Negotiating the information maze.

The internet is the world's largest information source. And it is still growing rapidly--by 20 million new pages a month according to some estimates. Internet usage is also increasing. It was estimated that 140 million people were using this resource in 1996. Last year, that number had grown to an estimated 605 million (NUA Internet Surveys, 2003). One of its functions is to be a source of information for patients wanting to know more about their illnesses.