Fulfillment of research and information needs of medical professionals following postgraduate courses at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine

Abstract

The study was based on the fulfillment of research and information needs of Medical Professionals following postgraduate courses at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) University of Colombo. The Objectives of the study were to identify the needs of Medical Professionals and how far they are using the resources and the services of the Library in meeting their research needs and to identify the problems the library faces dealing with user needs. Further, the study has identified how far the user satisfaction level of has been met and to suggest ways of improving information and other services of the PGIM Library. The research is important because no such a study has been done with regard to the PGIM earlier. The problem statement was focused on identification and fulfilling of research and information needs of Medical Professionals following postgraduate courses at the PGIM. The methodology of the study was the survey method and a questionnaire was distributed to Medical Professionals and Trainees .The sample consists of 30 users out of every 100 participants and was limited to the PGIM Main Library, University of Colombo. The other methods of data collection were using: resources of the library, annual reports of the library, meeting with the people, Observations and by using delivered questionnaires. The survey was in-house based and conducted to evaluate the satisfaction level of information and research needs of users. The satisfied level of the users was evaluated by using several methods. All statistics were presented as percentages. The result was analyzed by using Bar-Charts and Tables. The research has revealed several important facts. The majority of users (80%) have not expressed a high level of satisfaction with regard to the services and resources of the PGIM Library. However the users (70%) appreciate the services of the library staff and they are satisfied with the co-operation received from them. At present the library is in a semi-automated stage having digitized some of the sections. It stores some of the important traditional library materials and the user is at a great advantage because the basic services of the library are automated.