This paper reports usage and experience of e-resources medical students at Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Ambala Haryana. In this study it is try to verify and evaluate the purpose, frequency, reasons of using and place of students access to e-resources. A well structured questionnaire was administered to the 100 medical students. The response rate was 78% (45 from Postgraduates and 33 from Undergraduates students). The result of study reveals that most of P.G. and U.G. students state that e-resources are informative as well as update the medical knowledge. Search engine and medical research reports are used highly among the students. Further study shows that undergraduate students use e-resources daily and spent more time as compared to P.G. students. It is found that maximum students are aware and use e-resources of library. The satisfaction of medical students is not high with regard to e-resources. Study also reveals that PG students feel that e-resources are time consuming and face slow downloading whereas UG students face virus, slow downloading and feel more expensive of using e-resources.

Keywords:   E-resources  e-resources use  e-journals  M.M. University

The developments in computing technology changed in all fields of education with transformation of information society to the digital world where people access and use information every day faster and easier. E-resources have become highly important learning and teaching aids in almost every field of science. These has created a great revolution in the field of medical publication, data storage and retrieval as a new medium. In medical education, they are particularly interested in the study of anatomy. In this field, the availability of visual information is essential to obtain a functional three-dimensional (3D) image of the human body and its tissues¹. With the tremendous growth of medical information publications available in various formats, to make them available as fast as possible the information and communication technology is very much needed. To work in compliance with this evolution, medical students need the awareness, skills for management of information and communication effectively and efficiently, and the ability to utilise various facilities and equipment in the electronic databases².

Also, with development of e-resources collection in various universities, there is increasing demand of e-resources by medical students in the competitive time of education and research in all over the world. E-resources have become as boons to the medical students and attract them in the digital environments in their limited amount of time. Use of e-resources by medical student may lead to update knowledge in their respective subject field and improve the quality of learning, as well as play a vital role in education and research.

Medical students these days are very comfortable with e-resources that have become an integral part as well as facilitate self-directed learning among them. With the rising use of e-resources in higher education, an ever-increasing amount of research has been conducted into its educational value. However, such research has been found to focus on student usage pattern of e-resources. When developing e-resources in medical education, students need to understand not only their academic value, but also how to use and experience the e-resources. Students need more guidance of the limits of individual logs to a source of information and more assistantance to access the clinical data of broader resources such as databases³.”

Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana, Ambala has become a symbol of quality education in technical, professional, and medical streams in northern India since its establishment in 2007. The University now comprises to Engineering College; Institute of Computer Technology & Business Management (MCA); College of Dental Sciences & Research; Institute of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation; Institute of Computer Technology & Business Management (Hotel Management); Institute of Medical Sciences & Research; Institute of Management; College of Nursing; College of Pharmacy; and Institute of Nursing. These institutes are also approved by the regulatory bodies like Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Indian Nursing Council, Indian Association of Physiotherapists, and All India Council for Technical Education. Presently University offers under-graduate, post-graduate and doctoral degree of all the above running courses.

M.M. University has more than 14 libraries in its fold with the seating capacity of 1500 users at a time. The libraries of the campus are air conditioned, computerised and bar-code employed with library management software—SOUL. The available number of reading materials (books, CDs, videos, thesis, standards and back volumes) is 155388 with 30520 titles. They subscribe 5078 journals as well as online database (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins e-collection, EBSCO-Management, IEEE, ASME, ASCE, Bentham Science, EBSO Dentstry and Gale Info Trac Medical Collection) from the publishers as well as from the aggregators. MEDLARS is accessible to all users of Medical Science. The libraries are also members of NPTEL, INFLIBNET and DELNET library network.

Bhatti & Javed⁴ found that the e-resources were used sometimes (Pubmed) and occasionally (MedScape, PakMediNet and EBSCOhost) with second preference of the students due to scarcity of ICT infrastructure as well as lack of digital literacy among students. Bhat & Mudhol⁵ observed that Anesthesiologist had the first position of satisfaction with all search engines. General medicine and neurology respondents used e-resources mostly. The study also found that e-resources accessed more and more at departments or on personal desktop/laptops by respondents that seem to be decreased the value of libraries as gateway of e-resources in future. Sohail & Alvi⁶ concluded that 100 % students were aware and used for retrieving quick information of web resources as reliable resources generally in cyber cafe as well as with personal connection and satisfied with the web services provide by college. Singh & Gill⁷ found that maximum numbers of respondents were aware availability of e-journals and used pdf format for their research work at their office daily.

