ICML 9

9º Congreso Mundial de Información en Salud y Bibliotecas

Salvador, Bahia - Brasil, 20 a 23 de septiembre de 2005

BVS4

4a. Reunión de Coordinación Regional de la BVS

19 y 20 de septiembre de 2005

Supporting Access to Consumer Health Information Across Languages

Participantes:
  • Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD  - USA
  • Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD  - USA
  • Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD  - USA
  • Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD  - USA
  • Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD  - USA
Access to high-quality online consumer health information is frequently a barrier for non-English speakers and speakers of English as a foreign language. One strategy is to leverage existing English-language systems. In this case study, we present mechanisms developed, designed, and implemented to support access by Spanish speakers to ClinicalTrials.gov. First, we briefly introduce the underlying cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) technology and development of a Spanish-English bilingual term list. We then focus on language-based design decisions and their implications for integrating components of a Spanish-language system with the existing ClinicalTrials.gov system architecture. Data display and navigation issues will also be presented. We conclude with results from a preliminary evaluation of the Spanish-English CLIR prototype. The long-term goal is to adapt such technologies generally for consumer health sites to support access in different languages.