Nursing Web Links Users Guide

About MCC's Nursing Web Links Site

MCC's Nursing Web Links Site was created by the Monroe Community College Library and Nursing department to support the instructional content of both distance learning and on campus nursing courses.

Internet web links are provided to help you obtain information about nursing and other health related topics. These links will be useful to you as you prepare for course assignments, study medical conditions & treatments, health issues, professional issues, and medications. 

Please note that the web pages on this site are for educational purposes only. Any medical or other decisions should be made in consultation with a qualified health care provider.

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How to Use This Site

You can locate information about your topic on this site using the following methods:

• Select the subject category from the list on the main Nursing Web Links page that most closely matches your topic.

• Enter your topic into the "Keyword Search" box located at the bottom of the main Nursing Web Links page to look for information across all of the subject category pages posted on the Nursing Web Links site.

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Link Selection Policy 

MCC's Nursing Web Links site primarily features links to governmental, educational, not-for-profit sites, and some commercial sites that provide access to useful, free, educational resources. 

Links are selected based on:

• The quality of information found at the site

• Acceptable layout (easy to read and navigate)

• Relevance of the information to support MCC's Nursing curriculum

Only websites that provide free access to information without a subscription are included on the Nursing Web Links pages. Some websites have been included which require a establishing an account to log in, but do not charge for access.

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Policy for Adding Links

To recommend a site for inclusion on MCC's Nursing Web Links pages, complete the online Suggest a Site form. All links recommended will undergo review by the Nursing Web Links Team. Decisions are reached by team consensus. 

Websites of non-commercial nature, for example, sites having a web address ending in .gov, .edu, and .org will receive first consideration for inclusion on the Nursing Web Links pages.

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Outdated Links

Outdated links on web pages are a well known problem for every website. The Nursing Web Links pages are reviewed regularly to locate and repair any outdated or broken links.

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Tips for Evaluating Medical Information Found on the Internet

With the number of health related websites increasing at a rapid rate, health professionals and the general public, need to know how to identify websites that provide accurate and reliable medical information.

The following sites help to identify criteria you should consider when evaluating information you find on health related websites:

• A User's Guide to Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the Web - Guidelines from the Medical Library Association.

• Medlineplus® Guide to Healthy Web Surfing - Guidelines from the National Library of Medicine. For further information view the National Library of Medicine Evaluating Internet Health Information Tutorial (~16 minutes long).

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Understanding Web Addresses/URLs

You will notice that for the websites listed on the Nursing Web Links pages, we provide the complete web address for each site, instead of making the title of each website a direct link. This format allows you to see the direct path to the page you are connecting to.

To learn more about the elements of a web address, formally known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), visit the following sites:

• Understanding the Parts of an Internet Address - From the Oregon Institute of Technology Libraries.

• Understanding and Decoding URLs - From the Sheridan Libraries of The Johns Hopkins University.

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Common Internet Error Messages

You may encounter a variety of error messages when trying to access some of the external links listed on the Nursing Web Links pages. The Common Error Messages page from the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University provides explanations of some of the Internet error codes you may receive.

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About Run Time Errors

There may be times when you try to open a web page and receive the following message "A run time error has occurred. Do you wish to debug?" When this occurs please click on the "No" button, and then the page should load for you.  You may need to click the "No" button more than once in order for the page to load properly on your computer.

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Revised 11/2010 http://www.monroecc.edu/go/library