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As the list gets longer, this question becomes more urgent. I can only suggest some reasonable heuristics:

search the "Browse" page for words related to your needs
for each package that looks relevant:
- see if the corresponding ros.org/wiki page exists
- does the documentation appear complete?
- what is the review status of the package?

This approach has drawbacks: sometime packages with minimal documentation work just fine. You may end up with several candidates that appear equally plausible. In that case, download and try them all.

The ROS community should provide a way for users to rate packages, providing useful feedback for developers and guidance for potential users.