A comparative study of students information about libraries in three Schools of Nursing, Rehabilitation and Health in 1998

Background. The amount and variety of today’s scientific information is so extensive which utilizing the necessary information is only possible by scientifically organizing and categorizing it. So, the users must learn how to utilize these information sources by proper education. This study attempts to compare the students information about libraries in three schools of Health, Nursing and Rehabilitation. Methods. In a descriptive-analytic survey, 148 students of nursing, 152 students of rehabilitation and 160 students of health were chosen randomly. Then their knowledge about libraries was assessed through a specific questionnaire, and the results were finally compared. Results. The comparision between mean of the scores of students in first and second year of college in all 3 schools showd a significant eifference while the difference between the mean of the scores of students in third and fourth year of college was not significant (P<0/05). 45% of the total students had poor, 30% moderate, 23% good and only 1.2% excellent knowledge about the libraries. 71% of the students referred to the libraries more than three times a month. 45% of nursing students, 38% of rehabilitation students and 18% of health students did not refer to the specialized journals. Conclusion. Considering that 75% of the students of these three schools had a limited knowledge about the libraries and they just referred to these centers three times a month, arises this question that how these students benefit from different sources of information in the libraries.