1879 |
National
Library of Medicine (NLM) Milestone: First issue of Index
Medicus produced. |
1898 |
The Medical Library Association (MLA) is founded as the Association of Medical Librarians on May 2, 1898, by four librarians and four physicians in the office of the Philadelphia Medical Journal at the invitation of George M. Gould, M.D., editor of the journal. The object of the association was the fostering of medical libraries and the maintenance of an exchange of medical literature among its members. Membership was limited to librarians representing medical libraries of not less than 500 volumes and with regular library hours and attendance. |
1899 |
The association's Exchange is established in Philadelphia, PA. Some 300 volumes were exchanged between libraries during the first year. |
1907 |
The name of the association is changed to the Medical Library Association. |
1911 |
MLA begins publishing its own journal, the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. Three earlier titles contained association news: Medical Libraries, the Bulletin of the Association of Medical Librarians, and the Medical Library and Historical Journal. |
1917 |
Medical libraries responded to the
war effort: made military medicine resources available to military
officials and bases, stopped providing complimentary issues to save
paper, and following the war worked to obtain overseas journals
not distributed during the war.
|
1925 |
Medical libraries gave duplicate
journal issues and provided subscriptions to aid German libraries.
At the same time, librarians were greatly concerned by the cost
of German periodicals.
|
1929 |
The bylaws are revised and significant
changes in the organization and infrastructure are established.
Members are reclassified into three classes: library members, supporting
members, and professional members. Membership of libraries is broadened
to include dental, veterinary, biological, and related libraries.
A Nominating
Committee is established; voting by mail is established; standing
committees are established; location of the annual meeting is determined
by the association instead of the Executive
Committee.
|
1933 |
Marcia C. Noyes, charter member
of the association, is the first woman and the first non-physician
to be elected president of MLA.
|
1934 |
The association is incorporated
in Maryland.MLA joins the International
Federation of Library Associations. The association agrees to
pay .05 per member for all classes of membership for IFLA dues.
|
1941-45 |
Medical libraries once again support
the war effort. The librarians opened their libraries to provide
service to all medical officers and hospitals, sent books and other
materials to military camps, and extended hours of operation to
serve the military. Many libraries in major cities moved valuable
books to safer locations.Medical libraries and librarians supported
the work of libraries in Europe and shared duplicate subscriptions.
|
1943 |
The first medical library manual
entitled A Handbook of Medical Library Practice is published
by the American Library Association.NLM Milestone: Survey of the
Army Medical Library was undertaken by a six-librarian team (including
Janet Doe and Mary Louise Marshall of MLA) to recommend ways to
reinvigorate the library after years of inadequate funding and loss
of trained staff. The team's report recommended a new building,
a career librarian to administer essential library functions, increased
funding, etc.
|
1945 |
The association hires its first
salaried employee, Mildred V. Naylor, as manager of the Exchange.
|
1946 |
The constitution is amended to provide
for a physician as honorary vice-president with the office of the
president and all other offices to be held by professional librarians
in active work. The qualifications of professional membership are
changed, and an Exchange Committee and Finance Committee are established.Mary
Louise Marshall issues a call for the training and certification
of medical librarians to fill the need for more professionals in
the profession.
|
1947 |
The International Cooperation Committee
received the first of several three-year grants from the Rockefeller
Foundation to finance fellowships for medical librarians outside
North America to travel to the United States.
|
1948 |
The first training program for medical
librarianship is offered at Columbia University.Regional
groups are established and subject
groups begin meeting.First survey on employment and salary standards
are published.NLM Milestone: First edition of The Army Medical
Library Classification.
|
1949 |
The association adopts a Code of
Training and Certification of Medical Librarians, its first certification
program.The first award to recognize the contributions of members
to the professionthe Marcia
C. Noyes Awardis presented to Eileen R. Cunningham.
|
1950 |
The MLA membership directory is
published as a separate publication for the first time.
|
1952 |
The association published a book
series with the Development of Medical Bibliography by Estelle
Brodman as the first title.The association begins publishing Vital
Notes on Medical Periodicals, which provides new information
on medical and related journals.
|
1956 |
The first Murray
Gottlieb Prize Essay Award for an essay on American medical
history is presented to Dorothy Long.NLM Milestone: Armed Forces
Medical Library becomes National Library of Medicine as a result
of legislation sponsored by Senators Lister Hill and John F. Kennedy.
|
1958 |
Formal continuing education courses
are offered for the first time at the annual meeting in Rochester,
MN. Twelve courses are presented.
|
1961 |
The association established a central
office with Helen Brown Schmidt appointed as executive secretary.The
association published the MLA News as the vehicle for disseminating
association news more frequently than in the quarterly Bulletin.
