How To Research On the Internet - Part 2, The Government
- How To Research On the Internet - Part 4, Blogs
- How To Research On the Internet - Part 3, Commercial Sites
- How To Research On the Internet - Part 2, The Government
- How To Research On the Internet - Part 1, The Wild World of Wikipedia
On Monday we talked about research and how important it is for health. We also talked about a great, although sometimes suspect source of information, Wikipedia. Today, we’re going to continue this discussion by focusing on a different source of information online, the government.
If you look hard enough, the government has quite a few sites that offer valuable information about health online. Here are the ones I like using:
- The Food and Drug Administration - The department that regulates what we eat and drink. This site has a wealth of information about products you find at the local supermarket and why you may or may not want to buy them.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - The people responsible for responding to diseases and trying to reduce their impact. Good source of information on things to watch out for, symptoms of specific diseases and current threats.
- The National Library of Medicine - General research site. Has an incredible amount of information about anything health related. Navigating it is a bit of an issue but it’s a good resource.
- The National Institutes of Health - This is who the government uses to do their research. Most health related government studies come out of here.
- Department of Health and Human Services - The department responsible for almost anything health related in the US. Most of the organizations I listed above are part of the health and human services department.
- The World Fact Book - Brought to you by the wonderful people at the CIA, the World Fact Book is your source for a wide variety of information on the world at large. Want to know the land area of China? The World Fact Book has it!
- The National Park Service - If you’re an outdoor enthusiast like me, this site is great. National Parks are not just limited to know Yosemite, The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. This site will teach you a lot about national parks and introduce you to some you may not have known about. It was through this site that I found Pinnacles National Monument, a park only an hour or so away from my home that proved to be an incredible hiking experience.
There are also local government sites which are helpful. Here’s a sampling of sites from my area:
- California State Parks - Same as the national park service but on a local level. Every state should have one of these and they’re a great way to find some local hiking
- California Department of Health - The state equivalent of the federal department of health. Some useful information and a lot of programs that seem interesting. I find the state version to be less useful than either the county or the federal versions.
- Santa Clara County Parks - Same as the state site but for county parks.
- Santa Clara County Health and Human Services - All counties will have some kind of health and human services dept. At the county level you probably won’t find many studies but you will find a lot of information about programs that could be interesting. For example, I found some free fitness workshops through my county site.
By the way, most if not all government websites will have the .gov extension. This is important because there are quite a few sites that seem like a government agency but really aren’t.
Feeling Lost? Google To The Rescue!
If you’ve clicked on some of these links you may have noticed that government web designers have a thing or two to learn from the private sector. The information on most government websites is not laid out in the most intuitive of ways. Some sites are better than others, but many of them are difficult to work with. Have no fear, the wonderful people at Google have a way of helping:
This is the Google government search tool. Just enter in terms like you would on a normal Google search and Google will check most government sites for articles that match what you’re looking for. It’s not quite as good as an expert looking through some of these sites, but really, do you have time to become an expert at every single government site?
Keep In Mind, Governments Have Their Own Bias
When you’re using all of these sites, keep one thing in mind. Governments are not unbiased. Politics and science should not mix and yet they do, over and over again. Over the past twenty years, we’ve seen government distort science, usually on behalf of big business. So when you read anything on a government site, keep in mind that their interests may not be the same as yours. For example, the FDA’s food pyramid is notorious for being influenced by various agricultural interests. Does this invalidate information you find on government sites? No, not really, but it does make it a bit suspect.
Personally, I use government websites as my second line of research. That is, once I’ve done a bit of research on Wikipedia, I turn to government websites to see what information is out there. The information I find is almost always well laid out and very professional in its set up and research. I also use government websites as my first source of information for anything government related (well duh!). That means if I’m looking for information on a public park or a public program, I go to one of these sites first.
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In short, treat the government as you would Wikipedia, it’s a good source of information but should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. I’m a bit saddened by having to say this, but our government is no longer an unbiased source of useful information. As long as you keep that in mind, you should find a wealth of useful information on the various government websites.
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