Technology and Health 2.0

In the past several years, two major phenomena have dramatically changed the way people find and share information: mobile devices and social media. It is no secret that patrons are using smart phones and mobile devices for much more than making phone calls. For health information, these devices have become pocket medical encyclopedias, fitness coaches, nutrition calculators, medication reminders, and much more.

Studies report that people are increasingly sharing personal health information on the Internet. Librarians are hard-wired to look for authoritative resources; but can user-contributed health information be trusted? With thousands of health-related apps and sites available, how is it possible to sort the good from the bad?

This webinar will focus on:

• the use of mobile devices and social networking for finding and sharing health information
• the implication of using these devices for library staff
• the benefits and issues around health-related social networking sites
• examples of well-designed, safe sites
• quality health apps and mobile sites, evaluation tips, and resources to point

At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will:

• Be aware of the landscape of mobile devices and understand the differences between apps and mobile sites
• Be able to evaluate and guide patrons to quality health-related content for mobile devices
• Be familiar with the benefits and caveats of social networking for health information
• Be able to incorporate knowledge of technology and electronic resources into services for patrons

This webinar will be of interest to public library staff, including reference librarians or reference desk staff, adult and teen services librarians, and staff from organizations who provide health information to consumers and members of the public.

Webinars are free of charge and registration is only done on the day of the event on the WebEx server. No passwords are required.

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Speaker's slides

• ppt [10.8mb]
• pdf (Full slide) [9.5mb]
• pdf (3 slides per page) [660kb]

Handouts

• Consumer Health Toolkit:
  • doc [57kb]
  • pdf [78kb] 

Chat

• Chat: pdf [34kb]