Varghese⁸, et al., had pointed out that 98 % of students used the e-resources frequently to varying that usefulness, to prepare for periodic formative and final summative assessments in the course as well as to understood the subject (83 %), to answer questions in assessments (86 %), to study the subject (59 %) and biochemistry interesting (73 %). Maharana⁹, et al., found that 1/3 of the students have a long experience of using internet and e-resources from 2-4 years and all are more or less aware of the applications of internet technology. Thanuskodi¹⁰ in his study found that CD-ROM medical database from Highwire Press and PubMed were the first preference of the medical professionals with mean score of 4.15 and they faced the problems of virus, lack of information technology (IT) knowledge, long time to view information, slow accessibility, lack of time and too much information retrieved. Graber¹¹, et al., conveyed that medical students spent significantly more time on the case than did the other students (p< 0.05) by using google for research and solve the CPC cases, followed by Isabel, eMedicine. Johnson¹² examined the significant difference (p< 0.002 using a two-tailed unpaired t-test) and described that online preparation for high-stakes examinations could improve student performance in medical microbiology. Gilmour¹³, et al., found that most respondents had internet access at home to improve the practice and to expressed the quality of online information.

Scott¹⁴, et al.,14 investigated the e-learning asthma resource was a useful supplement to the paediatric asthma lecture and workshop that helpful to improve clinical practice. Romanov & Aarnio¹⁵ did a survey and found that MEDLINE bibliography database is used by medical students for study (24 %), research (32 %) and for scientific work (32 %) Terveyspotti. Renwick¹⁶ observed that respondents had high awareness of the electronic resources out of which 73 % used computers daily, 83 % were self-taught and 60 % expressed a need for training. Dorup¹⁷ conducted a survey and found that computer and internet was used at home by the respondents of 71.7 % and 60 % respectively. 90 % students used e-mail regularly, 80 % used the internet regularly.

The study is conducted to know the use of e-resources by postpraduate (PG) and undergraduate (UG) students of the Institute of Medical Sciences & Research at MM University, Ambala, Haryana. The objectives of the study are to:

(a) Identify the type of e-resources used by the medical students;

(b) Find out the search patterns used by students for accessing e-resources;

(c) Know the purpose of using e-resources by the medical students;

(d) Find out the reason for the use e-resources;

(e) Know the frequency and time spent while using of e-resources;

(f) Know the place of access to e-resources by medical students;

(g) Know the awareness about the e-resources;

(h) Know the satisfaction level of medical students with e-resources; and

(i) Identify reasons for not using e-resources by medical students.

This study is based on survey method. The questionnaire tool was used to collect primary data from the medical students. Hundred questionnaires were distributed randomly among medical students. Out of which 45 from postgraduates (PG) (MD/MS) and 33 from the undergraduates (UG) (MBBS) students received back with 78 % response rate. The chi-square test was used at 0.01 % level of significance to know the variation of usage e-resources among PG and UG medical students.

The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested by employing chi-square statistical tool.

H1 – There is no significant difference between the PG and UG medical students in using the various types of e-resources.

H2 – There is no significant difference between search strategy of PG and UG medical students for accessing e-resources.

H3 – There is no significance difference between the PG and UG students for the purpose of using e-resources.

H4 – There is no significance difference between PG and UG students in accessing frequency of e-resources.

H5 –There is no significance difference with regard to the satisfaction level of PG and UG students with e-resources.

Students were asked to locate the type of e-resources frequently used. It is clear from Table 1 that PG and UG students frequently used search engines (18 PG and 13 UG) and e-research report (15 PG and 20 UG). Six PG and 3 UG students gave the preference to video to use. However, UG students did responded regarding the usages preference of e-journals, e-books, ETD, e-encyclopedia, and online databases. The calculated value of ?2 (26.45) is greater than the critical value (18.4753), i.e., 26.45 > 18.4753. This shows that there is signifance difference among the PG and UG medical students to use the various types of e-resources; it has found that maximum students used e-research reports. It is identified with the statistical analysis of chi-square, the structured hypothesis H1 is rejected at 0.01 level of significance.

Every user uses different approach to access e-resources. An attempt was made to know which approach is mostly used bt PG and UG medical students. Table 2 shows that title is highly used by students (27 PG and 19 UG) to access e-resources followed by subject (24 PG and 14 UG students). Twenty three PG and 6 UG students used author for accessing e-resources. The study further shows that UG students have not responded about the usages of DOI. The chi square is significant at 0.01 level of significance. It is indicated that there is significant variation among PG and UG student usages search strategy to access e-resources and based on the statistical result the structure null hypothesis H2 is rejected.

Table 3 and Fig. 1 show the purpose of students to use e-resources. Majority of students, i.e., 36 PG and 33 UGstudents use e-resources for updating medical knowledge; 9 PG students and 3 UG use for each education, for research, and for communication. The UG students have not responded to the query of e-resources usages for patient care, health information, to access PubMed, medical databases access, and entertainment. The calculated value of chi-square is less than critical value, i.e., 16.15 < 21.6659. There is no significance difference betweenPG and UG students purpose to use e-resources. The null hypothesis H3 is accepted.

Table 4 highlights the response of students regarding the reason for using e-resources. It shows that maximum numbers of students, i.e., 24 PG and 30 UG stated that e-resources are more informative, 6 PG and 3 UG students responded that these are time saving and more useful. It is to be noted that UG students gave no response to the query of easy to use and less expensive, while PG students have the opinion that e-resources are easy (12) to use and less expensive (6). The chi-square test shows that there is significant variation among the PG and UG students’ reasons for using e-resources.

