Accessibility and preference of health information resources by pre-clinical students in selected universities in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study focused on identifying the types of health information resources that can be easily obtained be pre-clinical students in some selected universities in Ogun State; the types of health information resources preferred by pre-clinical students as well as identifying the challenges experienced in accessing and using health information resources. The research design adopted is a descriptive survey study of 250 pre-clinical students in two selected universities in Ogun State Nigeria. multi –stage sampling technique was adopted. From the total 250 questionnaires that were administered, 277 (representing) were duly completed and used for analysis. Frequency counts and percentage calculation, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data collected. The hypothesis was analysed using Pearson’s Product Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC). The study discovered that health information resources such as medical books (x= 3.3); medical journals (3.28); medical dictionaries (x= 3.28); medical records/case note (x= 3.06) were the most easily accessed by the respondents. Also, majority of the respondents showed preference for health information resources ( x= 2.53), followed by medical books ( x= 2.46). lack of courteousness by some librarians ( x = 2.70) reading materials located are not easily retrieved ( x= 2.54) were the major challenges faced by pre-clinical students in accessing health information resources. Based on the findings, it was concluded that print health resources format (HRF) is the most easily accessible format to pre-clinical students, while the most preferred of the resources by the students are the nonprint (internet resources). It was therefore recommended that: The librarians should be trained and retrained as this will remind them of their professional responsibility.