A Pilot Study to Strengthen Information Literacy among Health Professionals in India

Sangeeta Narang

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. narang.sangeeta@yahoo.co.in

Bimal Kanti Sen

Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, India. bksen1938@gmail.com

Archana Shukla

Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India. archana@ignou.ac.in

Everyone needs health information but with the diffusion of information from various print, electronic and human sources its quality, authenticity and reliability has become a matter of concern for all, especially among the health professionals who need current information to provide treatment to the patients. Therefore, in order for the librarians to assist students and health professionals in a better way, it has become essential to enhance their information literacy skills. Many medical school libraries in the US, the UK and other European countries have well-defined teaching curriculum for students to train them on various aspects of information literacy, and have designed online tutorials to enhance information skills. Though in India there are large numbers of government and private medical colleges offering undergraduate and postgraduate medical degrees, very few of the medical colleges have considered information literacy as an important aspect of the curriculum. In our studies of various medical library websites (very few institutions have library webpages) and searches on the Google, PubMed and IndMed, it is noticed that this topic has received little attention in India amongst medical librarians and medical professionals. Also, it is observed from entry register record and our personal observations that there are fewer visitors to physical libraries, few students attend library instructions/orientation programs and there is less use of valuable resources.  Therefore, this study becomes crucial to enhance the library resources usage and to raise interest and improve information literacy skills among the students and health professionals.

This paper is based on a pilot study that was conducted in July and August 2011 through an online survey. The questionnaire was designed using Kwik survey and the link was sent to the Medical Education Unit (MEU), a Google group. This group constitutes of over 2000 members that include primarily medical educators as well as students, scientists, etc. The survey consisted of a set of twenty questions that investigated and analyzed the current attitudes and practices of medical professionals when they search for health information. These were assessed on the basis of awareness about resources and services, their search skills, search strategies, knowledge, and desire. Since it was the first time such a survey was conducted there were 28 respondents to the survey. The main findings of the survey were as follows: (i) medical professionals stated that their first choice to access to health information is the Internet and very few stated that they visit the library or use library-subscribed electronic resources; (ii) they use library catalogues, union catalogues, consortia or interlibrary loan/document delivery services the least; (iii) they have a high understanding about open access, institutional repository and high impact journals;  (iv) many of the respondents are unable to conduct advanced database searches;  (v) medical professionals do not ask for assistance of librarians for their research work. They also stated their difficulties and expectations from medical librarians. The overall result of the study shows that there is a need to address their problems and, as suggested by many, there is a need to develop guides and incorporate training to enhance the level of information literacy skills. It concludes that with the support of faculty, librarians’ information literacy curriculum for the students and health professionals must be strengthened and integrated for improved research and career advancements in medical sciences.

 Recently, attended 'Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Journal Editors' held in my parent institution during 15-16 Nov.  There were workshop on scientific writing for authors, workshop for peer reviewers and COPE seminar: Publication Ethics in India: Inspiring excellence

Got an opportunity to hear eminent international speakers : Dr. Trish Groves, BMJ Publishing, Dr. Charlotte Haug, COPE, Dr. Christine Laine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Margaret Winker, PLoS Medicine .........and national journal editors Dr. Piyush Gupta, Dr. Amar Jesani,.... There were several informative presentations  covering wide areas of scholarly publishing: scientific misconduct, retractions and corrections, Integrating publication ethics.....Dr. Piyush Sahni gave an overview about the IAMJE

Attended workshop on scientific writing which were chaired by Dr. Nikhil Tandon, Dr Farrokh Habibzadeh, Dr. Rakesh Lodha, Dr.Amitabh Prakash..

Listed are various associations that were often being talked about;

Indian Association of Medical Journal Editors: The IAMJE aims to promote cooperation among editors of Indian medical journals

 World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) : The WAME is a global nonprofit voluntary association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals who seek to foster cooperation and communication among editors; improve editorial standards; promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism, and self-regulation; and encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing.

CONSORT, which stands for Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials, encompasses various initiatives developed by the CONSORT Group to alleviate the problems arising from inadequate reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

The EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting and wider use of robust reporting guidelines. 

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)  is a forum for editors and publishers of peer reviewed journals to discuss all aspects of publication ethics. It also advises editors on how to handle cases of research and publication misconduct

The topics covered in the Author workshop were about  IMRAD, Study design, study duration, participants, settings, type of studies, sampling techniques,...consequences of limitations

Three important components of paper writing:

A-accuracy

B-Brevity

C-Clarity

There were talks on Citation style: Vancouver style

Plagiarism softwares:

iThenticate is the leading provider of professional plagiarism detection and prevention technology used worldwide by scholarly publishers and research departments to ensure the originality of written work before publication

eTBLAST is a good tool to investigate plagiarism

eTBLAST: a text-similarity based search engine

The  best part of the workshop was when we were given an exercise to critically appraise a paper. It was indeed the best task that I liked the most in this workshop.

I had a great learning experience after a loooong time got an opportunity to physically interact.

There is lots more of information to add will continue later.....

eTBLAST is a good tool to investigate plagiarism networking and simultaneously learning

‘Technology not a threat to librarians’

Is the all-pervasiveness of technology a threat to public libraries (OR MEDICAL LIBRARIES)? Though the internet penetration numbers in India would suggest that there isn’t reason to panic yet, librarians working at public libraries across the State feel they must do more to keep themselves and their professions relevant....

Source: The HINDU

National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancers, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS):

The NPCDCS program has two components viz (i) Cancer & (ii) Diabetes, CVDs & Stroke. 

The focus of the programme is on health promotion and prevention, strengthening of infrastructure including human resources, early diagnosis and management and integration with the primary health care system through NCD cells at different levels for optimal operational synergies. National Cancer Control Programme, an on-going programme, has been integrated under NPCDCS. 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs  approved the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in the year 2010.

Source: NPCDCS Operational guide 
 

Cabinet approves B.Sc. Community Health course in State universities

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the government’s plan for the creation of a specialised cadre of health care workers for rural areas by instituting a three-year-course in State universities.

The Bachelor of Science (Community Health) course will create a cadre of Community Health Officers who will be posted at sub-centres, functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, where they can provide basic health care.

The course will start from the next academic year.

Being planned for the past several years, the proposal had been opposed stiffly by doctors on the grounds that it will create two tiers of medical professionals, and by the Parliamentary Standing Committee which recommended mandatory posting of doctors in rural areas instead...more

Libraries exist to preserve society's cultural artifacts and to provide access to them. If libraries are to continue to foster education and scholarship in this era of digital technology, it's essential for them to extend those functions into the digital world. Read more