Summary:

The Alternative Medicine Homepage is devoted to "information on unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, or alternative, complementary, innovative, integrative therapies." The site provides access to

• the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health
• Internet resources relating to alternative medicine,
• mailing lists and newsgroups
• resources in the western Pennsylvania region
• commercial databases
• resources in related disciplines.

For entries within each category, a concise definition, profile or summary, and associated link or address are provided.

"The Alternative Medicine Homepage provides links to Internet information sources and does not replace the care by a qualified health practitioner."

The Alternative Medicine Homepage is maintained by Charles B. Wessel of the Falk Library of the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.

To Search:

Select from matrix table of resources; browse alphabetical list of entries in category; select.

Summary:

ALTMED WEB: The Internet International Directory of Alternative/Complementary Medicine Practitioners is "a geographic hierarchal-based international directory of Alternative/Complementary Health Professionals..." and is compiled to "...further the cause of so-called Alternative/Complementary Medicine worldwide." Presently, four disciplines are featured in the site: massage therapy, Reiki, Trager, and homeopathy.

Upon accessing the site, users will find a table of contents and a world map. Divisions of the site include: a guest book, FTP sites, e-mail area, special links area, vendor list, information, world map, new areas, and the practitioner's list. In the guest book, a user can enter information to be added to the site's listings. FTP sites index various documents on health topics and can be downloaded for personal use. Users can e-mail comments to the site's creator, as well as access related WWW sites through their special links area. Vendors of alternative medicine products have a portion of the site, where users can be linked to the products' homepages. General information on the site's structure, usage, and sponsor details are found in the information area.

Finding information on alternative medicine practitioners occurs in two ways; through the world map on the main page or through the practitioner's list. In using the map, users need only to select a country, and will soon see that nation's homepage within the site. A further selection of a country/area and a city yields the names of local practitioners and their fields of medicine. The name links the user to that person's homepage. If choosing to search with the practitioner's list, the user must select a country/region, then follow onscreen links to the desired records. These will contain the name of local alternative medical businesses, city of practice, and the speciality of medicine. Once again, the businesses' titles are links to their respective homepages.

The site is operated and maintained by Matthew Starrett-Bigg, LMT; Portland, Oregon.

To Search:

Select practitioner's list or world map from main site page. Follow onscreen links to reach desired records of local practitioners.