1997 PNC/MLA CE Survey Results

231 PNC/MLA continuing education survey forms were sent out in January 1997 to the PNC/MLA mailing list; 130 completed forms were returned. Your Regional Medical Library has been mailing and tallying this survey for PNC/MLA since 1983.

1. Library related education

102 MLS

12 college courses

16 trained on the job

2. Type of library

33 academic health sciences library

8 academic library

35 large hospital (200+ beds) library

29 medium hospital (75 to 199 beds) library

6 small hospital (1 to 74 beds) library

14 other

3. Course Topics. Respondents were asked to put checks next to the five course topics they would find most useful. Respondents were also asked to suggest other topics.

71 Web browser plug-ins/helper applications - overview and demonstrations (Adobe Acrobat Reader, RealAudio, etc.)

59 Internet search engines--advanced searching techniques (for example, advanced Alta Vista searching)

48 Sources of statistical information in the health sciences

47 Effective presentation techniques and tools (for example, PowerPoint)

41 Document delivery options--identifying, comparing, evaluating

40 Panning for gold: searching for clinical, evidence based medicine information

36 Nursing information sources - what do nurses need on the floor

33 Providing health information to consumers and patients

33 Developing critical appraisal skills for reading the medical literature

30 Effective institutional politics/leadership within the organization

30 Setting up a home page, including HTML and home page design

27 Advanced Web site management and establishing an Internet node (perl and shell scripting, VRML, etc.)

25 Basic epidemiology

23 Collection development

19 QuickDoc

4. Course Format. Respondents were asked to check which kind of presentation they find most instructive and useful.

102 course with lecture/discussion/exercises

9 small group sharing session

5 independent study with videotape or software

5 independent study with self-paced manual

5. Course Length. Respondents were asked to check which they preferred.

56 half day

16 full day

6. Fees. Respondents were asked to check the maximum fee they would pay for a course of high interest.

3 $25

32 $50

37 $100

3 $200

7. Credit. Respondents were asked to check whether MLA credit for a CE course is an important factor for them.

31 yes

43 no

8. Respondents were asked to state what has been the single most valuable professional educational activity for them over the past three years and why. Responses are available upon request.