The National Library of Medicine. Evolution of a premier information center
M. E. DeBakey
Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. 77030.
From a small collection of medical publications in the Surgeon General's
Office in 1836, the National Library of Medicine has developed into the
leading repository of medical information in the world. Despite strong
opposition and impediments from certain quarters, involving considerable
machinations and intrigue, the determination of interested medical leaders
and sympathetic members of Congress triumphed in having this remarkable
institution established on the campus of the National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, Md. As a participant in many of the negotiations preceding that
decision, I have happily witnessed the transformation of the Library, long
housed in cramped, makeshift quarters, to its present magnificent
structures in the heart of our nation's foremost medical research center.
Its prodigious collection of print, audiovisual, and electronic
information; its imaginative research projects; its excellent outreach
program; and its innovative services and products are indispensable to all
practicing health professionals, scientists, and medical educators, as well
as to journalists, government officials, and others. The ultimate
beneficiary, of course, is the patient.
