Using Google blogs and discussions to recommend biomedical resources: a case study

Med Ref Serv Q. 2013;32(4):396-411. doi: 10.1080/02763869.2013.837726.

Abstract

This case study investigated whether data gathered from discussions within the social media provide a reliable basis for a biomedical resources recommendation system. Using a search query to mine text from Google Blogs and Discussions, a ranking of biomedical resources was determined based on those most frequently mentioned. To establish quality, these results were compared with rankings by subject experts. An overall agreement between the frequency of social media discussions and subject expert recommendations was observed when identifying key bioinformatics and consumer health resources. Testing the method in more than one biomedical area implies this procedure could be employed across different subjects.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Blogging*
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Data Mining / methods
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Information Dissemination / methods*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Search Engine*