"Awareness of HELINET Consortium among Faculty Members and Research Scholars in select Government Medical Colleges of Kalyana Karnataka: Analytical Study"

Abstract:The growing trend of using ICT has revolutionized the provision of library and informationservices in higher education institutes, especially those that provide education in the field ofmedicine, where it is necessary to have access to updated and evidence-based information forthe purposes of teaching, learning, research and practice. The HELINET Consortium createdby the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Karnataka, gives access to awide array of electronic sources including e-books, e-journals, bibliographic databases,multimedia sources, theses, dissertations, clinical decision support systems, and questionbanks. In spite of the availability of these useful electronic sources, their use greatly dependsupon the information seeking behavior of the faculty members and research scholars. This study attempts to explore the awareness level of the HELINET Consortium amongst thefaculty members and research scholars at selected Government Medical Colleges of KalyanaKarnataka. This study is based on a descriptive survey design where the primary data wascollected by the means of a structured questionnaire among the respondents belonging to sixGovernment Medical Colleges such as Raichur, Yadgiri, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Koppal, andBallari. A total number of 1,405 questionnaires were sent, of which 1,150 valid replies wereobtained, thus making the response rate to be 81.85 percent. The results indicate that there is a variation in the level of awareness and usage of HELINETelectronic information resources among various respondent groups and institutions. E-bookscame out as the most popularly accessed category of resources followed by theses anddissertations, e-journals, and multimedia resources. There was an increased dependence offaculty members and research scholars making use of HELINET on electronic informationresources in their activities of academic teaching, scientific research, literature reviews,publication, and evidence-based practice in clinical settings. Limited awareness about certainspecialized electronic information resources, lack of user orientation, training programmes,and difference in digital literacy levels were some of the factors that affected the effectiveutilization of the consortium. It can be concluded from this research that though HELINETConsortium has improved greatly the accessibility of quality electronic information resourcesin Government Medical Colleges of Kalyana Karnataka, it becomes imperative thatawareness, user education and training programmes be conducted in a consistent manner tomaximize the utilization of the consortium.