Electronic Information Resources Utilization by Medical Students in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Library, Faculty of Medicine

Abstract

This study evaluated the utilization of electronic information resources in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Library by Medical students by addressing four objectives namely; identifying the awareness of e-resources by Medical students in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, determining the level of use and the relevance of e-resources in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Medical library, identifying the problems in accessing e-resources and lastly proposing strategies to promote the usage of e-resources by Medical students. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to elicit data from undergraduate students from Medical faculty of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. One hundred and eighty respondents participated in the study. Data was collected by use of questionnaires personally circulated among the students and various documents analysis. The study found that majority of medical students, i.e. 80 (69.6%) did not aware about the available e-resources at the library. Further it was revealed that majority of the participants (67%) prefer to access both electronic and print version of information but whereas a few of the respondents 10 (8.7%) prefer to access print version of information. The main problem associated with accessing e-resources was poor internet connection. In addition, the utilization of e-resources was affected by lack of computer skills by the respondents. Results shows that more than half of the respondents (76%) had computer skills in intermediate level. Only 3.5% rated their computer skills as experienced. It is quite interesting, that the majority of the respondents (53%) use e-resourcesweekly. The above findings suggest limited use of electronic resources by Medical students, mainly due to unawareness of available e-resources at the library. In order to exploit the full potential of e-resources, the library should undertake a more active role in informing, promoting, and educating the members of the academic community in the university.