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Survey of the information‐seeking patterns of dental hygienists
Author(s) -
Covington P,
Craig BJ
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.1998.62.8.tb03216.x
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , medical education , medicine , family medicine , information needs , information quality , dental care , quality (philosophy) , nursing , psychology , information system , library science , political science , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , artificial intelligence , law
This descriptive study explored the methods that dental hygienists in northern British Columbia have utilized to access information. A self‐administered questionnaire sent to 130 dental hygienists registered in that geographic experienced a response rate of 81.5 percent. The respondents preferred and utilized traditional information sources such as discussions with colleagues, journal articles, and mailings from professional associations and licensing bodies. The least utilized information sources were the indices to the literature and electronic information sources. Geographic isolation, lack of electronic information sources, and costs were identified as the top three barriers to information access. Dental hygienists may need to acquire or improve computer literacy skills while in school and through continuing education to enable them to use the newer methods of electronic information retrieval and communications because dental hygienists need to access a variety of information sources to provide quality care.