Information literacy needs of undergraduates at the College of Health Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka: a survey

Abstract

Background: Information literacy skills are essential to today’s medical professionals for evidence-based medicine. The study determined Information Literacy (IL) skills and training needs of undergraduates at the College of Health Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.

Methods: The study adopted the descriptive survey design and used purposive sampling technique to select a sample of 268 students. Data were collected using a questionnaire, which was adapted from the Information Literacy Test Manual. Frequency distribution, percentages and mean were used to analyse data and results were presented in pie charts, graphs, and tables.

Results: Undergraduates at the College of Health Sciences have a moderate level of IL skills. EBSCOHost, PubMed and MEDLINE are the electronic information resource mostly used by the students. The students agreed to the use of search engines and library catalogue to access information resources and seek information assistance from Google, YouTube, the library and their mobile devices. Training is needed to improve research, database searching and accessing of clinical information by students.