There are two main methods for locating information on this site: searching and browsing.  We also discuss keywords, although their use is more limited and specialized.

Searching

Using the Search Box is effective for finding instances of your search term across a large cross-section of the site.  It is often the fastest way to get to a specific result, especially if you don't know where to begin looking. 

Since the path bar shows where you are in the folder structure at all times, you will get an idea of how folders are organized just by diving into the search results. Good ideas for effective searching are presented in Search Help.

Browsing

Contents are organized in folders, so you can browse topics in a logical manner.  The top-level folders appear in the green tabs on the left-hand side of the page.  When you browse to one of them, it expands to show the folders inside it.

The three main folders, at the top of the tabs, are about general medical information, local statistics and locating services.  Naturally, contents inside one of these folders will have some relationship to the contents of another.  Often times we link directly to the related content, to bring it to your attention. 

Other times we show an entire list of related items, by showing the results of a pre-defined search.  The search box is always with you as you browse, as well.

Browsing is good for exploring related contents, or navigating between closely related concepts.  For example, is you browse to Local Health Indicators, you will see the folders within it that contain its main content areas.  Looking in each of these, in turn, gives you a good idea of where things are, and what kinds of resources are available.

Keywords

Keywords are used to link related contents to each other.  An item's keywords are not necessarily found within the item's text, since keywords are a list of subjects attached to the item.

Because they are assigned manually, they don't produce the unrelated results that can be found using search words.  However, they miss items that have not been assigned the keyword, even if the identical word is contained in the text. 

Not all content items have been assigned keywords yet.  As our keyword system is developed, we will present new keyword-based options for locating content.  

Currently, search results include keywords for the items that have them.  Clicking on one of these keywords will show the other items associated with it.