Table 1.
Characteristics, interventions, and outcomes of included studies
| Reference | Design | Participants | (n) | Intervention | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erickson and Warner, 1998 [23] | RCT | Residents in obstetrics and gynecology | 31 | IG1: Hands-on tutorial session on the use of MEDLINE by health sciences librarian with hands-on instruction IG2: Tutorial on the use of MEDLINE at prescribed sessions performed by health sciences librarian |
MEDLINE search recall and precision rates of 4 searches |
| Hobbs et al., 2015 [24] | Pre-post trial | Senior undergraduate radiologic science students | 17 | Library instruction on planning literature searches, developing search strategies, searching health-related and medicine-related databases | Questionnaire on knowledge and skills in information literacy developed by the health sciences librarian and the Radiologic Science Faculty |
| Carlock and Anderson, 2007 [25] | CT | Undergraduate nursing students | 90 | Librarian instruction including homework and in-class assignment | Self-created rubric comparing the search history of a predefined search in CINAHL |
| Gruppen, et al., 2005 [26] | CT | Fourth-year medical students | 92 | Instructional intervention on EBP-based techniques for searching MEDLINE for evidence related to a clinical problem taught by medical librarians | Structured clinical scenario (described in a publication) and scoring on literature search quality and search errors developed by librarians at the University of Michigan, based on a template designed by librarians at the University of Rochester |
| Rosenfeld et al., 2002 [27] | Pre-post trial | Intensive care unit nurses | 36 | Educational sessions complemented by a web-tutorial regarding information literacy competencies, performed by the medical librarian | Self-defined, point-based competency rating scale |
| Vogel et al., 2002 [28] | Pre-post trial | Second-year medicine residents | 42 | Workshop on using Ovid's version of MEDLINE | Participants completed the MEDLINE performance checklist |
| Grant et al., 1996 [29] | Pre-post trial | Pharmacy students | 48 | Lecture on systematic approach in combination with an online demonstration with OVID to develop search strategies and homework assignments to perform a literature search | Evaluation of 2 written search strategies (one sensitive, one specific) concerning a predefined research question by pre-established scoring criteria |
| Bradigan and Mularski, 1989 [30] | Pre-post trial | Second-year medical students | 9 | Mini module courses performed by 2 librarian instructors | Number of correct answers, 3 questions on the ability to extract important concepts in a statement of a medical problem to be searched online |
| Sikora et al., 2019 [31] | Pre-post trial | Undergraduate or graduate health sciences or medical students | 29 | Scheduled individualized research consultations for students, performed by librarians | Self-developed information literacy rubric for scoring of open-ended questions regarding the use of appropriate keywords and search strategies |
| Haynes et al., 1993 [32] | RCT | Physicians and physicians-in-training | 264 | Feedback on the first 10 searches and assignment by a clinical MEDLINE preceptor | Participants performed 10 MEDLINE searches concerning individual research questions; the percentage of successful searches was defined if at least 1 relevant reference was retrieved |
| Grant and Brettle, 2006 [33] | Pre-post trial | Postgraduate students in research in health and social care | 13 | Self-developed web-based MEDLINE tutorial by an information specialist and tutor | Modified Rosenberg assessment tool comprised a skills checklist |
| Brettle and Raynor, 2013 [34] | RCT | Undergraduate nursing students | 55 | Online in-house information literacy tutorial (session 1) and follow-up information skills session (face-to-face) after one month (session 2) | Test of skills to search for evidence via CINAHL concerning specific research questions using a rubric identifying key features in the search strategy |
| Wallace et al., 2000 [35] | CT | Undergraduate nursing, health, and behavioral sciences students | 300 | Curriculum-integrated information literacy program | Objective test of library catalog skills regarding 5 domains |
| Qureshi et al., 2015 [36] | Pre-post trial | Postgraduate dental students | 42 | Workshop comprising 3 sessions of lectures and hands-on practice | Questions of the Fresno Test tool |
Abbreviations: CT=Controlled trial; EBP=Evidence-based practice; IG=Intervention group; MeSH=Medical Subject Headings; NA=Not applicable; RCT=Randomized controlled trial.