Utilization of library outreach services by dental school alumni, 1988–1998

Abstract

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry Library outreach service includes the Dental Reference Service, or DRS; Loansome Doc service, Career Opportunity Center, or COC; and the Instructional Resources Library, or IRL. The author reviewed usage of services for 1988-1998 to analyze use by alumni and nonalumni and to determine possible trends. The author reviewed the UMKC School of Dentistry Library outreach service database from 1988-1998 to determine the total number of contacts for all services, numbers of contacts for each service, overall number of items sent and the number of dental health professionals contacting the services. The author found that the COC received 55 percent of contacts for the years 1988-1998, while the DRS received 26 percent of the total contacts and the IRL service received 19 percent. The DRS had the highest usage by alumni (80 percent); Loansome Doc service accounted for 11 percent of the DRS contacts. Total number of items sent in response to all requests was 34,325, of which 22,647 (66 percent) were to alumni. Alumni usage of all outreach services was consistent, ranging from 54 to 63 percent of the total. It appears that UMKC School of Dentistry alumni are active information-seekers. Several questions, however, remain, indicating that additional research should be done in the area of dental informatics. Information-seeking behaviors are an important part of the active clinical practice and may become more important as evidenced-based dentistry becomes more prevalent.