A survey of users and non-users of a UK teaching hospital library and information service.

BACKGROUND: The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in 2002 with the merger of two existing trusts. The library services unified to create a new expanded service with 11 staff. OBJECTIVES: The librarians wanted to test out users' opinions of the service, as a basis for a developmental strategy. They also wanted to find out to what extent they were offering a multi-disciplinary service, available to all staff. Therefore it was decided to include both users and non-users in the survey. METHODS: A twenty-question questionnaire was sent out to a 10% sample of registered users in all staff categories. The same questionnaire was sent out to a 10% sample of non-users, with the help of the Human Resources Department. RESULTS: The library staff and facilities were generally well regarded. The stock needed expansion in various areas, especially allied health and biomedical science. Non-users were in fact often occasional or remote users. Other non-users needed informing that they were entitled to use the service. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is required, especially concerning the information needs of allied health and scientific staff. There is a need for stock expansion. A marketing strategy is required to capture the interest of potential users.

Effectiveness of training health professionals in literature search skills using electronic health databases--a critical appraisal.

The objective was to assess the effect on health professionals' skills of one to eight hours literature search and retrieval training from electronic health databases. We searched: Cochrane library (2002; Issue 3), MEDLINE (1977-2002/5), EMBASE (1980-2002/7); CINAHL (1982-2002/5); ASSIA (1982-2002/7), BNI (1994-2002/5), ERIC (1985-2002/6); LISA (1969--current), NRR (2002, Issue 2), the world-wide-web and references. The selection criteria consisted of randomised controlled trials, controlled before and after, and controlled cohort studies in comparison with no training. The intervention had to be one to eight hours training in literature search and retrieval skills for health professionals. The outcome was the effect on health professionals' literature search and retrieval skill levels measured through reliable instruments. For data collection and ana-lysis, one reviewer extracted data and assessed the quality of the studies and the second reviewer checked it. The results indicate that there is some evidence of positive impact on health professionals' skill levels in literature searching and they find the training useful. In conclusion, the size of the positive effect is debatable as only three small and methodologically weak studies met the inclusion criteria and out of those only two showed the positive effect.