Digital libraries are essential to evidence-informed learning in the health sciences, yet first-year students may struggle with database selection, authentication, search syntax, and the linguistic demands of English-medium instruction (EMI). Less is known about how students adapt when formal library support does not fully resolve these difficulties. This qualitative study examined the coping strategies developed by first-year health sciences students when navigating digital library systems at a comprehensive EMI university. Twelve first-year undergraduates representing multiple health sciences programmes participated in virtual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s approach. Three interconnected themes were developed. First, peer-brokered procedural learning enabled students to acquire database skills through classmates and senior students who could explain search processes in accessible, context-specific terms. Second, messaging-based support communities functioned as informal knowledge infrastructures in which students circulated screenshots, step-by-step guides, short videos, and answers to recurring access problems. Third, students used strategic resource substitution when institutional databases became too difficult or time-consuming under deadline pressure, moving toward Google Scholar, open web sources, and general reference sites. These strategies helped students maintain academic functioning, but they also created risks related to uneven access to knowledgeable peers, inconsistent advice, and variable source quality. The findings suggest that informal peer scaffolding is not peripheral to digital-library use but an important part of how first-year students manage information-seeking demands. Institutions should therefore combine formal information-literacy training with trained peer navigators, librarian-verified student-generated resources, and just-in-time support embedded in the digital environments students already use. Because this was a small, single-site qualitative study based on self-reported experience, the findings are interpretive rather than generalizable and should be examined in larger, multi-institutional research.
Digital libraries are essential to evidence-informed learning in the health sciences, yet first-year students may struggle with database selection, authentication, search syntax, and the linguistic demands of English-medium instruction (EMI). Less is known about how students adapt when formal library support does not fully resolve these difficulties. This qualitative study examined the coping strategies developed by first-year health sciences students when navigating digital library systems at a comprehensive EMI university. Twelve first-year undergraduates representing multiple health sciences programmes participated in virtual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s approach. Three interconnected themes were developed. First, peer-brokered procedural learning enabled students to acquire database skills through classmates and senior students who could explain search processes in accessible, context-specific terms. Second, messaging-based support communities functioned as informal knowledge infrastructures in which students circulated screenshots, step-by-step guides, short videos, and answers to recurring access problems. Third, students used strategic resource substitution when institutional databases became too difficult or time-consuming under deadline pressure, moving toward Google Scholar, open web sources, and general reference sites. These strategies helped students maintain academic functioning, but they also created risks related to uneven access to knowledgeable peers, inconsistent advice, and variable source quality. The findings suggest that informal peer scaffolding is not peripheral to digital-library use but an important part of how first-year students manage information-seeking demands. Institutions should therefore combine formal information-literacy training with trained peer navigators, librarian-verified student-generated resources, and just-in-time support embedded in the digital environments students already use. Because this was a small, single-site qualitative study based on self-reported experience, the findings are interpretive rather than generalizable and should be examined in larger, multi-institutional research.
