Educating the Adult User: Gender Issues

Abstract

Libraries have responded enthusiastically to technological developments in document storage and communications systems and have been quick to recognise the advantages of their use in the information field. However resources delivered by computer systems are effectively invisible to the library user at first sight unless steps are taken to avoid this. The growth of technology in libraries is inevitable but librarians need to pause and examine the wider impact of the new technology on users. This is particularly important in multidisciplinary libraries serving a collection of professionals and students where we cannot regard readers as a homogeneous group. This paper proposes to look at two important characteristics of a particular professional group, that is nursing staff and students, and to suggest strategies for user education programmes which utilise the new technologies, based on these characteristics.