A user study of manual and MEDLINE literature searches in the hospital library.

To determine possible uses for MEDLINE in the hospital library, health practitioners requesting literature searches were provided with both a manual and a MEDLINE search. Patron receptivity to MEDLINE was good, but the manual search was more often preferred. The health practitioners responding to a questionnaire apparently had delegated literature searching and evaluation of material to the hospital librarians, especially when clinically related information was needed. In the community hospitals where both the search and the selection of material are the responsibility of the librarian, MEDLINE can be used as the primary search tool or to supplement material provided.