Wikipedia is a go-to resource for health and medical information, not just for the general public but for health care providers as well. Over 50% of physicians, and 94% of medical students use Wikipedia to find medical information on the internet.* It may be popular but library staff want to know how reliable it is and how to assess quality on behalf of their patrons.

Join the webinar to learn about WikiProject Medicine, an organization of volunteers dedicated to developing, maintaining, and promoting accurate medical information on Wikipedia, and how the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) supports strengthening the ability of public libraries nationwide to find reliable and authoritative medical and health information online for information seekers. Learn about the upcoming online course Wikipedia + Libraries: Health and Medical Information that will empower you to confidently guide your patrons to reliable resources on the internet. The free four-week course will be offered in the fall of 2019.

Presented by: Betha Gutsche, WebJunction Program Manager, OCLC; Liz Waltman, Outreach, Education and Communications Coordinator, Southeastern/Atlantic Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine; and Monika Sengul-Jones, Doctoral Candidate at UC San Diego and former OCLC Wikipedian-in-Residence.

*Heilman, James M; West, Andrew G (2015). "Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language." Journal of Medical Internet Research. 17 (3): e62

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• View Webinar Recording (You will be prompted to log in to our free Course Catalog.)

Webinar Attachments

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Related Resources and Links

• Hot Topic video presentation at ALA Annual: Wikipedia for Health (21 minutes) with Sharon Streams, on empowering library staff to confidently guide patrons to reliable Wikipedia health and medical topics.
• Heilman, James M; West, Andrew G (2015). "Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language." Journal of Medical Internet Research. 17 (3): e62
• Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources (medicine)
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine
  • Become an NNLM Member
  • Funding Opportunities
  • Training Opportunities
  • Community Engagement Network Programming Materials
  • NNLM Reading Club
  • Libraries Transform Health Literacy Toolkit 
  • NLM Strategic Plan
  • NNLM Wikipedia Project Page
  • PubMed Central, ALL full-text articles and documents
  • MedlinePlus
  • Genetics Home Reference
  • Consumer Health Information Specialization program
• WikiProject Medicine
• Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together