Assessment of information literacy skills and knowledge-based competencies in using electronic resources among medical students
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-10-2021-0087 |
| Published date | 18 March 2022 |
| Date | 18 March 2022 |
| Pages | 444-459 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories |
| Author | Perumal Ganesan,Mangai Gunasekaran |
Assessment of information
literacy skills and
knowledge-based competencies in
using electronic resources among
medical students
Perumal Ganesan
Central Library, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India, and
Mangai Gunasekaran
Library, CPA College, Bodinayakkanur, India
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to focus on the information literacy skills and how the resources are
being used by medical students of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute
(MGMCRI), Pondicherry, India. The main aim is to determine the medical students use, purpose,
search strategies and sources through which aware and literacy skills acquired. Further, this paper
aims to bring out the problems faced.
Design/methodology/approach –A survey method was conductedthrough a structured questionnaire
distributed among 120 medicalstudents from first year to fourth year. Stratified random sampling was used
for selectionof students.
Findings –Findings of the study revealed that medical students largely used medical databases such as
Bentham Sciences, ProQuest,PubMed and MedlinePlus. Further, the paper revealsthat majority used health
information for updating their knowledge and to acquire general information. The students’information
literacy levelfound minimal, which may be the reason majorityof the students found difficulty in locating the
desired materials followedby irrelevant information, inadequate e-resources and lack ofawareness reported
some extent.
Originality/value –The recommendations made based onthe study are expected to be beneficial to the
authorities and library administration of the surveyed institution to take appropriatemeasures for effective
utilizationof resources.
Keywords Knowledge, Information literacy, Information use, Health information, Medical students,
User perception
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The focus of health information literacy is to enable the individual medical students to
identify, search and evaluate to make a decision.Individual’s ability to identify and retrieve
health information is deemedimportant to take care of and maintain their health. The health
information literacy emerged as individual’s increasing need for relevant information and
their inability to judge the health information. The huge amount of information –both
accurate and inaccurate –available overthe internet makes it difficult for the medical users
to locate trustworthy and reliable information (Shehata, 2021). Baro et al. (2019) expressed
number of factors thataffect information retrieval:
DLP
38,4
444
Received21 October 2021
Revised26 December 2021
Accepted9 February 2022
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.38 No. 4, 2022
pp. 444-459
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-10-2021-0087
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2059-5816.htm
Volume of information through they must search, a lack of knowledge on advanced information
retrieval techniques, a lack of awareness of where to look (both internally and externally produced
materials) and shortage of time to find and process the information.
However, the students need to possess adequate knowledge on Information Literacy Skills
(ILS) on various technological tools to overcome risk factors, self-care capabilities and
promote decision making process (Sahak and Masrek, 2014;Yoon and Kim, 2014;Azami
et al., 2016;Saxena, 2018;Dastani et al.,2019;Kalankesh et al., 2019). Health literacy has
received widespread attention to take important decisions in health-related issues (Egbert
and Nanna, 2009;Zang et al.,2016).Macabasco-O’Connel and Fry-Bowers (2011) stated lack
of knowledge among medical students can hinder the benefits expected from medical care.
Asibey et al. (2017) stated that even though, application of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) has improved and reached all areas, study on health information use by
the medical students have not reached much in developing countries. As medical students
need to work with their patients duringtheir internship, health information literacy skills is
the only way to retrieve trustworthy information (Savolainen, 2017). Romanov and Aarnio
(2006) suggest that students must be encouraged to learn new knowledge skills of medical
science. Studying health knowledge of medical students is very much essential, as limited
health knowledge could impact their own self-care as well as health care of their future
patients (Mullan et al.,2017). Due to emergence of various social media platforms and
publishing tools, it has become easy to produce and share the information, and it is
becoming increasingly problematic to control or filter the information available on the
internet. A study conducted by Anaraki and Babalhavaeji (2013) revealed that the
awareness and utilization level of the students in three universities in Iran were lower than
the average. Knowledgeon online health information is crucial because COVID-19 pandemic
forced many schools and colleges to remain closedtemporarily and moved from face-to-face
interaction to online mode.Online resources were considered as viable solution which can be
accessed even from rural and remote areas. It is considered as panacea in terms of
knowledge in this pandemicsituation and a relatively cheaper mode of operation.Flexibility
is another interesting aspect of online resources,which allows the learner to choose his own
time and access the resources from distant locations (Dhawan, 2020). The institutions
imparting medical education has also switched from conventional mode of access to online
mode (Bdair, 2021).
Hence, it is necessary to assess the individuals’information search skills to judge and
access the information available through electronic mode. This study aims to assess the
information literacy skillsof medical students in MGMCRI. Many studies have claimed that
the students tend to rely on general internet search and trust the information based on the
information provided by the publishers. These situations have necessitated the authors to
explore Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI), Pondicherry
medical students’informationliteracy skills and use of electronic resources.
Review of literature
This topic –medical students’information literacy –is considered important research area
across the globe due to the spread of COVID-19. Literature collected with respect to
information literacyand use of e-resource, were thoroughly reviewed and listed.
Asibey et al. (2017) conducted a study on the students’use of the internet for health
information at Ghanaian university.Of the total students, 72.4% depended on online health
information for their lifestyle change. They faced shortage of infrastructure facilities,
qualified professionals and slow internet connection. In Iran, Kahouei et al. (2015)
investigated health information seeking strategy among physicians and medical residents
Information
literacy skills
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