Medline Plus competitors

Gabe Rios over at Task Force on Social Networking Software blogged a few of my favorite words:

So let me throw out some questions for discussion…

followed by these great questions, completely making my day as they are just what I've been pondering lately. I plan to take them one post at a time, but here's the entire list:

• What do you think of these services competing with MedlinePlus?
• What is the potential impact of these new services offering one stop shopping for managing your health record, accessing health information, and locating health services?
• How can/will Medlineplus compete with these services as their popularity/notoriety increases?
• How can MedlinePlus promote its services better?
• Should MedlinePlus be adding Web 2.0 services to their site?

So, day 1, what do you think of these services competing with Medline Plus?
The services he discussed in his post include Microsoft's Health vault, Revolution Health and Google Health (in whatever splashy, ubiquitous form it may take). I feel, well, pretty ok with this.

Sounds wishy washy, I know. On the one hand, as a librarian and one who has devoted her professional life to helping consumers use health information to improve their lives, I am passionate about sharing the most current, scientifically solid and well presented material to the public. This, of course, is a given.

Yet, the reality is that consumers use the internet for health information searches and to connect with communities of people with similar conditions or interests. This is another given. Medline Plus is there, offering an excellent resource for them. The other players are there, too, sometimes because they are also passionate about supplying excellent resources, sometimes for a profit.

Would we as librarians wish to restrict all but one chosen journal from publishing research on, say, AIDS? Would we provide only one print resource about the civil war or allow only one link to information on engineering schools? I do understand the potential impact health information has on lives. Still, aren't we about providing access to a range of choices?

So, while I'm not advocating that we actively promote these other services or arguing that they are in any way superior to Medline Plus, I think we should be not afraid. We should study them, learn from them and continue to be there with the public, lighting the way with guidance and balanced, fearless commentary.

This brings up a related concern I have: do we underestimate the public and their ability to navigate the medical web environment? Do librarians in other fields shield their users with the same paternalistic zeal? There is bad information out there, but really, our users aren't merely babes in the woods, are they? What level of sophistication should we be giving them credit for? Microsoft and Google are offering services with advanced features and access to an array of sources, assuming the user is capable and ready to use them. We need to accept the competition and be prepared to meet it.