Orenuga O.O., Lesi O. A., Roberts A.A., Abudu O.O
The study assessed the access to biomedical literat ure and funds among junior academic staff in a medical college in Lagos. This is a cross-sectional study in which the 120 junior academic staff were evaluated. Data collection was by pre-tested self a dministered questionnaires distributed to the study population. There were 83/120 respondents (69.1%) f rom both basic and clinical sciences. There were 38 males (45.8%) and 45 females (54.2%). The modal age group was 31-40 years. There were significantly more lecturer I in clinical sciences compared with basic sciences (84.2% versus 55.6%, p = 0.015). Both groups had been actively involved with research which was reportedly funded by the researchers. International agencies were the common est sources of external funds for research, (54.8%). About one-third, 31.0% had insufficient kn owledge of the Central Research Committee. Access to bio-medical literature was a major proble m among the lecturers and over 50% found the college library inadequate. Significantly more basi c scientists used the library than clinical scienti sts, p=0.04. Lack of effective internet services was a m ajor constraint to effective communication and access to relevant literature by 75% of the subject s. There is an urgent need for more titles to be stocked (books, journals) and improved on-line data base. The College should assist in getting funds for research and ensure equity in distribution.
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