The National Library of Medicine has awarded new five-year contracts to eight institutions to serve as Regional Medical Libraries (RMLs) in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM). The NN/LM consists of the eight competitively selected regional medical libraries, about 120 resource libraries (primarily at medical schools), and over 4,500 local health science libraries (primarily at hospitals).
Since its original authorization by Congress in the 1965 Medical Library Assistance Act, the NN/LM has worked to equalize and enhance access to health sciences information throughout the United States. The goal is to provide access to accurate and up-to-date health information to health professionals, patients, families, and the general public, irrespective of their geographic location. The NN/LM places a special emphasis on outreach to underserved populations in an effort to reduce health disparities.
The 2001-2006 Regional Medical Libraries are:
1. Middle Atlantic Region The New York Academy of Medicine New York, NY States Served: DE, NJ, NY, PA
2. Southeastern/Atlantic Region University of Maryland, Baltimore Health Sciences and Human Services Library Baltimore, MD States Served: AL, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
3. Greater Midwest Region The University of Illinois at Chicago Library of the Health Sciences Chicago, IL States Served: IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI
4. Midcontinental Region University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library Salt Lake City, UT States Served: CO, KS, MO, NE, UT, WY
5. South Central Region Houston Academy of Medicine- Texas Medical Center Library Houston, TX States Served: AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
6. Pacific Northwest Region Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center University of Washington Seattle, WA States Served: AK, ID, MT, OR, WA
7. Pacific Southwest Region University of California, Los Angeles Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library Los Angeles, CA States Served: AZ, CA, HI, NV, and U.S. Territories in the Pacific Basin
8. New England Region University of Massachusetts Medical School The Lamar Soutter Library Worcester, MA States Served: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT
The New York Academy of Medicine will continue as the National Online Training Center and Clearinghouse for the entire network. The University of Washington will serve as a new National Outreach Evaluation Resource Center.
ROLE OF THE REGIONAL MEDICAL LIBRARIES
The RMLs and NN/LM member libraries are vital in NLM's outreach efforts to health professionals and consumers to increase awareness, facilitate access, and provide training in the use of NLM's many Web-based information services. These include: the MEDLINE/PubMed database of 11 million citations to biomedical journal articles; the MEDLINEplus consumer health information service, which provides access to full-text information produced by the National Institutes of Health and other authoritative sources; and ClinicalTrials.gov, which provides current information about clinical research studies.
Although NN/LM programs have historically been implemented on a regional basis, the new contracts will provide more opportunity for cross-regional and national collaborations. The Regional Medical Libraries will continue their efforts to reach underserved health professionals in rural and inner city areas, public health professionals, and special populations.
NN/LM members will work with a variety of intermediaries, including health care providers, public health professionals, public librarians, educators, community organizations, health advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, and self-help groups, to reach members of the public.
The Regional Medical Libraries also exhibit and demonstrate NLM's products and services at national, regional and state health professional and consumer oriented meetings, provide training and consultations; coordinate the basic network services such as interlibrary loan; and work to improve the supporting infrastructure for health sciences libraries.
