Any Shape or Form: An Online Module for Teaching Medical Students Citation Management in Residency Settings

Objective: To describe how the library’s online tutorial for medical students, “Introduction to Citation Management Tools,” was created and integrated into the College of Medicine’s Residency Preparation Boot Camp. Implemented in 2017, passing the tutorial is still a requirement for completing the boot camp. Methods: In 2017, the Maguire Medical Library was asked by undergraduate and graduate medical education faculty to create a citation management tutorial for 4th-year medical students preparing to commence their respective residency programs. As part of the College of Medicine’s Residency Preparation Boot Camp, the tutorial needed to provide students with an overview of citation management tools that could be used at a variety of different institutions depending on access and availability. Two librarians created an online tutorial with content presented in slides that contained text and video, and that were organized by topic. A hands-on section was incorporated for students to practice using Zotero, a free citation management tool. To assess student knowledge of slide content, students must correctly answer questions after each section; questions could be retaken until passed. The tools used for creating the module included Springshare’s LibWizard tool, Camtasia and Snagit for screen recordings and screenshots, and Canva for graphics and images. Each year, new content has been added to the module based on feedback from faculty, students, and other users. Results: From 2017 to 2019, there have been 444 submissions. Since data collection and analysis for program improvement is ongoing, remaining results will be presented during the poster session. Conclusions: Online tutorials can be a positive educational and interactive way to learn about citation management tools. For the future, we hope to continue refining and adapting the current tutorial as needed, while exploring additional opportunities to use this technology in other subject areas