Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

January 2013

Publication Title

Medical Library Group Southern California Association/Northern California and Nevada Medical Library

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Abstract

Developing information literacy skills in undergraduate students is an ongoing and dynamic process. Awareness of student backgrounds is a major factor that can influence instructional techniques and pedagogy. With this in mind, a research project was developed to better understand a student population. During Fall 2012, a convenience sample of undergraduate Health Professions students were surveyed during library instructional sessions. Demographic information, confidence in performing information literacy-related tasks, and mastery of information literacy questions were collected.This poster will highlight the differences between students' self-reported mastery levels and their actual quiz results. Which demographic elements are correlated with students' levels of self-confidence? Does the sample reflect a population with unproven/unrealistic expectations regarding information literacy skills? Taking these aspects into account, how can librarians modify information literacy sessions to address these gaps? What are possible implications for medical and health science librarians who will support these individuals once they become professionals and enter the health sciences fields?With a sample population of 239 surveyed undergraduate Health Professions students, this study will offer some insight and information about future health professionals and their needs and gaps in information competency. It is imperative that medical, health science, and clinical librarians understand some of the underlying assumptions that their users may bring with respect to their information competency skills.

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