Investigating the awareness and ability of medical students in using electronic resources of the integrated digital library portal of Iran

Abstract

PurposeThe present paper aims to compare the awareness and ability of medical students in using the electronic resources of the Integrated Digital Library (IDL) portal of Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe current research involves a comparative applied survey. The survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire circulated among 300 medical students sampled from three major Iranian universities. A stratified random sampling method was used. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, average and so on) have been used to analyze the data using the Microsoft Excel software.FindingsThe awareness and utilization level of students in the three universities were lower than the average and those who are not aware of the existence of the IDL portal used general search engines to meet their information needs. The respondents admitted that their lack of awareness about the IDL was their most significant problem. Among the investigated universities, students of Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS) used the End Note, Elsevier, Thomson, Scopus and Proquest databases most. All the students expressed the effect of the IDL on the academic activities as much as 64 percent in Iran University of Medical Science (IUMS), 72 percent in Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS) and 66 percent in Shahid Beheshti Medical University (SBMU). The mean scores for utilization of searching strategies were 2.43, 2.89 and 2.87, respectively, for IUMS, TUMS and SBMU.Originality/valueA few attempts have been made to investigate the awareness, use and research ability of students in universities but this is the first of its kind to compare universities within the Integrated Digital Library. The paper will be useful for those in decision‐making roles and provides insight for the people responsible for IT application. It is hoped that this paper will assist administrators of the university libraries in developing a more complete understanding of students' electronic information needs and barriers.

Croatian university students' use and perception of electronic resources

“…However, for the effective use of electronic resources it is not enough to have a powerful computer and fast Internet access; it is also necessary to have specific knowledge and skills. Several studies show that students lack such competencies (Agboola, 2010;Boumarafi, 2010;Kahouei, Babamohamadi, Panahi, & Zadeh, 2013;Manda, 2005;Nemati Anaraki & Babalhavaeji, 2013;Yu-Mei & Artero, 2005), and that, despite the existing knowledge and skills, they need additional training (Baro & Fyneman, 2009;Harrington, 2009;Judd & Kennedy, 2011). Language barriers may also prevent students from using electronic resources (Shuling, 2007;Wu & Chen, 2012).…”

Usability of Central Library Websites of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences an Evaluation

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Students’ Habits Appear Captured by WhatsApp

“…The above suggests that participants used their class WhatsApp accounts to develop mathematics discipline habits which are promoted through direct instructions, if learning intention is to achieve high marks (Dowling & Wilson, 2017). The direct instructions are used to indicate to students what exactly is missing, in order for the students to correct such, achieving one hundred per cent (Anaraki & Babalhavaeji, 2013;Khoza, 2020;Zaitun, 2010). An example of a direct instruction is that when a student writes X + 2X = X 2 , the lecturer will simply state: 'the answer is wrong', not putting this more sensitively.…”

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