Information Literacy Session Attendance and Library Website Visit Frequency: Impacts on Awareness of LibGuides among Undergraduate and Graduate Health Professions Students at an Urban Campus

Objectives: This poster compares the impact of visiting the library’s website with that of information literacy session attendance on health professions students’ awareness of library-created LibGuides.

Methods: The data were drawn from a paper-based, in-person survey conducted in 2017 among undergraduate and graduate health professions students at a large, urban, public institution. The researchers recruited 100 health professions students during morning, afternoon, and evening hours at the health sciences campus of Hunter College, a senior college within the City University of New York system. The researchers asked participants to complete a survey inquiring about their use, perceptions, and awareness of Springshare’s LibGuides. The instrument also collected data on participants’ attendance at library instruction sessions, frequency of visits to the library website, field of study, academic year, and demographic factors such as age, gender, and race or ethnicity. The authors used IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 to analyze responses.

Results: About 45% (n=20) of participants who visited the library’s website at least once per week were aware of LibGuides, with awareness dropping to 25% (n=7) among those who visited the website once per month. Among participants who attended information literacy sessions, awareness reached 54% (n=13) among undergraduate and 64% (n=9) among graduate health professions students. Awareness remained low among participants who had not attended information literacy sessions (21%, n=13) or had never visited the library website (11%, n=1). Results show the influence of gender, age, and race or ethnicity on the association between respondents’ library workshop attendance and LibGuides awareness.

Conclusions: The results have three main implications for urban health sciences libraries serving diverse communities. First, instruction librarians should employ LibGuides when teaching information literacy sessions to increase awareness of these resources among students. Second, library staff should encourage patrons to visit the library’s homepage to find information resources, as many students do not directly go to the library’s site when seeking information. Finally, library staff should promote LibGuides at orientation sessions of higher education opportunity programs at campuses to increase awareness among students from underrepresented populations.