Where Have You Been? - Blume Library - St. Mary's University

Table 4. Attitudes About Identifying and RetrievingSources"Very easy" or"Somewhat easy"Using a library catalogND010165%EN330070%"NoExperience"ND010112%EN33006%Using an electronic index(such as EBSCO, Gale,JSTOR, ProQuest,InfoTrac, etc.)52%48%28%29%Using a print index48%48%28%26%Using an Internet searchengine94%96%1%0%Physically locatingsources in a libraryObtaining materialsthrough inter-library loan72%18%70%22%3%58%3%61%Table 4 indicates the percentage of students in each groupwho found each task “very easy” or “somewhat easy.” The percentagesamong both groups were very similar. Table 4 also shows thepercentage of students in each group who had no experience with eachof the activities. Again, the percentages were fairly similar among bothgroups.The ICTF was surprised at the number of students whoindicated they had used a print index, since many of us on the ICTFthought of this as a print periodical index, and we rarely see or assistusers with using print periodical indices anymore. However, thestudents may have legitimately considered a print index a “print bookindex” which might account for the percentage who indicated ease ofuse with this tool.The high percentage of advanced students with noexperience in using InterLibrary Loan shows a potential need for moreeducation about this service, but may also reflect the higher percentageof students who work on their research assignment just before or on thedue date.16