Inclusion Criteria for NARIC Webpages and Databases

Thank you for your interest in NARIC and the resources we curate to assist people with disabilities, their families, and the professionals and researchers who work with these communities! We list thousands of resources in our Knowledgebase database, our Librarian's Picks, and in our Disability Resources pages. Each item is reviewed by our Information Services team to determine whether we can include it in our collection and the most appropriate channel to share it with the community. Some of the guidelines we follow:

For Librarian's Picks

Librarian's Picks pages are carefully curated, topic-specific collections of the resources we recommend most often to our patrons who contact us for help. Generally, these are:

  • Government-funded agencies, institutes, or centers.
  • Well-established, non-profit support organizations dedicated to a specific condition or community.
  • Professional organizations representing clinicians, practitioners, or service providers.

Librarian's Picks do not include providers who operate only on the local or state level, for-profit companies, or individual articles from news or health websites.

For Disability Resources

The Disability Resources pages offer a wider range of resources in a specific area. Generally, we adhere to the same guidelines as the Librarian's Picks but Disability Resources may include:

  • Accrediting organizations for facilities and providers.
  • Commercial publishers.
  • Health or disability-related news articles or reference tools from reputable publishers.
  • Self-help and self-advocacy organizations.
  • Faith communities which offer services to the public at large, not just members of their community.

Disability Resources do not include for-profit companies, local providers, advertisers, or single articles from non-disability websites.

These two resource collections include organizations that supply disability-related information, referral, and direct services on a nationwide basis. Therefore, regional and local resources are not included, unless they also provide national information and referral. The vast majority of organizations provide information and referral, rather than direct services. However, in many instances, national organizations provide both information and services at the national level as well as through their state or local chapters or affiliates. Private, for-profit companies are not included. 

For the NARIC Knowledgebase

The NARIC Knowledgebase is our largest collection of disability and rehabilitation resources. It includes resources originally listed in the Directory of National Information Sources on Disability (last published 1996) and the NARIC Guide to Disability and Rehabilitation Periodicals (last published 1994). It includes Internet resources collected as NARIC Bookmarks in the early days of the Web. It also includes items originally collected in our "vertical file" of brochures and information packets sent by community providers. The Knowledgebase may include providers who operate on the state or local level, and records will indicate the area served. For-profit organizations may be included if they offer free or reduced-cost resources to the public or if they fulfill an important need which is not addressed by any government or non-profit entity.

Resources listed in the Librarian's Picks, Disability Resources, and NARIC Knowledgebase are reviewed on a periodic basis. Community Resource Specialists review any public information available from an organization. If no website is found, we may contact the provider by phone to confirm that an organization is still active. Information submitted to NARIC may be edited for style, format, and content. Organizations that are no longer in operation may be removed as needed or the record updated to indicate they have ceased publication or operation.

Inclusion in NARIC publications does not constitute an endorsement of the goods or services provided by an organization, nor does exclusion imply non-endorsement. Community Resource Specialists do not review or evaluate the quality of services or goods provided, but remain a neutral party while referring a patron to any resource. Patrons may receive referrals to accrediting, rating, or evaluation tools available to the public through reputable agencies and organizations. Complaints regarding a resource will be referred to appropriate local agencies.

For the NARIC Google Events Calendars

The NARIC Google Calendar of Events consists of four calendars:  National Health Observances; non-NIDILRR Conferences, Conventions, and Meetings; and NARIC and NIDILRR-related events.  The National Health Observances calendar data is obtained through the US Department of Health and Human Services, Healthfinder.gov website and is supplemented by various disability-related awareness calendars from websites such as Disabled World and Special Needs Resource and Training Blog. 

Non-NIDILRR Conferences, Conventions, and Meetings consists of government, non-profit, and/or other stakeholder organizational webcasts, webinars, conferences, conventions, trainings, and workshops.  We prefer to add events that are free to the general public but in some cases events may involve a nominal fee and/or at least require registration.  Site specific workshops and trainings may be added to the calendar on a case by case basis (i.e., cost, reach/scope, topic area, etc.).  Federal entities and/or organizations wishing to submit an item for inclusion on this calendar may submit a request through the information request form and select "Recommend a Resource to NARIC."

The NIDILRR-related events calendar includes all types of events related current NIDILRR-funded centers and projects, as well as special organizational events (i.e., NIDILRR 40th Anniversary).  Examples of NIDILRR-events include webinars/webcasts from the ADA National Networks, Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, Disability Rehabilitation Research Projects, as well as online and/or in-person state of science, knowledge translation, and/or ADA Network update conferences.  In most cases, webcasts/webinars are free and require registration.  NIDILRR-grantees and projects wishing to have an item added to the calendar of events may contact the information/media team at naricinfo@heitechservices.com with NIDILRR-related Calendar of Events in the subject line. 

Finally, the NARIC organizational calendar is solely for events specific to our organization (i.e., exhibiting at a conference or expo) and is not open to submissions.

Inclusion in the NARIC Google Calendars does not constitute an endorsement of the goods or services provided by the Federal, State, or local government; and/or organizations, nor does exclusion imply non-endorsement.  Community Resource Specialists are not responsible for technical issues related to webinars/webcasts.  Please contact the event organizer for additional information on accommodations, and/or continuing education credits.  Additionally, we do not review or evaluate the quality of services or goods provided but remain a neutral party while referring a patron to any online and/or in-person event.  Complaints regarding an event will be referred to appropriate agencies/organizations.