Development of information skills within the Masters in Research (MRes Health and Social Work), University of Salford

This project seeks to develop an innovative training course to provide literature searching skills to students within the Faculty of Health and Social Care. Students need to access information to complete coursework, undertake research and, once qualified, to identify best practice within the context of evidence based practice. Although students may have experience of using IT and web technologies, they are rarely taught information skills. This can result in information being found by chance, the possibility of missing important information, and frustration in using technology that should make information retrieval easier. With appropriate training, students can efficiently conduct thorough and systematic literature searches essential for robust and quality work. This project has two objectives. Objective One: To develop one session of theoretical and two sessions of web based practical literature searching skills training. Objective Two: To evaluate the sessions to determine their usefulness and effectiveness in improving literature searching skills. The first student intake for the MRes in Health and Social Work begins in February 2001. It is anticipated that the first phase of implementation and testing for this innovative literature searching training programme will be completed by December 2001