title: Infection control professionals' information-seeking preferences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to: 1) establish whether infection control professionals (ICPs) who had access to and utilised medical librarian services for evidence-based medicine (EBM) research perceived this assistance to be useful and 2) to establish whether ICPs who used electronic or hard copy resources for EBM research perceived that those resources had a significant impact on their work.
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sampling was used to collect quantitative data via a questionnaire. Study participants were members of South-west and Western chapters of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. There were 264 questionnaires distributed in this study; 179 participants completed the questionnaire. The response rate for eligible respondents was 59.5% (157).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated 56.7% (51) of the ICPs with librarian access reported requesting assistance from their work facility librarian. In reference to locating infection control information, 77.9% (95), 87.3% (124) and 93.3% (138) of ICPs found textbooks, journals and the Internet 'very useful' or 'useful', respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Study results indicated ICPs who used the assistance of medical librarians and/or hard copy or electronic resources for EBM research perceived such sources to be valuable for obtaining infection control information.
authors: Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Roseville, CA 95661, USA. heidijeanmortensen@gmail.com
authors: Heidi J
authors: HJ
authors: Mortensen
authors: Jeffrey L
authors: JL
authors: Alexander
authors: Guy M
authors: GM
authors: Nehrenz
authors: Cynthia
authors: C
authors: Porter
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet; D007999:Library Services; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013782:Textbooks as Topic