Information and informatics literacies of first-year medical students

J Med Libr Assoc. 2015 Oct;103(4):198-202. doi: 10.3163/1536-5050.103.4.008.

Abstract

Purpose: The study evaluated medical students' familiarity with information literacy and informatics during the health sciences library orientation.

Methods: A survey was fielded at the start of the 2013 school year.

Results: Seventy-two of 77 students (94%) completed the survey. Over one-half (57%) expected to use library research materials and services. About half (43%) expected to use library physical space. Students preferred accessing biomedical research on laptops and learning via online-asynchronous modes.

Conclusions: The library identified areas for service development and outreach to medical students and academic departments.

Keywords: Computational Biology; Education, Medical, Undergraduate; Information Literacy; Medical Informatics; Students, Medical.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Computational Biology
  • Computer Literacy*
  • Education, Medical, Undergraduate*
  • Humans
  • Information Literacy*
  • Libraries, Medical / statistics & numerical data
  • Medical Informatics*
  • New York City
  • Students, Medical*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult