MedlinePlus®:: The National Library of Medicine® brings quality information to health consumers

The National Library of Medicine's (NLM(R)) MedlinePlus(R) is a high-quality gateway to consumer health information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other authoritative organizations. For decades, NLM has been a leader in indexing, organizing, and distributing health information to health professionals. In creating MedlinePlus, NLM uses years of accumulated expertise and technical knowledge to produce an authoritative, reliable consumer health Web site. This article describes the development of MedlinePlus-its quality control processes, the integration of NLM and NIH information, NLM's relationship to other institutions, the technical and staffing infrastructures, the use of feedback for quality improvement, and future plans.