Effect of Educational Intervention on Resource Usage in University Newcomers

Aims: Investigating the situation of the utilization of the library sources indicates that the students are not familiar with the utilization of the sources and do not have enough skills in source searching. Based on the conducted studies, presenting training courses to make the students familiar with searching the library sources considerably enhance their abilities to utilize the sources. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of academic intervention on the freshmen students&rsquo; utilization of the library sources.&nbsp; Instrument & Methods: In the cross-sectional study, Medical, Midwifery, and Nursing students (n=200) of Babol University of Medical Sciences enrolled in 2013 were studied at the 1st semester of 2013-14 academic year. Based on the former presence at the library familiarity workshops at the university entrance, the students were divided into two groups including &ldquo;case group&rdquo; (n=136) and &ldquo;control group&rdquo; (n=64). Data was collected, using a researcher-made form. In addition, book loan number during a year and number of the delayed days in returning the books were considered as indices to investigate the students&rsquo; performance. Data was analyzed in SPSS 18 software using Chi-square and Independent T tests.&nbsp;&nbsp; Findings: Of 4865 book loan cases, 26.0&plusmn;22.2 and 17.9&plusmn;18.8 books were averagely borrowed by the trained students (case group) and control group, respectively (p<0.05). Mean delayed time in &ldquo;case group&rdquo; (151.2&plusmn;171.7 days) was more than the mean time in &ldquo;control group&rdquo; (122.0&plusmn;136.5 days; p