MIDIRS Essence > August 2007 > Student/Tutor feature
Through the eyes of a tutor
Originally posted on Aug 2007
How MIDIRS services can aid your studies
This article looks at the services offered by MIDIRS, exploring specifically how these meet the needs of current midwifery students.
One of the key challenges facing student midwives today is the need to develop the capacity to access information, both physically and intellectually. That is, they must become information-literate to meet the demands of both theoretical and clinical aspects of the course.
'In an information society, information is slavery to the thoughts of others, knowledge is power and freedom to do one's thinking'
(Hade 1982:8)
A key goal in midwifery education is to provide students with the means to achieve such knowledge for the rest of their lives. This is imperative as midwifery moves into the twenty-first century, where the short half-life of professional and technical knowledge necessitates graduates having adequate skills to adapt to the technical change and evolving body of midwifery knowledge. Information is available from a multitude of sources, human and material resources, including professional associations, books, journals, videos and television in addition to peers, mentors, tutors and clinical practice experiences. Students clearly need to become discerning information consumers in order to acquire knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of their midwifery courses. Even with these skills searching for new information can be a frustrating and time consuming process.
From my experience as a midwifery lecturer over the last nine years it is apparent that many students value the resources available through MIDIRS and make good use of these. In a questionnaire surveying student midwives use of learning resources (Hassall 2001) it was very clear that MIDIRS was the most commonly used resource under both journal and database categories. In the current climate where students often feel swamped by information, they have reported that they find it a reliable and user friendly service. This was highlighted in a recently submitted dissertation where the student quoted:
’The articles detailed on the MIDIRS database search replicated those from the other databases plus additions, so the author focused on the MIDIRS list’ (Nicholls 2007:10)
I have often found this to be the case. While students access a range of databases in their endeavour to find the most current and relevant research, they commonly report that MIDIRS was the most useful.
The financial burdens of undergraduate study are widely acknowledged and the comprehensive service provides excellent value for money, with subscriptions starting at £12/quarter. There is a varied choice of subscription categories and payment options, which are detailed on the MIDIRS website subscription pages. The service provided is reliable, with a prompt back up service if articles from searches are ordered.
The following paragraphs explore the service MIDIRS provides in more depth. MIDIRS is an educational charity which provides information on midwifery, pregnancy, childbirth, the newborn, first year of infancy and maternity services. It provides a central source of information dedicated to helping midwives provide the best possible maternity care. This includes journal articles, statistics, government and official reports, books, conference proceedings, newspaper articles, and consumer information leaflets. Information is also provided about midwifery-related organisations, events and study days, and current job opportunities.
The organisation regularly scans over 500 international journals, books, and grey literature for material relating to midwifery, maternity services, pregnancy, childbirth, the newborn and first year of infancy. MIDIRS Midwifery Digest is published quarterly and contains reprints of key information alongside specially commissioned articles, research critiques and abstracts.
MIDIRS On-line Service provides access to over 120,000 references to journal articles and other publications, references to all articles provided in the MIDIRS Digest and an extensive list of pre-defined searches. Literature searches from the MIDIRS database can be ordered by contacting the organisation direct or subscribing to MIDIRS Online Service. Database coverage is from the mid-1980s and approximately 1000 records are added to the database each month. This includes correspondence and commentary written in response to articles. Many of the records are assigned to one or more of the 475 standard searches on key topics in order to provide fast retrieval, using either a code or a browsable index of topics. In addition, articles are indexed by keywords.
A number of MIDIRS services, including online access to their bibliographic database and pre-prepared literature searches, are offered on a commercial basis, which requires a subscription. Subscribers also have the opportunity to register for a personalised updating of resources, tailored to their subject requirements, through the 'Email Update Service'.
The site offers access to a book service and forum bulletin board, which includes a developing collection of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Another recent edition to the resources available through MIDIRS is a monthly email newsletter, ‘MIDIRS Essence’. This innovative newsletter has been designed to provide access to the latest news, features and reports in a contemporary style and format that is easy to use. A key feature of this new innovation is to offer its readers the opportunity to highlight areas and articles they would like to see featured.
In our increasingly financial driven society, with its emphasis on the market and competition, the importance of ‘satisfying the needs of the customer/student’ has been a prevailing theme. The reconceptualization of the student as customer carries with it connotations which do not readily fit into the context of education and learning as a jointly negotiated process. A collaborative, rather than consumerist model, is proposed as a preferable basis for the ensuring of quality, and the involvement of students in that process. This collaborative model is apparent within MIDIRS style, eg the opportunity for students to request the issues they would like to see featured in the online newsletter ‘MIDIRS Essence’.
It is widely acknowledged that students need to be research literate and able to access a range of learning resources. One could argue that the ease of accessibility of information through MIDIRS detracts students from persevering with other resources. However, many continue to have problems identifying, defining, analysing and articulating the nature of their information needs. Students and indeed many midwives often have difficulties judging the appropriateness and value of information sources. Therefore, this raises the question: does accessing and obtaining more information necessarily mean that better information is being accessed? I believe that the means of acquiring the information, particularly in terms of whether it involves the latest technology, is less important than the validity and relevance of the retrieved information and the ability to use that information effectively. Therefore, while I would encourage students to develop and widen their ‘information literacy skills’, it is clear to see why many continue to turn to MIDIRS as their key point of call when searching for information.
References
Hade D (1982). Literacy in an information society. Educational Technology 22(8):7-12
Hassall J (2001) Developing a web based classroom (unpublished dissertation). London: Southbank University
Nicholls S (2007) What strategies are available to the midwife as alternatives to directed pushing in the second stage of labour? (unpublished dissertation). Brighton: University of Brighton
Jenny Hassall, Course Leader, University of Brighton
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