Development of targeted online modules for recurring reference questions

Area of Science:

• Health Sciences Librarianship
• Pharmacy Education
• Information Literacy

Background:

• Academic librarians frequently address common, low-level information requests from students.
• First-year pharmacy students require specific skills to locate early/animal studies, mechanism of action data, and particular study types.
• High demand on reference desks can strain resources and impact personalized research support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement online learning modules for first-year pharmacy students.
• To teach students how to find early/animal studies, mechanism of action information, and specific study types.
• To reduce the time librarians spend answering repetitive, foundational questions.

Main Methods:

• Three online modules were created using Adobe Captivate.
• Modules focused on teaching students to find early/animal studies, mechanism of action information, and specific study types.
• Librarian time investment for module development and promotion was tracked.

Main Results:

• Module development and promotion took approximately 3 hours of librarian time.
• Prior to module implementation, nearly 23 hours were spent answering these types of questions.
• Post-module implementation, only one student sought direct assistance, while over 60 students accessed the modules.

Conclusions:

• Online modules are an efficient method for addressing common student information needs in health sciences libraries.
• This approach effectively enhances student information literacy while optimizing librarian time and resources.
• The modules provided a scalable and pedagogically sound solution for foundational research skills training.