The Benefits Of The Website Of National Institute Of Mental Health - Essay Example

The Benefits Of The Website Of National Institute Of Mental Health This paper seeks to evaluate the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) website that provides information on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Emphasis is given on how this particular website provides the intended message to the general public, and how well it does that. Various aspects of the website are closely examined to test the suitability of the website, according to Cornell University Online Library website. This is a very resourceful website to the general public since it is meant to reach the public directly. Enough information of the authors and how to reach them in case of any queries or clarifications need to be provided. This website has considered all those factors and thus provides the email address, telephone number and even a live chat handle, where a member of the general public can directly chat with Ayuda en Vivo, who is available on weekdays at 8:30 am to 5:00 in the evening. In addition to this, there is a hotline that is toll-free and a fax number, catering for both English and Spanish speakers. For effective evaluation of the site, a Cornell University’s criteria of website evaluation will be employed. Aspects like the accuracy will be tested to bring out the purpose of the website and show whether the author has provided enough details to reach him or her. Another aspect will be the authority of the web documents which checks where the document was produced and the credentials of the author. Finally, the objectivity of the web documents will be examined to test the particular goals and objectives of the site. Evaluation of this website will be based on the criteria of accuracy, authority, objectivity and coverage to test its effectiveness and relevance to the general public. This website provides information on a unique type of illness, mental illness. Facilities providing treatment of these disorders are few; thus, there is dire need to provide enough information of their existence. This website has accurately done this by providing a mental health treatment locator, in addition to clear details of their offices and areas of specialisation, which are anxiety disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Bipolar Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and Schizophrenia among other mental illnesses as well as HIV/AIDS. The authors, who are officials in the U.S department of health and human sciences, exhaustively provide all the necessary data needed by the consumers, who are the general public. It, therefore, suffices to admit that the authors of this website are qualified to write it. From this, it can be found that this website meets the accuracy criteria. The National Institute of Mental Health is the institution responsible for publishing this website, and the U.S government maintains it. The website is protected by various provisions of the U.S code. Any person in violation of this code is subject to criminal prosecution in a criminal court. To counter unauthorized attempts to add damage or change any information on the website, software programs are employed .Information from these softwares is used in tracking down violators of the site for prosecution. The publications of NIMH are however available in the public domain. They may, therefore, be reproduced or copied without permission. NIMH warns potential users only to use the publications in any efforts to improve public health, and in doing so, to cite the NIMH. Clear guidelines are given on the use of the publications, to avoid inappropriate use of the government materials which could raise legal concerns (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d). It also provides the credentials of some of the principal investigators at NIMH, like Dr.Bruno Averbeck, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota. There is Dr.Christopher Baker, who holds a degree in neuroscience and a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr.Peter Bandettini, the Chief of the section of functional imaging methods sums up the list, making the website credible, and its authority guaranteed. This site is a credible information source on mental disorders. Since it is a government document, no advertising is meant, and this eliminates any biases of the contents of the site. Its aim is to invite members of the public to visit the facility for treatment, or seek consultations online. The message provided is not for commercial use whatsoever but is an initiative of the U.S government to create awareness on the existence of the amenity to the public. It, therefore, meets its objective (Remenyi & Berghout, 2003). The unit of health and human services under U.S government maintains this website. The government regularly updates this site to ensure no information turns to be misleading to the consumer. Regular and proper maintenance of this website ensures that all the links given on this site are active. This makes the NIMH website user-friendly by sparing the user the troubles of clicking dead links. The publication was last revised in the year 2012. The NIMH website is not just any other fancy website. Instead, it is well balanced and only contains relevant images which balance quite well with the text. This aspect makes it even more enticing to the eyes of the user and also maintains a professional appearance of the website. The website is all-inclusive in that it does not require any special softwares to access any of the links given. The user can, therefore, comfortably access any information using any browser technology. When visiting the site, no signing-up is required. The links are given in the website all complement the theme of the site. The links range from the directors of the institute, health topics, principal investigators at the institute, research studies at the institute, programs, outreach activities, laboratories among others all which are active. Since it is a website on mental disorders, it clearly gives details on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For credibility, full citations of the work are provided at the end of the article (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d). Additional information from the website is available for downloading in different formats like PDF. To cater for the members of the public without internet access, it provides numbers for contacting the NIMH information resource centre. From the discussion, the website has met the evaluation criteria in terms of accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency as well as coverage of the web contents. Adherence to the criteria has made it possible for any member of the public to obtain the information required from this credible source. Its goals and objectives are clear. Conclusively, the NIMH website is properly designed, up to date and thus reliable. References National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). NIMH RSS. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/index.shtml Olin & Uris Libraries. (n.d.). Five criteria for evaluating Web pages. Retrieved from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/webcrit.html Remenyi, D., & Berghout, E. (2003). 10th European Conference on Information Technology Evaluation: Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain, U.K.: MCIL. Read More