Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: In July 2004, Saskatchewan became the first province in Canada to achieve access to The Cochrane Library (the Library) for all citizens. Saskatchewan’s Health Quality Council provided funding for not only the license but also educational programs and evaluation of the Library use over the next three years.
Objectives: The objectives of the evaluation study were to determine: a) how frequently the Library was accessed; b) reasons for accessing the Library; c) helpfulness; and d) the difference this information made to the participants.
Methods: Since September 2004, training sessions are being conducted by Wiley Interscience, a librarian from the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, and the University of Saskatchewan Cochrane Site Co-Representatives. Attendees at the workshops are informed of the research project and invited to participate. Those who consent to participate are telephoned three, six, nine and twelve months following the workshops and an audio-taped interview is conducted. Usage of the Library is also tracked via the statistics that Wiley Interscience collects.
Results: To date, three-month follow-up telephone interviews have been conducted with 36 workshop attendees. Most were librarians (58%), followed by other health care professionals (17%), nurses (6%), and physicians and pharmacists (3%). One-third of the attendees were from rural areas. Most (69%) had accessed the Library between one to six times (mean = 5.28, range = 1-25 times) and found the Library to be somewhat helpful to very helpful (80%). Only 16% did not find the information they were seeking. The greatest proportion reported that they had learned something new (40%), others found the information confirmed what they already knew (16%), and for others it helped their decision-making (16%). The number of hits to the Library from residents of Saskatchewan increased over two-fold from January to March 2005 (2,595 to 6,148 hits).
Conclusions: The use of the Library is increasing in the province of Saskatchewan, particularly by librarians. We had initially targeted librarians as they are the first contact with many healthcare providers and consumers seeking to know the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. Further strategies are needed to target healthcare practitioners and consumers directly.
Objectives: The objectives of the evaluation study were to determine: a) how frequently the Library was accessed; b) reasons for accessing the Library; c) helpfulness; and d) the difference this information made to the participants.
Methods: Since September 2004, training sessions are being conducted by Wiley Interscience, a librarian from the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, and the University of Saskatchewan Cochrane Site Co-Representatives. Attendees at the workshops are informed of the research project and invited to participate. Those who consent to participate are telephoned three, six, nine and twelve months following the workshops and an audio-taped interview is conducted. Usage of the Library is also tracked via the statistics that Wiley Interscience collects.
Results: To date, three-month follow-up telephone interviews have been conducted with 36 workshop attendees. Most were librarians (58%), followed by other health care professionals (17%), nurses (6%), and physicians and pharmacists (3%). One-third of the attendees were from rural areas. Most (69%) had accessed the Library between one to six times (mean = 5.28, range = 1-25 times) and found the Library to be somewhat helpful to very helpful (80%). Only 16% did not find the information they were seeking. The greatest proportion reported that they had learned something new (40%), others found the information confirmed what they already knew (16%), and for others it helped their decision-making (16%). The number of hits to the Library from residents of Saskatchewan increased over two-fold from January to March 2005 (2,595 to 6,148 hits).
Conclusions: The use of the Library is increasing in the province of Saskatchewan, particularly by librarians. We had initially targeted librarians as they are the first contact with many healthcare providers and consumers seeking to know the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. Further strategies are needed to target healthcare practitioners and consumers directly.