United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Fact Sheet
National Network of Libraries of Medicine® Membership Program

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM®), formerly the Regional Medical Library Network and the first comprehensive national library network, began in 1967. Under the leadership of the National Library of Medicine and through the participation of medical libraries and other information resource providers throughout the nation, it has developed into a well-organized and effective network for meeting the information needs of the nation's health professionals and of the general public.

The NN/LM established a mechanism to formally recognize participating institutions in 1988. Although formal recognition is now being given to these participants, it is acknowledged that many other organizations and institutions are part of and contribute to the success of the network.

In appreciation of this support the National Library of Medicine instituted a program to recognize the important role of these libraries by enrolling them formally as network members. The Regional Medical Libraries have been registering network members since April 1988. Current membership is:


			Number of Network Members by Region
			Middle Atlantic	758
			Southeastern Atlantic	1146
			Greater Midwest	1028
			MidContinental	311
			South Central	892
			Pacific Northwest	305
			Pacific Southwest	693
			New England	525
			TOTAL	5658

The goals of the NN/LM are to:

To develop collaborations with NN/LM libraries to improve access to and sharing of biomedical information resources throughout the nation;
To promote awareness of and access to biomedical information resources for health professionals and the public; and
To develop, promote, and improve access to electronic health information resources by network member libraries, health professionals, and organizations providing health information to the public.

Who is eligible for membership?

There are two (2) categories of membership within the NN/LM: Full Member and Affiliate Member. A Full Member can be any health sciences library or health-related information center, institution, or organization that: (1) is regularly staffed; (2) has an Internet connection; (3) has its own collection of health sciences materials (books, journals, audiovisuals, electronic databases); (4) provides information services to health professionals and/or the general public.

"Information services" must include DOCLINE® participation, and should include the following:

Answering or referring reference questions;
Performing information searches.

Members are encouraged to provide Loansome Doc® service to their own users and/or to unaffiliated users.
An Affiliate Member is a library, information/resource center or organization that is called on for health information by its users, but which does not meet all of the criteria for Full Member participation. An Affiliate Member might form a cooperative relationship with a Full Member, for example, for reference assistance or document delivery.

Responsibilities of Membership

Each Full Member and Affiliate Member institution must agree to make the following contributions:

Designate an individual as the local contact person for network information/communications.
Be listed in the national directory of network members. National directory information is available online through the membership file NN/LM Members Directory.
Provide basic information on collections and services to NLM and to their Regional Medical Library (RML) by keeping their membership record up-to-date.

Benefits of Membership

Each Full Member and Affiliate Member will receive:

A certificate, which names the institution as a recognized member of the NN/LM
An invitation, on a periodic basis, to provide input to its RML on the region's programs and services, and invitations to apply for various funding opportunities
Access to interlibrary loan services available to the network
Special mailings of NLM posters, brochures, and other publications
An opportunity for librarians from their institution to be considered for service on the RML's Regional Advisory Committee
Enrollment on their regional electronic discussion list if requested

Additional Information

Additional information about the National Network of Libraries of Medicine can be obtained at http://nnlm.gov/, by contacting your Regional Medical Library (1-800-338-7657), and as noted below:

1. Middle Atlantic Region

New York University School of Medicine
Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library
550 First Avenue
New York, New York 10016
Phone: (212) 263-5394
Fax: (212) 263-6534
Email: rml@library.med.nyu.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/mar/
States Served: DE, NJ, NY, PA

2. Southeastern/Atlantic Region

University of Maryland, Baltimore
Health Sciences and Human Services Library
601 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1583
Phone: (410) 706-2855
Fax: (410) 706-0099

Email: HSHSL-NLMsea@hshsl.umaryland.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/sea/
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

University of Illinois at Chicago
Library of the Health Sciences (M/C 763)
1750 W. Polk Street
Chicago, Illinois 60612-4330
Phone: (312) 996-2464
Fax: (312) 996-2226
Email: gmr@uic.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/gmr/
States Served: IA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI

4. MidContinental Region

University of Utah
Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
Regional Medical Library
10 North 1900 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-5890
Phone: (801) 581-8771
Fax: (801) 581-3632
URL: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/
States Served: CO, KS, MO, NE, UT, WY

5. South Central Region

Houston Academy of Medicine-
Texas Medical Center Library
1133 John Freeman Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77030-2809
Phone: (713) 799-7880
Fax: (713) 790-7030
Email: nnlmscr@library.tmc.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/scr/
States Served: AR, LA, NM, OK, TX

6. Pacific Northwest Region

Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center
NN/LM Pacific Northwest Region
University of Washington
Box 357155
1949 NE Pacific Avenue, Room T244
Seattle, WA 98195-7155
Phone: (206) 543-8262
Fax: (206) 543-2469
Email: nnlm@u.washington.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/
States Served: AK, ID, MT, OR, WA

7. Pacific Southwest Region

University of California, Los Angeles
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
12-077 Center for the Health Sciences
Box 951798
Los Angeles, California 90095-1798
Phone: (310) 825-1200
Fax: (310) 825-5389
Email: psr-nnlm@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://nnlm.gov/psr/
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
55 Lake Avenue, North
Worcester, MA 01655
Phone: (508) 856-2399
Fax: (508) 856-5039
URL: http://nnlm.gov/ner
States Served: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT

Overseas Military Medical Personnel

Armed Forces Medical Library
5109 Leesburg Pike, Room 670
Falls Church, VA 22041-3258
URL: http://www.tricare.osd.mil/afml/
Telephone: 703-681-8028
Fax: 703-681-8034
E-mail: afml@tma.osd.mil

NN/LM National Centers

National Training Center and Clearinghouse (NTCC)

The NTCC supports a variety of training opportunities for NN/LM members and for health professionals. It also manages a searchable database with links to web-based health education training materials.

Outreach Evaluation Resource Center (OERC)

The OERC provides assistance in developing well-planned evaluation to help target and measure outreach success.

Web Services Technology Operations Center (Web-STOC)

Web-STOC provides systems functions including database management, system policy-development and technical consulting related to the NN/LM Web services.

Toll-free phone number for all Regional Medical Libraries: 1-800-338-7657

A complete list of NLM Fact Sheets is available at:
(alphabetical list) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsheets.html
(subject list): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsubj.html

Or write to:

FACT SHEETS
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20894

Phone: (301) 496-6308
Fax: (301) 496-4450
email: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov

Last reviewed: 24 September 2008
Last updated: 24 September 2008
First published: 31 March 2004
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Stable Content

Fact SheetNational Network of Libraries of Medicine® Membership Program

Number of Network Members by Region