BIOETHICSLINE use by medical students: curriculum-integrated instruction and collection development implications

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Bioethics Information Science
• Health Sciences Librarianship

Background:

• Medical students require specialized information literacy skills for ethics coursework.
• Curriculum-integrated bibliographic instruction aims to enhance research competence.
• Assessing information resource utilization is crucial for effective library support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the usage patterns of the BIOETHICSLINE database among second-year medical students.
• To correlate database usage with specific ethics coursework and bibliographic instruction.
• To evaluate the impact of integrated instruction on students' information-seeking behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of BIOETHICSLINE usage logs during ethics coursework periods.
• Examination of journal usage and interlibrary loan data.
• Citation analysis of student bibliographies to assess information source application.

Main Results:

• Peak BIOETHICSLINE activity correlated with assignment preparation.
• Students effectively utilized advanced database features like controlled vocabulary and multi-concept searching.
• Increased journal use and interlibrary loans coincided with high database activity.

Conclusions:

• Curriculum-integrated bibliographic instruction significantly enhances medical students' information resource use.
• Aligning collection development with curricular needs improves research outcomes.
• Effective information literacy training fosters competent and comprehensive research practices.