Notions of reliability: Considering the importance of difference in guiding patients to health care Web sites

Objectives:
This article analyzes the efforts of three organizations to provide a standard that guides Internet users to reliable health care sites.

Methods:
Comparison of health Internet sites, interviews and document studies.

Results:
In comparing these approaches, three different constructions of reliability are identified.

Conclusions:
The resulting possibilities and restrictions of these constructions for users that are searching for health information on the Internet are revealed.