3-UNVEILING DETERMINANTS OF E-RESOURCES AND RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICE UTILIZATION AMONG POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS AT MUHAS, TANZANIA
UNVEILING DETERMINANTS OF E-RESOURCES AND RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICE UTILIZATION AMONG POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS AT MUHAS, TANZANIA
Sydney E. Msonde*, Venance C. Mwalyego** and William J. Mviombo***
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
P. O. Box 65001, Dar es Salaam - Tanzania
*
***
Abstract
The rapid development of information and communications technology (ICT) has changed the nature of conducting research in most higher learning institutions across the world. This transformation has enabled libraries to harness the potential of technologies in providing research support services to researchers and postgraduates to improve the quality of research output. Despite the library’s efforts to provide research support services, most postgraduate medical students find research writing difficult, particularly when it comes to locating relevant literature from scholarly databases. The purpose of this research was to investigate predictive factors for the usage of e resources and research support services among postgraduate medical students in Tanzania. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A total of 317 postgraduate medical students were conveniently sampled from a purposefully selected health university. Using questionnaires and interviews, the research utilized the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate descriptive statistics and a coding strategy using ATLAS.ti software to analyze qualitative data.
Moreover, regression analysis was used to determine the predictive factors influencing postgraduate medical students’ usage of e-resources and research support services offered at MUHAS library.
Findings demonstrate that Information Literacy (IL) competency, research writing stage, e-resources accessibility, nature of research support services offered, ICT skills and individual experience were factors that contributed to effective e-resources utilization. Therefore, integrating IL skills, scientific writing and research communications into postgraduate curricula may enhance the effective use of e-resources. It is also important to improve library research support services to enable researchers and postgraduate students to produce high-quality research output.
Keywords: E-resources, research support services, postgraduate medical students, determinant
factors, Tanzania.
Proceedings of the 5th Cotul Scientific Conference Held On 6th – 10th November 2023