|
1963 |
The 62nd MLA Annual Meeting is held
in conjunction with the Second International Congress on Medical
Librarianship (ICML) in Washington, DC. Purposes of the ICML
were to exchange information on the art and science of librarianship,
to advance the state of the art and strengthen its techniques, and
to improve the quality of the service which medical librarianship
contributes to the advancement of medicine.
|
1964 |
MEDLARS is implemented by the National
Library of Medicine with the first automated printing of Index
Medicus.
|
1965 |
MLA supports passage of the Medical
Library Assistance Act (MLAA). Under the administration of the National
Library of Medicine, MLAA brings about unprecedented growth and
development of medical library services, including:
- building, expanding, and constructing more
than eighty-six medical school libraries, representing the greatest
expansion in the history of medical school libraries;
- growth of hospital libraries during the 1970s,
expanding both space and facilities;
- awarding of training grants to medical librarians
to meet the special needs of health science libraries and the
medical communities they serve;
- offering of training grants in the application
of computer technology to the health sciences;
- MLA research grant program which supports
basic research in health sciences librarianship and computers
in medicine;
- establishment of the Resource Grants Program
to assist public or private, nonprofit health sciences libraries
in establishing, expanding, or improving their resource and
information services;
- almost 700 percent increase in the number
of hospital librarians with MLA degrees from 1969 to 1984;
- development of the Regional Medical Library
Program with a network of over 3,500 libraries to provide health
professionals with timely, convenient access to health care
and biomedical resources;
- establishment of the Integrated Academic Information
Management Systems (IAMS) program to support development of
networks that facilitate the flow of recorded biomedical knowledge
throughout academic health science centers and hospitals.
|
1967 |
The first Janet
Doe Lecture on the History of Philosophy of Medical Librarianship
is presented by Gertrude L. Annan.NLM Milestone: Regional Medical
Library Program begins.
|
1968 |
The advent of online searching is
instituted with the nine libraries accessing the SUNY Biomedical
Communication Network Index Medicus database.
|
1971 |
The Clinical Medical Librarian Program
is instituted.NLM Milestone: MEDLINE becomes operational.
|
1972 |
The association hires its first
full-time executive director.NLM Milestone: Toxline becomes operational.
|
1979 |
MLA sends delegates to the White
House Conference on Library and Information Services.
|
1982 |
The Matheson/Cooper report, Academic
Information in the Health Sciences Center: Roles for the Library
in Information Management, is published. The resulting IAIMS
grant program brings about profound changes in the way libraries
organize information services within their institutions.
|
1983 |
The MLA Board of Directors begins
to use electronic mail for communicating.
|
1985 |
Increased emphasis on legislative
and advocacy issues is realized with the establishment of the Joint
MLA/AAHSL Legislative Task Force.
|
1986 |
NLM Milestone: Grateful Med is introduced.
|
1987 |
Challenge
to Action: Planning and Evaluation Guidelines for Academic Health
Sciences Libraries is published.MLA develops a strategic
plan, Shaping the Future.
|
1988 |
A new credentialing program, the
Academy of Health Information Professionals is established.
|
1991 |
MLA participates in the second White
House Conference on Library and Information Services.MLA supports
passage of the High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC)
Act to facilitate development of a high-speed national computer
telecommunications network.National Coordination Office for the
HPCC Program is established at NLM which funds grants to connect
educational institutions and local hospitals to NLM's databases.MLA
participates in Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Information
Management Task Force which is charged to develop new standards
on hospital information management, including library services.
|
1992 |
Platform
for Change, MLA's educational policy statement, is published.
The focus is on the individual's responsibility for his/her own
lifelong learning.
|
1994 |
MLA adopts a code of ethics for
professional practice.The first volume, Reference
and Information Services in Health Sciences Libraries, of
the eight-volume series Current Practice in Health Sciences Libraries,
is published. This series is the successor to the four editions
of the Handbook of Medical Library Practice.
|
1995 |
MLA is joint sponsor of the 7th
International Congress on Medical Librarianship held in conjunction
with its annual meeting in Washington, DC.MLA participates on the
Education and Training Panel convened by the National Library of
Medicine that results in grants to study the future education and
training needs of health sciences librarians.MLA adopts a research
platform entitled Using Scientific
Evidence to Improve Information Practice. MLA mounts its
MLANET on the World Wide Web.
|
1996 |
NLM Milestone: Grateful Med available
to search MEDLINE and other databases.Bulletin of the Medical
Library Association (BMLA) launches electronic table
of contents on MLANET.
|
1997 |
NLM Milestone: Free web access to
MEDLINE via PUBMed and Internet Grateful Med is announced by Vice
President Albert J. Gore.MLA supports the provision of MEDLINE free
to the public.
|
1998 |
MLA's 100th anniversary celebration.
|
2000 |
MLA commissions
the Hay Group to conduct a study about how organizations compensate
medical library professionals performing information technology oriented
roles, and how that compensation compares to IT professionals. Summary
information is available in the MLANET members-only area. |