Utilization of library services by medical students: A comparative analysis of undergraduate and postgraduate students in a medical college

Abstract

Background: The rapid proliferation of information in the present era has important implications for the education and library usage of health professionals including medical students. Objectives: (1) To determine the extent of use of the library services and to compare the utilization of information technology (IT) services in the library among undergraduate and postgraduate students. (2) To discover problems faced by these students in the library and to suggest improvements of resources in the library. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among undergraduate and postgraduate students during January to February 2014. A predesigned and a pretested questionnaire were used. The data were tabulated and analyzed using Epi Info and MS Excel. Results: Out of 314 undergraduate students, 105 (32.2%) were daily user and out of 67 postgraduate students 43 (64.2%) were daily user of library services. The primary reason for going to the library was to study. The undergraduate students were spending significantly more time during exam days as compared to postgraduate students (P < 0.002) and opposite was true during nonexam days (P < 0.03). A majority of the students were satisfied about the library services while more than half of the students were not satisfied with the IT facilities of library. The inadequacy of learning materials, nonavailability of modern facilities and inadequate physical facilities in the library might have negative influence on the students in the library visit. Conclusions: The study suggests that fulfillment of more needs to be done to promote self-directed learning. The usage of library, its resources, and services needs to be increased.