Surf's Up Volume 12 (2)
Lucy Johnson Bell, Research Librarian, King's Fund Information and
Library Service
You know that Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi, where she sings about
paving Paradise to put up a parking lot:
'Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot'
That's how I feel. Silly really, since in the cut and thrust world
of internet sites I know only too well that 'here today and gone tomorrow'
is so often not just the order of the day but sometimes the order of the
hour. It's just that I always thought I could rely on this one.
I am talking, of course, about Open.gov.uk.
This superb and useful site which would take the hapless Web browser
to just about any government page is being subsumed into something
called Ukonline.gov.uk.
When I first read about this, my heart sank as I anticipated yet another
government site masquerading as a commercial one (see Clicktso).
At the time of going to press, Ukonline.gov.uk
has not yet taken Open.gov.uk
under its wing and a small hope is fluttering that it won't 'demystify'
the site completely (i.e. won't completely destroy its lovely, long,
cross-referenced lists). I am heartened that perhaps my grief
is a little premature as, looking at Open.gov.uk
just this week, I noticed the following consoling statement:
'The features available on open.gov.uk will be carried across
in a familiar format so that existing open.gov.uk users will continue to
have access to the services they use and value. The www.open.gov.uk URL
will be retained.'
I am encouraged also by the fact that what Ukonline.gov.uk
already presents is clear, uncluttered and easy to use. It allows
the visitor to browse for the government department they need and also
has a search facility, something which Open.gov.uk
never developed. I was just a wee bit concerned that I could not
find the Department of Health in a browseable listing anywhere (in fact,
the only Department to have a listing is the DTI ... I would love to make a
comment here about taking over the world but will restrain myself).
Here's hoping that the directory will be fleshed out soon.
The one really big irritation with this new site, however, is its use
of frames, à la Ask Jeeves.
Clicking on a link takes the visitor directly to the site chosen but places
it within the Ukonline.gov.uk
frame. Experienced Web users can of course always find out the site's
proper URL by looking at the very long one in the location box (it will
appear right at the end of all the coding); however, anyone who can't be
bothered doing this - or simply does not know how - will be left with the
necessity of visiting the Ukonline.gov.uk
site every time they need to get to one of the pages they found previously
within its index. Aah, I've just seen the point (perhaps I should
have made that point about world domination earlier).
If you'd rather know where you're going when you get there, then the
Tagish
directory could be a good site to get to know. It lists public
sector organisations in the UK, broken down by the very broad nature of
their work (health, local government, central government etc.). Many
information professionals already use this one and if one thinks of Web
sites as foreign restaurants, then this is surely a good sign. If
the locals are eating there, then so should everyone else.
A new Cochrane site which has come to my attention is that of the Cochrane
Collaboration Consumer Network. Parts of this site are excellent,
such as the 'Making Sense of Research' page, the report on Consumer participation
in research and the links to glossaries of medical research terms.
I have to confess however that I am a little bewildered by the 'Cochrane
Health Summaries' page. It does not allow any sort of sophisticated
searching, which seems strange. Surely if this site is meant for
people who already have or use the Cochrane Library regularly then wouldn't
these people be more likely to go straight there to find exactly what they
want, in full-text form? What this particular page does do very well
however is to provide links to other sites containing information relating
to evidence based practice. Just click on the 'If you can't find
what you're looking for, then CLICK HERE' link to find this. Lastly,
I should say that this site is pleasant to use, guiding the visitor through
its pages easily and also dots amusing cartoons throughout which certainly
endears it to this weary Web traveller.
A mention must go (albeit belatedly) to the excellent Netting
the Evidence site which has acquired its own domain name. Now
to get to Andrew Booth's superb listing of evidence based health care internet
sites all one has to do is to type in www.nettingtheevidence.org.uk
rather than going through the main ScHARR
site. Sticking with South Yorkshire, another venerated Web directory
has given up the mantle of pointing to Nursing
and Healthcare Resources on the Internet. This site from the
University of Sheffield has ceased business, re-directing all its visitors
to NMAP, one of the latest developments
from BIOME. NMAP is an excellent
resource, taking the visitor to high quality internet resources in nursing,
midwifery and allied health.
If you are of a historical bent, then perhaps one of the pages from
the Health Service Journal stable will
be of interest: it has published an NHS
Timeline on the internet. Going back as far as the 1920s, it
gives an overview of the important events and policies to have shaped the
organisation of health care in the UK, including a listing of ministers,
permanent secretaries and chief medical officers. Take some time
and see how many issues have reared their ugly heads time and time again ...
Keeping on the factual trail, but moving into the pub (hurrah), if your
forte is trivia and quizzes then here are a few sites to keep you going.
Have that WAP phone ready under the table (and don't spill beer on it)
to call up All
Flags in Alphabetical Sequence, the Internet
Movie Database, Allreaders.com,
a searchable database of plotlines within fiction and, the site of the
truly desperate, Useless Knowledge.
Not that I would condone cheating, of course, but all's fair in love and
war and in maintaining the image of the information professional as knowing
lots and lots of facts. And in winning quizzes. Happy surfing!
Last updated August 2001.
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Inform, 12 (2)
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