Information Literacy and Library Attitudes of Occupational Therapy Students

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Information literacy, often described as a person's ability to effectively find and evaluate answers to questions using a variety of information resources, is of particular importance to health care workers. This paper presents the results of an information literacy survey presented to occupational therapy (OT) students at Thomas Jefferson University during a series of required class activities. Also described are the authors' activities with the faculty and courses at Jefferson.The survey was made available to first-, second-, third-, and fourthyear occupational therapy students along with nursing students and pharmacy students. The survey is designed to identify research habits, skills, and preferences. Results confirm some commonly held perceptions about searching skills of young adults and an interesting dichotomy in students' learning habits. The paper concludes with a discussion of recommendations to OT faculty and librarians on how to improve information literacy education. The survey can be obtained by contacting the authors.

Developing health information literacy: a needs analysis from the perspective of preprofessional health students

“…Similar to participants in Kipnis and Frisby's study [10], 82% of students in this study expected to learn information literacy skills through trial and error, while working on their own. Students expressed the need to spend more time practicing searching and evaluating documents, using both their library and the Internet.…”

“…Second, it offered a list of external links to resources for building health information skills that students could explore on their own. Contrary to participants in the Kipnis and Erisby study [10], students who participated in this study identified librarians, not peers, as their first line of assistance if they chose to ask for research help. Over half of all study participants (99 out of 181) mentioned contacts with librarians as a competency-building approach.…”

“…• Access to professionally designed self-study resources is needed for students who intend to develop health information competencies on their own. and evaluating health üiformation are often assessed using course assignments [2][3][4][5] or self-reports [6][7][8][9][10] and rarely using standardized tests [1]. Researchers who have measured both self-reports and actual skills have found that the 2 variables were only weakly related [1].…”

The information needs of occupational therapy students: a case study

“…The following barriers to information needs resolution were discerned: information literacy (IL) skills, awareness of library collections, and the accessibility and availability of information services and resources. Preferences for particular information resources were influenced by these barriers, as well as by each user group's tasks and role requirements . These themes directly informed the study's research objectives and methodology.…”

“…The most common motivators for informationseeking were completing academic assignments, acquiring workplace skills and adhering to evidence-based practice (EBP) on placements. [6][7][8] The following barriers to information needs resolution were discerned: information literacy (IL) skills, awareness of library collections, and the accessibility and availability of information services and resources. Preferences for particular information resources were influenced by these barriers, as well as by each user group's tasks and role requirements.…”