Information and informatics literacy: Skills, timing, and estimates of competence

Background: Computing and biomedical informatics technologies are providing almost instantaneous access to vast amounts of possibly relevant information. Although students are entering medical school with increasingly sophisticated basic technological skills, medical educators must determine what curricular enhancements are needed to prepare learners for the world of electronic information. Purpose: The purpose was to examine opinions of academic affairs and informatics administrators, curriculum deans and recently matriculated medical students about prematriculation competence and medical education learning expectations. Methods: Two surveys were administered: an Information Literacy Survey for curriculum/informatics deans and a Computing Skills Survey for entering medical students. Results: Results highlight differences of opinion about entering competencies. They also indicate that medical school administrators believe that most basic information skills fall within the domain of undergraduate medical education. Conclusions: Further investigations are needed to determine precise entry-level skills and whether information literacy will increase as a result of rising levels of technical competence. Copyright (C) 2000 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.