The source is cited at the end of the abstract. You can also check the headline news for the past several days. The Reuter Health eLine is updated Monday through Friday at 6:50 p.m. US EDT.
Directly below Reuters Daily Health eLine is an area called Wellness Center Topics. This is a list of over 100 medical/health topics. I selected Breast Cancer to see what would come up. What I got was a very lengthy and very thorough description. It was simple yet detailed, in layman’s terms, and very easy to understand. At the end of the discussion was a list of books and other sources. I selected several other topics and all of them provided me with a discussion of diagnosis, treatments, research and news, and resources, followed by the date when this section was last updated. The Wellness Center Topics are also listed on the left side of the home page.
Below the Wellness Center Topics section is a link called Healthy Living Magazines. My choices of magazines were Healthy Athlete, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Healthy Man, Healthy Mind, Healthy Parenting, Healthy Sexuality, and Healthy Woman. The special feature was the Healthy Traveler. I selected Healthy Parenting. There was so much “good stuff” here that I didn’t know where to begin. Lots and lots of great links related to parenting, illness, tooth decay, and even a video clip on the “Why” stage. This is not just information on small children, but also for those parents of children who are dating. There is a section called “Parent talk” whereby you can email the editors and get a reply. This is just a super link and one that I will return to at a later date. I’m sure the other magazines are equally interesting and informative.
In the middle of the home page are three sections. The top section is called “HOT PAGES” and changes often. The first time I looked at this Web site, the Hot Page topic was “What determines gender identity?” When I looked at the Web site a week or so later, the topic was “Pros and cons of vasectomy”. The second section is called “Free MEDLINE” which, for this reviewer who is a librarian working in a nursing program, is a main staple to any Web site on health care. Also available for free searching are six other databases: AIDSDRUGS, AIDSLINE, AIDSTRIALS, CANCERLIT, BIOETHICSLINE, and HealthStar. All of these are excellent databases and the quick links to these resources is another plus of this section. The third section in the middle of this site seems to vary. The first time I looked at it, “Doody’s review service” was listed which was a great link for those interested in timely reviews of newly published health sciences books. The second time I looked at this site, instead of Doody’s, there was a link to HealthGate’s new UK Web site. This seemed good, with some repetition of links to the free databases mentioned earlier.
On the left side of the home page is a Content Area section. I selected Nursing and a screen which lists free databases appeared. They included CINAHL (another great one for Nursing), Medline, Diagnostic Procedures, Detwiler’s Directory, and lo and behold, Doody’s Review Service, which I thought had been removed. Below this section is an area called Access Plans. This consists of MedGate which is a service whereby you can search for and retrieve bibliographic references from nine biomedical databases for $14.95 per month. You can also use the Transaction Plan which allows you to search any database and title for free; but if you wish to view a detailed reference, there is a slight fee. Information on how to do both is provided.
Another important area on the home page allows you to order document delivery from MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and other bibliographic databases using your HealthGate account. Information is provided on how to complete this.
At both the top and the bottom of the home page are links related to HealthGate itself such as how to contact them, advertising, FAQ, about the company, what’s new and what’s free. Clicking on What’s Us brought up the company’s mission statement, address, phone number, fax number, email address, officers, physician advisor’s address, and employment opportunities.
When reviewing a source, I look for the level or value of information the link provides; whether or not it is user friendly; its relevancy in relation to its content; the screen display which includes colors, fonts, spacing; the clarity of the information; the general quality of the site; whether or not it’s prepared or thought out; the length of time it interests me; whether or not it holds my attention; its usefulness for learning; and its overall presentation. Overall, this Web site scores high in all of these categories and is an excellent site. In fact, I bookmarked this on my computer as I know I can use it personally; but more importantly, I can use it professionally.
The links to the databases are a great feature. There are many other positive features as well. The colors are soft and very pastel. They feel easy on the eye. The Web site is well researched and is very current with continuous, daily updates. The information is presented in layman’s terms. The best parts are the Wellness Center Topics and the Healthy Living Magazines. As far as suggestions, I would perhaps consider moving some of the important items that seem to be “hidden” within this site out to the home page. For instance, put the mission statement at the top of the home page so that people who visit the site know immediately what this site is all about. Also, I would consider listing the free databases available for searching on the home page.
