Pamela S. Wigington (l), and Teresa M. Sims [Read Editor's Note]

Need answers to pressing environmental health questions that you face on an almost daily basis? Check out the wealth of environmental health resources available for download on the Environmental Health Services Branch Web site. From concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs) to workforce development issues, our Web site may have just the resources you need at your fingertips.

The Web site is a major part of EHSB's plans for dissemination of new tools and information. We are stepping up efforts to post program information on the site. The site now includes 10 major content areas (in the order presented online):

• Environmental Public Health Performance Standards (EnvPHPS)
• Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI)
• Building Environmental Health Capacity
• Community Environmental Health Assessment (CEHA)
• Emergency and Terrorism Preparedness for Environmental Health Practitioners
• Environmental Health Specialists Network
• EHS Publications
• Environmental Health Topics
• News and Features, and
• Training

The Web site also provides signup information for the CDC Environmental Health Listserv. This resource was created to enable environmental health professionals to share information. Grouping of key topic areas is an important feature that helps users search and scan for information on Web sites (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & U.S. General Services Administration, 2006). Several EHSB Web areas now include keyword listings:

• EPHLI final projects can be searched by CDC Health Protection Goal and keyword.
• Capacity-building grantee project summaries can be searched by keyword.
• Emergency and Terrorism Preparedness for Environmental Health Practitioners content can be searched by topic area.
• EHS-Net projects, and publications and presentations, can be searched by project focus—policies and practices of retail food service establishments, retail food safety programs, and the general public (also see Publications and Presentations by Study).
• Environmental Health Topics page provides an index of environmental health topics and links to Web-based information from the branch as well as environmental health information from other CDC divisions, federal agencies, and non-government organizations. Current topics include the following:
  • Air Quality;
  • Cryptosporidium, Cryptosporidiosis;
  • Drinking Water;
  • Emergency Preparedness;
  • Environmental Public Health Marketing;
  • Food Safety;
  • Healthy Homes;
  • Lead;
  • Mold;
  • Norovirus;
  • Onsite Wastewater;
  • Program Management/Evaluation;
  • Recreational Water;
  • Rodent Control;
  • Vector Control/Integrated Pest Management;
  • Vessel Sanitation;
  • Veterinary Medicine and Public Health Practice;
  • West Nile Virus; and
  • Workforce Development.

Although one of the newer topic pages, Environmental Public Health Marketing, does not yet offer the breadth of links seen on the Workforce Development page, this marketing page includes a CD-ROM devel­oped by an EHSB capacity-building grantee, a summary of two specific EPHLI final projects, CDC information defining health marketing, and a toolkit from the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Statistics show that users have found the Norovirus topic page to be the most useful. In 2007, it was in the top 10 most-viewed topic pages, with the Cryptosporidium page close behind. A comparison of September 2007 statistics with September 2006 statistics shows a 175 percent increase in viewers for the entire EHSB Web site.

In 2007, the site was redesigned to be consistent with recent CDC Web upgrades; a user-friendly layout makes the material easy to read. Improvements include a searchable A–Z topic index as well as an enhanced search engine that is specific to the information on the EHSB site:

• The A–Z Index
• The Search Page

As always, EHSB welcomes your feedback on the Web site or on any of our programs. Please send your comments to ehsb@cdc.gov. We are here to support your programs: Let us know how we can help.

Corresponding author: Teresa M. Sims, Web Developer, Contractor, Cadence Group, Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC, 4770 Buford Highway, N.E., M.S. F-28, Atlanta, Georgia 30341. E-mail: tsims@cdc.gov.

Reference
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & U.S. General Services Administration. (2006). Content organization. In: Research-based Web Design and Usability Guidelines (Chap. 16). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved December 24, 2007.

Editor's Note
NEHA strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we are featuring a column from the Environmental Health Services Branch (EHSB) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal.

EHSB's objective is to strengthen the role of state, local, and national environmental health programs and professionals to anticipate, identify, and respond to adverse environmental exposures and the consequences of these exposures for human health. The services being developed through EHSB include access to topical, relevant, and scientific information; consultation; and assistance to environmental health specialists, sanitarians, and environmental health professionals and practitioners.

EHSB appreciates NEM invitation to provide monthly columns for the Journal. EHSB staff will be highlighting a variety of concerns, opportunities, challenges, and successes that we all share in environmental public health.

Cadence Group has experience with many information formats: documents, electronic records, e-mails, Web content, historical content, archives, library collections, knowledgebases, and other enterprise content. Regardless of your content source, Cadence Group can help you develop ECM strategies and solutions that give you quicker, more reliable access to information.