Review of resource grant applications at the National Library of Medicine

The Medical Library Resource Grant Program of the National Library of Medicine is reviewed as it was administered under the Medical Library Assistance Act and as it is now administered under the Medical Library Extension Act of 1970, and program objectives are discussed. The "project" concept and the "general support" approach for library assistance are considered, as is the relationship of the Regional Medical Library Program. In the context of the evolving Biomedical Communications Network, recommendations are made for improving the effectiveness of the grant program through coordinated efforts of intermediary libraries.     

Future programs at the National Library of Medicine.

The future of the National Library of Medicine will be shaped by a number of scientific, technical, and social influences. Among these are the continuing rapid development of computer technology and storage systems. Artificial intelligence techniques, factual databases, the emergence of medical informatics as a formal discipline, and the development of Integrated Academic Information Management Systems (IAIMS) are also important influences on the direction of the library. Public policy issues will influence the future of NLM--among them, sharing of scientific information between nations and the role of federal agencies in dissemination of information domestically. The formal, long-range plan now being prepared for the library by panels of expert advisers will be a guide for future programs and goals.     

The National Library of Medicine: from MEDLARS to the sesquicentennial and beyond.

The two decades since the introduction of MEDLARS and the passage of the Medical Library Assistance Act have been especially eventful in the history of the National Library of Medicine. The library''s collections and services have grown to keep pace with the expanding health sciences literature and the needs of health professionals. Networking has emerged as an invaluable method for disseminating biomedical information. NLM has assumed new responsibilities for information services in toxicology, pharmacology, and environmental health, and for research and development in biomedical communications. Research now being carried out by NLM has the potential for enhancing the library''s archival programs and for improving information dissemination in support of health sciences research, education, and practice.     

From Surgeon General's bookshelf to National Library of Medicine: a brief history.

The National Library of Medicine originated as a few books in the office of the army''s surgeon general, Joseph Lovell, between 1818 and 1836. It became the nation''s largest medical library after the Civil War under the direction of John Shaw Billings and began publishing the Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General''s Office and preparing the Index Medicus. After Billings retired in 1895, the library marked time as army medical officers were rotated through as directors until modernization began under Harold Wellington Jones during World War II. during the directorship of Frank B. Rogers (1949-1963), who introduced MEDLARS, guided the move to a new building in Bethesda, and revitalized other operations, the institution received statutory authority as the National Library of Medicine within the Public Health Service (1956). By 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Medical Library Assistance Act, the library had again regained a position of world leadership.     

International programs of the National Library of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has a broad mission in biomedical information service. There are three major reasons for NLM, as a national institution, having an international program: first, the global nature of disease; second, the international scope of medical literature; and third, the universal goal of better communication. This paper reviews NLM's programs in relation to international medical information exchange: International MEDLARS Centers, collaboration with WHO and PAHO, NLM Special Foreign Currency Program, and development of the NLM collection.     

Linking at the US National Library of Medicine

The development of services provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which dates back to 1836, is described. MEDLINE, a database of 10-plus million references and abstracts to the world's biomedical literature, was put on the World Wide Web for free searching in 1997 as a system called PubMed, whose use has grown to over 250 million searches per year. PubMed features a variety of links between MEDLINE references and related information – full-text journal articles, DNA sequence data, medical knowledge bases, etc. – at websites within and outside NLM. PubMed is a major component of a larger NLM system, Entrez, which integrates access to a number of genome-related databases with linking features similar to those of PubMed. The newest linked service, which became a reality in February 2000, is PubMed Central, the National Institutes of Health's free repository for primary research reports in all the life sciences.     

Mechanization of Library Procedures in the Medium-Sized Medical Library: XIV. Correlations between National Library of Medicine Classification Numbers and MeSH Headings

The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of correlation between National Library of Medicine classification numbers and MeSH headings in a body of cataloging which had already been done and then to find out which of two alternative methods of utilizing the correlation would be best.There was a correlation of 44.5% between classification numbers and subject headings in the data base studied, cataloging data covering 8,137 books. The results indicate that a subject heading index showing classification numbers would be the preferred method of utilization, because it would be more accurate than the alternative considered, an arrangement by classification numbers which would be consulted to obtain subject headings.     

Future programs at the National Library of Medicine

The future of the National Library of Medicine will be shaped by a number of scientific, technical, and social influences. Among these are the continuing rapid development of computer technology and storage systems. Artificial intelligence techniques, factual databases, the emergence of medical informatics as a formal discipline, and the development of Integrated Academic Information Management Systems (IAIMS) are also important influences on the direction of the library. Public policy issues will influence the future of NLM--among them, sharing of scientific information between nations and the role of federal agencies in dissemination of information domestically. The formal, long-range plan now being prepared for the library by panels of expert advisers will be a guide for future programs and goals.     

AIDS information from the National Library of Medicine

As part of a U.S government effort to combat AIDS, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is expanding its information services in this area. In response to the Health Omnibus Program Extension Act of 1988, NLM has expanded its AIDS Bibliography, enhanced its DIRLINE file with AIDS-related organizations, and developed three new online MEDLARS (Medical Literature Retrieval and Analysis System) databases: AIDSLINE, AIDSTRIALS, and AIDSDRUGS. NLM's AIDS-related programs and services are discussed.     

The National Library of Medicine and the American medical information system: the physician's perspective.

During the past 150 years an excellent health sciences information system has been developed in the United States. Led by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the system grew along traditional lines until after World War II, when medical researchers, educators, and practitioners produced an enormous amount of new information. To cope with this growth, the power of computers joined traditional librarianship and MEDLARS was born. In 1965 Congress passed the Medical Library Assistance Act, which enabled NLM to lead the nation''s and the world''s health sciences professionals into the Information Age. Much as been accomplished by NLM, yet much remains to be done to make health information available cheaply, easily, and quickly to all who need it.     

The Regional Medical Library Grant Program of the National Library of Medicine

Recognizing the utility of a regional medical library system in improving the availability of existing and future medical library resources in the country, the Congress included provisions for the support of such a system in the Medical Library Assistance Act. Grants will be made to major medical libraries which have the potential to provide supportive services to other libraries within a geographic area encompassing a major fraction of the nation's health professional manpower. Approximately ten of these regional libraries will receive these grants. Support for the system and consequently the extension of the services of the system will of necessity by implemented in a stepwise fashion. The central function of a regional medical library is to provide back-stopping interlibrary loan service and also to provide access to MEDLARS services for the region. Additional services for the region will include traditional reference service, training, surveillance of regional needs, announcement services, support for programs of continuing education for the health professions, and certain central technical processing for the region.     

The National Library of Medicine: from MEDLARS to the sesquicentennial and beyond

The two decades since the introduction of MEDLARS and the passage of the Medical Library Assistance Act have been especially eventful in the history of the National Library of Medicine. The library's collections and services have grown to keep pace with the expanding health sciences literature and the needs of health professionals. Networking has emerged as an invaluable method for disseminating biomedical information. NLM has assumed new responsibilities for information services in toxicology, pharmacology, and environmental health, and for research and development in biomedical communications. Research now being carried out by NLM has the potential for enhancing the library's archival programs and for improving information dissemination in support of health sciences research, education, and practice.