Orthopaedics in the World Wide Web:: Homepages of universities in the G7 Nations.

Questions: By which criteria can a homepage be evaluated? How is the quality of homepages provided by universities in the field of orthopaedics/traumatology? Methods: Based on 37 ranking instruments, an optimized list of criteria has been developed. Homepages of orthopaedic and traumatology departments of medical schools in the G7 Nations have been found with help of university homepages and search engines and afterwards were analysed according to previously defined criteria. Results: A list of criteria containing 18 subject areas with 49 questions was developed. 136 homepages were evalualed from October 1998 to April 1999. 15 outstanding homepages were found. The best homepages are from medical schools in the USA and Germany, The most frequent subjects were structure of the department (contained in 85% of the homepages) and education/training (68%). 42 homepages provided medical information, 67% of those homepages provided references (attribution), and 26% provided information about authority and authorship. 46% of all hompages were not updated sufficiently, Out of 125 homepages with an e-mail address 36% responded to an inquiry. Multimedia features such as video, sound or animation were used by 6% of the homepages. Conclusion: Apart from few exceptions, homepages of orthopaedic-traumatologic departments of medical schools are still insufficient with regard to quality and quantity, especially regarding medical information for patients and professionals. The developed last of criteria should be helpful in installing a basic standard for homepage quality. The time and effort involved in setting up and servicing a homepage should not be underestimated.