To know the access frequency of e-resources, students were asked how frequently they use e-resources. It is clear from Table 5 that 18 PG students use e-resources daily, 21 use once a week and 6 PG students use e-resources more than once a week. Whereas, UG students use e-resources daily. Chi-square test result doesn’’t support the null hypothesis and there is significance difference between the access frequency of e-resources among PG and UG students and structured null hypothesis H4 is rejected. Time is important factor in the utilisation ofe-resources. It was studied that how much time is spent on the use of e-resources by medical students.

Table 6 and Fig. 2 revealthat 18 PG students access e-resources 2-4 hours in a week, 12 and 9 students access e-resources 5-6 hours and 7-9 hours in a week respectively. On the other hand, 23 UG students access e-resources 10-23 hours in a week, 7 access these 2-4 hours in a week, and 3 students access e-resources over 20 hours per week. It is clear from the chi-square test that there is significance variance between time spent on usages of e-resources by PG and UG students.

Table 7 and Fig. 3 show the place of access to e-resources and describe that 27 PG and 26 UG students use e-resources at library, and 15 PG and 7 UG students use at home. Nine students use e-resources at computer lab (6 PG and 3 UG) and any other place (4 PG and 5 UG), 2 PG students use e-resources at department whereas not a single UG student use e-resources at department. There is no significant variance among the access place of e-resources because the calculated value (4.34) is less than the critical value (13.2767).

Table 8 shows that students were aware aboute-resources by various approach. Majority of students (15 PG and 26 UG) were aware through library notice/e-mail. Twenty seven PG and 3 UG students became aware from their colleagues, 6 PG and 3 of UG students became aware about current e-resources from library brochure and other library respectively. Six students (3 PG and 3 UG) became aware through teacher. The value of chi-square is 29.18 and degree of freedom is 4. The value of p reveals the statistical significance (p<4.01). The variation among students has been found as for as awareness approach to e-resources is concerned.

Table 9 and Fig. 4 indicates the satisfaction level of students with e-resources. The results found that 20 PG and 9 UG students were very satisfied with e-resources. However, 19 (12 PG and 7 UG ) students, were somewhat satisfied and 3 PG and 1 UG student were dissatisfied. Ten PG and 16 UG students gave no comments regarding satisfaction with e-resources. The chi-square test at 0.01 level of significance shows that there is no significant variation among the satisfaction level of PG and UG students with e-resources. It has been found that the calculated value is less than the critical value at 0.01 level of significant and null hypothesis H5 is accepted.

Students were requested to indicate the reasons for not using e-resources. Table 10 depicts that 21 PG students are not using e-resources because of slow downloading,followed by reason as time consuming (18), and 6 students are not using because of expensive nature. Three students stated the reasons as lack of subject coverage, lack of training, andlack of time and 2 students did not give any reason. The UG students are not using e-resources as these are more expensive (20), slow downloading (10), virus (6) any other reason (5), lack of training and time (3).There is a significance difference among the reason of not using e-resources by PG and UG students. The calculated value of Chi-square test is 39.24 greater than the critical value at 1 % of 7 degree of freedom.

Today large amount of medical information is available in e-formats. The e-resources play an important role among the medical students community in accessing and sharing of information. These keep medical students up-to-date over traditional resources. The present study is conducted with the objective to know the e-resources usage patterns among the PG and UG medical students at Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Ambala Haryana. The study found significant difference among PG and UG students in relation to the use of various types of e-resources, search strategy, reason for using e-resources, and access frequency except purpose. The results show that medical students frequently used search engines as well as e-research report by title and subject of the required information for updating medical knowledge.

The results of the study show that maximum medical students find e-resources as more informative. All the UG students use e-resources daily and spend more time than the PG students. It is to be noted that a large number of students are aware of the e-resources from library notice/e-mail and colleagues, and use library to access the e-resources. But the satisfaction level was not high among PG and UG students on usage of e-resources.

The study also finds out the major problems that PG students feel for using e-resources are time consuming and slow downloading whereas UG students face problems of virus, slow downloading and feelthat using e-resources makes it more expensive. To develop a fully e-educational environment and reducing the problems of students, it is needed to develop a modern digital infrastructure. It is evident from the study that medical library of Maharishi Markandeshwar University is leading towards creating environment to attract students. Much more is needed to be done to maximise access of e-resources. E-resources are easy to access at any place, any time, and provide right information at right time. They have become widely used tools in medical literature and patient care education as well as have benefits over traditional educational resources. Every academic institute provides different facilities and services to its students. Library is one of the most important facilities among students to grow in their carriers.

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Mr Rajender Kumar is working as Librarian, DAV College, Sadhaura, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. Prior to this, he has worked with Panipat Institute of Engineering & Technology, Panipat and Galaxy Global Group of Institutions, Ambala. He has about 10 years experience in LIS field. He has obtained MLIS, MPhil and qualified UGC-NET and is pursuing PhD in Library and Information Science. He has contributed 27 papers in national and international journals and conference proceedings. His areas of interest include: ICT application, digital library, and e-resources management.