The World Wide Web can be an important source of up-to-date wellness information. In the first part of this worksheet, you'll practice navigating around a Web site; in the second part, you'll use a search engine to find information on a particular topic. For additional guidelines, refer to your text and the Core Concepts in Health Online Learning Center (www.mhhe.com/insel10e or www.mhhe.com/inselbrief10e); the Web site also includes all the internet activities in the Wellnes Worksheets along with additional activities.
Choose one of the sites listed below, and enter the address (uniform resource locator, or URL) into the appropriate screen of your Web browser.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention FirstGov for Consumers: Health Healthfinder National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine Medline Plus
The home page of the site should have a menu of the information available at the site. Choose two items to explore. Click on each one in turn, and briefly describe what you find. (You may need to familiarize yourself with the navigation commands of your Web browser: Look for buttons labeled Forward/Next and Backward/Previous. In addition, most Web pages have a Home button linking them to the home page of the site.)
1. Menu item: Description: 2. Menu item: Description:
Check the Web site you've chosen for the following other features and select "yes" or "no":
Choose one topic and follow a series of links to the most specific level. For example, at the Healthfinder site, you can click in turn on Health Library, Prevention and Wellness, "N", Nutrition, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Are you still on a page affiliated with the site you started with? Does the first part of your current URL match that of the home page of the original site?
Finally, what are your overall impressions of the site? Did it provide helpful, reliable information? Was it easy and enjoyable to use? What improvements would you recommend for the site?
Choose a specific topic to investigate--for example, skin cancer prevention, bulimia, home HIV or hepatitis tests, or binge drinking by college students. Use the search engine that accompanies your browser or one of the search engines or directories listed below:
All the Web Hotbot AltaVista Lycos Ask Jeeves Northern Light Google Yahoo!
To use the search engine, you may need to enter key words or navigate through a series of increasingly specific directories; some search engines offer both key word and directory searches. The search engine will return a list of sites (with hyperlinks) that match your search parameters, often with a brief description of each site.
When you are searching, it's best to make your searches as specific as possible. Searching for key words like "fitness" or "cancer" will yield millions of matches. You are better off searching with more specific phrases--"in-line skating" or "breast cancer treatments," for example. If the search engine has a help section, take a look at it. Different search engines have different rules for how best to enter key words. For example, you may need to enclose phrases in quotation marks or put plus or minus signs in front of words to obtain an appropriate result.
Once you've completed your search, choose two of the sites to investigate. Write a brief description of each one; include your evaluation of the site's reliability, currency, and usefulness.
You'll find additional Internet activities in later Wellness Worksheets and on the Core Concepts in Health Online Learning Center (www.mhhe.com/insel10e or www.mhhe.com/inselbrief10e).