Abstract
The research provides a chronology of the US National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) contribution to access to the world's biomedical literature through its computerization of biomedical indexes, particularly the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS). Using material gathered from NLM's archives and from personal interviews with people associated with developing MEDLARS and its associated systems, the author discusses key events in the history of MEDLARS. From the development of the early mechanized bibliographic retrieval systems of the 1940s and to the beginnings of online, interactive computerized bibliographic search systems of the early 1970s chronicled here, NLM's contributions to automation and bibliographic retrieval have been extensive. As NLM's technological experience and expertise grew, innovative bibliographic storage and retrieval systems emerged. NLM's accomplishments regarding MEDLARS were cutting edge, placing the library at the forefront of incorporating mechanization and technologies into medical information systems.
Highlights
The US Congress established the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to assist the advancement of medical and related sciences [1]
During the last fifty years, the health sciences field has produced an explosion of biomedical research and related publications to the extent that NLM accelerated investigation of new information technologies [3] to ensure the world biomedical community’s access to scientific information [4, 5]
This paper sketches the chronology of the mechanization and computerization of medical indexes and bibliographic searching beginning with the early mechanized systems (1940s) and going forward to the introduction of the online computerized bibliographic search systems (1970s)
Summary
The research provides a chronology of the US National Library of Medicine’s (NLM’s) contribution to access to the world’s biomedical literature through its computerization of biomedical indexes, the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS). Method: Using material gathered from NLM’s archives and from personal interviews with people associated with developing MEDLARS and its associated systems, the author discusses key events in the history of MEDLARS
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