Poster Board Number: 115
Title: Faculty, Resident, and Fellows Views of the Library
Objective: Our objectives were to obtain data from two academic medical center libraries to reflect the perceived value of health sciences libraries and the use of the library, its resources, and its services. We gathered these data to allow comparison both between and among groups in each institution and across institutions. We looked at the responses from faculty, fellows, and residents to five questions. Specifically, we looked at two comparisons:
1. Do the responses among the three groups differ for any of the questions at either of the institutions?
2. Do the responses from all respondents in each group differ from the responses of either or both of the two groups?
Methods: We surveyed library users at the University of Missouri and the library at the University of Colorado. We used model-based methods to evaluate differences among three respondent groups: physicians, residents, and, fellows. We also combined the data from each group to get an overall picture of the responses between the groups, regardless of which university. We calculated confidence intervals for each group’s responses to these questions. Non-overlapping confidence intervals indicate that the groups do not differ statistically.
Results: Eighty-four faculty, 51 fellows, and 101 residents from the 2 universities responded to the survey. When asked about the reason for using the library, most in all categories responded "Patient Care" (39%-62% range). Respondents checked frequently (>60%) that they changed therapy or tests, changed management of patients, or confirmed a management decision because of the information from the library. Although residents tended to respond more frequently than others that they used library resources and services, this trend was not statistically significant. Finally, statistical tests indicated no differences in responses from the 2 institutions.
Conclusions: We found that respondents at both institutions made extensive use of the library resources and that the information gained from these resources influenced patient care in many ways. Respondents used the information in a variety of other ways, including as support for teaching, writing, and clinical research.
Authors: Deborah H. Ward, AHIP, Director; MaryEllen C. Sievert, Research Consultant and Professor Emerita; Caryn M. Scoville, Librarian, Information Services; Dirk Burhans, Research Specialist, J. Otto Library Health Sciences Library; Barbara Boshard, Quality Improvement, School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine; Joy C. Drass, Director, Residency, School of Medicine, Department of Child Health, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO; Melissa De Santis, AHIP, Deputy Director, Health Sciences Library; Lisa K. Traditi, AHIP, Department Head and Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Library; University of Colorado-Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO
