ABSTRACT
A questionnaire requesting information on information seeking, critical analysis, and computer applications was returned in 1992 by 136 of 197 (69 percent) currently licensed dental hygienists residing in Alaska, Delaware, and Idaho. The most common sources used for professional development and information retrieval were continuing education courses, discussions with colleagues, and journals. The respondents' own experience, credibility of the journal, and discussions with colleagues were the most frequent methods used to evaluate professional information. Many hygienists owned or had access to a computer, yet they rarely conducted online database searches to obtain professional information. The computer was primarily used to perform business functions rather than for clinical applications in these dental hygienists' employment settings. The majority of these hygienists were interested in attending related continuing education courses and indicated that computer skills should be part of dental hygiene curricula.
Subject(s)
Dental Hygienists/education , Dental Hygienists/psychology , Information Services/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Computer User Training , Computers/statistics & numerical data , Education, Continuing/methods , Female , Humans , MEDLARS/statistics & numerical data , Male , Middle Aged , Sampling Studies , Staff Development , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
This paper reports on a survey of the information-seeking, critical-analysis, and computer-application practices of dental hygienists. Questionnaires were mailed to a convenience sample of seventy-one dental hygiene practitioners. A 62% response rate was achieved. Results indicated that discussions with colleagues, continuing education courses, journals, and newsletters were the sources used most frequently for professional development and information retrieval. To evaluate professional information, these hygienists tended to rely on personal experience, credibility of the journal, and discussions with colleagues. Word processing was the most frequently used computer application; online database searching was rare in this group. Computer used within the employment setting was primarily for business rather than clinical applications. Many hygienists were interested in attending continuing education courses on use of computers to acquire professional information.
