The Makers of MEDLINE Now Bring You MEDLINEplus
This definitely beats "take two aspirin and call me in the morning." The National Library of Medicine--the world's largest medical library--believes you will be a better patient if you know more about your illnesses and health problems. NLM has announced a new project to answer your medical questions. Thirty-nine public library organizations with more than 200 locations in nine states and the District of Columbia will take part in a pilot project featuring MEDLINEplus, an easy-to-understand website resource for the public. The site includes MEDLINE--the world's largest database of peer-reviewed information--as well as links to self-help groups, access to the National Institutes of Health consumer health information, clearinghouses, health-related organizations, and clinical trials.

Find a Nursing Home Online on the Medicare Website
Good for the Health Care Financing Administration! It's set up a website just for Medicare. You'll even find a version in Spanish. One exciting new feature is a database called Nursing Home Compare. It contains information on every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country. You can locate nursing homes in your area and find information about compliance with Medicare and Medicaid regulations.

Better Than the Lottery: How to Find Your Lost Pension
"No one told me I had a pension. I am glad to know that there is a government agency like the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation that took the time to look for me and give me my pension." This was the reaction of Ms. Carol Carson, Atlanta, GA., to the news that PBGC was holding a pension for her from her former employer in New York.

Technology Means a New, More Secure Passport
We know. You don't like your picture on your driver's license or your passport. However, good or bad picture, here's a passport picture that can't be altered by thieves and thugs. The State Department has introduced a new U.S. passport featuring a digitized photograph and data page. The new passport also contains a number of anti-counterfeiting features in the data page, including security film with a multi-colored multiple diffraction-grating image, similar to a hologram, to protect both the digital photo and the personal data. Microline printing (in the form of wavy lines) is being added behind the photograph to serve as another deterrent to counterfeiting. Production of the existing version of the passport will be phased out gradually. By late 1999, all domestic passport agencies will be equipped to produce the new passport.