Librarian Involvement in a Nutrition Undergraduate Research Course: Preparing Nutrition Students for Evidence-based Practice

Given the foundational importance of literature searching skills to later stages of research and, ultimately, evidence-based practice, the authors wanted to assess a unique strategy for teaching such skills. This pilot study describes the results of an undergraduate nutrition research course in which a librarian lead several class sessions. The goal of this study was to assess students' perceptions, attitudes and use of research literature and resources before and after a course partially taught by a librarian. Twenty-seven students enrolled in an undergraduate Introduction to Research course at Georgia State University were given pre- and post-test questionnaires at the beginning and end of a course that included three librarian-led class sessions. Most of the results indicate that the repeated involvement of a librarian enriched this particular undergraduate research course. By the end of the course, students were more comfortable in libraries and with using library resources; they used the campus library more frequently; they were more confident in their ability to find high-quality information on nutrition-related topics and identify strengths and weaknesses of different information sources; and they felt they gained skills that will help them achieve their educational and career goals.