INTERNET UPDATE
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Top 10 Psychology Websites' F' ^" l% Y9 z/ ^: Q* ]
Simon A. Rego, PsyD
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! B$ m5 B0 Z" b/ EEveryone loves a “Top 10” list, don’t they? It was with this notion that I decided to make this issue’s column feature a list of the top 10 websites that people use in their role as clinical psychologists. The task seemed sim-ple: I would post a note on several electronic mailing lists to which I subscribe asking members to send me their favorite “go to” websites for information and resources in psychology, and then present the top 10 vote-getters to all of you. The column would write itself !
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Yet some funny things happened on the way to this column: First, many people replied to my request —but did not offer any suggestions! Instead I was told that this was a great idea as they really did not know where to find good information on the web, and that they would love a copy of the final list once it was completed! Second, it seems that an increasing number of people are taking my approach and turning to electronic mailing list servers (similar to newsgroups or forums, except that the messages are transmitted as e-mail and are therefore available only to individuals on the list) for information rather than wasting time searching the web. Third, rather than having specific “go to” websites, people instead use search engines such as Google (
www.google.com) or Dogpile (
www.dogpile.com) to gather the information they need on a topic. Finally, while a few people suggested books that had been written on mental health websites, all noted that these books were now outdated—lending support to the open access movement (see last issue’s column) as web content and trends often move at a pace much
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In the end, I tallied 160 different website suggestions!It should be noted, however, that only the top 28 websites received more than one vote (with the first place finisher receiving 10 votes and many in the top 28 receiving only two votes). The rest (n=132) received only a single vote each! Therefore, I urge you all to email me your favorite sites (
dr.rego@gmail.com) and I will keep an updated document that is yours for the asking. I also challenge someone out there to create a website where users can post their favorite psychology websites and/or vote on those already posted (i.e., how about using a format like Digg—
www.digg.com). In the meantime,without further ado, here are your top 10 websites.Coming in first place was a site managed by Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D. The site provides free full-text articles and other resources on assessment, therapy,forensics, etc. (
www.kspope.com). Placing second was the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Home Page. This site provides information from the Federal agency that conducts and supports research on mental illnesses (
www.nimh.nih.gov). Finishing third was the official website of the American Psychological Association (
www.apa.org). In fourth was a site managed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. The site claims to be the Internet’s largest and oldest mental health social network created and run by mental health professionals to guarantee reliable, trusted information and support communities to consumers, for over 12 years. (
www.psychcentral.com). In fifth place was WebMD, “the leading source for trustworthy and timely health and medical news and information.” The site provides credible health information, supportive community, and educational services by blending award-winning expertise in content, community services, expert commentary, and medical review (
www.webmd.com).
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Coming in sixth place was the Anxiety Disorders Association of America website. This site offers complete information on anxiety, as well as a special section on teen anxiety (
www.adaa.org). Seventh place went to the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, a site that offers information about cognitive therapy, how to become certified as a cognitive therapist, training in cognitive therapy (
www.academyofct.org). In eighth place was the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) website, which provides CEU, CME, and other educational opportunities; journals for research and clinical practice in behavioral therapy and cognitivebehavioral therapy; and referrals for those seeking psychological therapy (
www.abct.org). In ninth place was the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF) website.
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9 Q6 b$ X- ?, @* x0 ~/ o2 rThe OCF is an international not-for-profit organization composed of people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders, their families, friends,professionals and other concerned individuals (
www.ocfoundation.org). Finally, sneaking in at number ten was w*i*k*ipedia, “the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. Over two million articles and still growing.” (
www.w*i*k*ipedia.com). I should point out that the two people who suggested this site seemed somewhat embarrassed to do so. I am not sure why. After all, I used it myself to look up the history of the top ten list! (en.w*i*k*ipedia.org/w*i*k*i/Top_10_list).
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