Information Skills Survey: Its Application to a Medical Course

Authors

  • Catherine Clark Associate Science Librarian
  • Dr. Ralph Catts University of Stirling

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18438/B81G65

Abstract

Objective - To test if the Information Skills Survey(Catts Information Skills Survey for Assessment of Information Literacy in Higher Education) is suitable for the purpose of investigating the information literacy levels of a group of students in medicine. If not, the study was designed to determine the modifications that are necessary to make the Information Skills Survey a reliable instrument for investigating the information literacy levels of a group of students in medicine.

Method - Administration of the Information Skills Survey to two groups of medical students. To confirm the validity of the results, follow up questions and interviews were also conducted. Statistical analysis was carried out to determine the internal consistency of the questions in relation to the Information Literacy Standards and also to determine the statistical significance of the results.

Results - The two groups of students reported similar results for a number of the tested skills. However, several areas of difference were also identified. The main areas of difference between the two groups were the questions that can be interpreted as being related to clinical practice. This was also emphasised in the interviews.

Conclusions - The Information Skills Survey is a useful tool to investigate the information literacy skills of groups of medical students who are in their early years of study. Further research needs to be done to develop valid questions for medical students in the clinical years. This would reflect the different information resources that are used in clinical practice.

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Author Biographies

Catherine Clark, Associate Science Librarian

Catherine Clark is Associate Science Librarian at The University of Western Australia Library. She has a strong interest in using evidence based practice, particularly in relation to information literacy teaching and learning.

Dr. Ralph Catts, University of Stirling

Senior Research Fellow, Applied Educational Research Scheme Institute of Education, University of Stirling Airthrey Castle, Stirling, Scotland

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Published

2007-09-05

How to Cite

Clark, C., & Catts, D. R. (2007). Information Skills Survey: Its Application to a Medical Course. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 2(3), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.18438/B81G65

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Section

Research Articles