A STUDY OF LIBRARY USE IN PROBLEM-BASED AND TRADITIONAL MEDICAL CURRICULA

A key question for librarians and medical educators who are planning f or curriculum change is whether students and faculty in problem-based learning (PBL) programs use the library and its resources differently than do participants in traditional programs. During 1991, this resear ch question was explored at three medical schools in the province of O ntario, Canada. At the time of the study, McMaster University medical school was totally problem-based, the University of Western Ontario ha d one PBL day each week for first-year medical students, and the Unive rsity of Toronto, although planning for medical curriculum change, had not yet initiated PBL. Data collected in the study suggest that more medical students in the problem-based curriculum than in the more trad itional programs use the library and that, when the PBL students use t he library, they do so more frequently, for longer periods of time, an d as a source of a greater proportion of their study materials. PBL st udents also use the library more than their counterparts as a place to study and meet other students. Students in the problem-based curricul um use the following resources more extensively: end-user MEDLINE sear ching, library journals, reserve or short-term loan materials, photoco py services, and audiovisual materials. PBL students also report purch asing more textbooks. In contrast to the differences found among medic al students, however, patterns of library and resource use by medical faculty at the three schools were quite similar.