Usability Study of an Online PubMed Tutorial for Dental Students

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library created an online tutorial to support PubMed instruction in an information management class for first and second year dental students. Tutorial content was intended to be understood by dental students with minimal exposure to the PubMed database and limited knowledge of dental terms. Usability testing was conducted using think-aloud procedures, PubMed application questions, and an interview. Data collected from this study revealed a number of usability and content areas that need improvement, such as the presentation of MeSH concepts, the presentation of MeSH and other content area that will stimulate knowledge retention, clarification of terms, structure of lessons, and organization of concepts. Sample scenarios, sample records, and interactivity with links to preformatted searches were found to support successful learning