Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Skeptical Medical Reference: Helping Patrons Find Critical Resources For Consumer Health Issues, Samantha Hypatia Thompson, Ambrose A. Thompson

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

With the popularization of the Internet, there has been a vast proliferation of consumer health material available to the public. Unfortunately, this has only accelerated a pre-existing trend- the fact that much of the material made available is unproven, unreliable, or outright fraud. This requires librarians to make a choice: are they passive and uncritical dispensers of information or are they critical educators who help patrons choose the best information available? In this article we examine the issues facing librarians in this matter and presents skeptical materials that may help librarians to answer critical health questions.