Assessing the information needs of psychiatric residents

Staff at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic Library conducted a survey of residents and fellows to determine their informational needs and their interest in an orientation to the library's resources.

A brief questionnaire was distributed to the facility's 59 psychiatric residents and fellows to determine their awareness of 12 library resources and services (e.g., online databases and database searches conducted by librarians), their interest in an orientation to these resources and services, their self-rated level of skill in using them, whether they would attend training sessions, and, if so, when the best time for such sessions might be.

A total of 28 questionnaires were returned. Respondents favored an orientation (82%) and indicated that a 1-hour session would be appropriate, although the best time to hold it was less clear. Fifty percent or more were aware of each of the six resources they would be most likely to use in their work. Nearly all had used MEDLINE, but most respondents had not used most of the other resources and services.

Instruction on the use of information resources can be useful to psychiatric residents and fellows. On the basis of the survey results, a library orientation session was developed to address the information needs indicated by respondents and to enhance their skills in retrieving pertinent literature for clinical care and research. A post-orientation questionnaire indicated that the session was useful and well received.