Good morning. I am delighted to be here representing NLM. It's interesting that this is the second time I have participated in a HSOCLCUG meeting in New Orleans, so I titled my talk "Jazzin' it up at NLM - Redux". What I'd like to do today is give you a brief overview of NLM products and services, including those that you indicated are of most interest to this group. Then, I'd like to focus on and provide a demonstration of the new online version of the NLM Classification which became available on the web in May 2001.

Systems Reinvention: Locatorplus

In terms of systems reinvention, the Library is making significant strides in its efforts to convert bibliographic data from the legacy ELHILL retrieval system to other Web-based retrieval systems. In June 2001, NLM completed an over two-year systems reinvention effort to integrate 160,000 special producer monographs and chapter records from Elhill legacy files (HEALTHSTAR, HISTLINE, SPACELINE, BIOETHICSLINE, POPLINE, and MED66) into Locatorplus.

Users should be aware that it is important to verify that the title is an NLM "cataloged" record by clicking on the MARCVIEW in Locatorplus to verify that the local NLM field 999 is coded "AUTH" or "CIP". These are the values that are used for "cataloged" titles and those for which CIP bibliographic data have been prepared. In terms of authority control, special producer organizations which are creating monograph and chapter records for Locatorplus are searching in the NLM authority file and are expected to use the headings established for corporate names and conferences, as well as series titles. However, personal names are not being verified in the authority file.

Systems Reinvention: PubMed

This year, NLM also made progress towards similar integration of special producer article citations into PubMed. In May, approximately 6,200 AIDS-related journal citations related to AIDS were added to Medline and are now searchable in PubMed. Monograph chapter records were removed from MEDLINE and, since June, these are accessible in Locatorplus. In addition, 7200 article citations from SPACELINE were added to PubMed and close to 900 space life sciences meeting abstracts were made available via the NLM Gateway (http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd).

PubMed

In addition to these changes in database content, there were other improvements to PubMed. In March 2001, NLM made available a Web-based interactive tutorial for PubMed that enables anyone using a computer with Internet access to learn about PubMed. You can reach the tutorial by clicking "Tutorial" from the PubMed sidebar or by going directly to the URL link for the tutorial which I have listed here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/pubmed_tutorial/m1001.html. Since its debut, the tutorial has been revised to included new graphics, changes to navigational buttons, and a new module to cover the "cubby". It is also Section 508 compliant.

LinkOut for Libraries

LinkOut for Libraries, a feature added to PubMed in April, enables libraries to display their icons on the Abstract and Citation formats in PubMed. This allows patrons of participating libraries to see which articles they can obtain electronically in full text and link to them directly. To participate, a library must submit "electronic" holdings data to NLM.Holdings data indicate LinkOut journals for which the library has subscriptions.

There are now several subject subsets available in PubMed: AIDS, Complementary Medicine, Toxicology, Space Life Sciences, and Bioethics. Each uses its own specialized search strategy developed by NLM. The AIDS, Toxicology, Space Life Sciences, and Bioethics subsets aid in the retrieval of citations on these topics. The Complementary Medicine subset was created for CAM on PubMed, a joint project between NLM and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to facilitate searching for articles in this subject area.

Systems Reinvention: End of an Era

Internet Grateful Med, which since 1996 has as provided a user-friendly, Web-based interface to many of NLM's information resources, was retired at the end of September 2001. Access to Elhill and all legacy databases was ended as of September 28, 2001, marking a watershed in the library's computer infrastructure.

Systems Reinvention: NLM Gateway

Looking towards the demise of Elhill, NLM developed the NLM Gateway as a Web-based system that lets users search simultaneously in multiple retrieval systems at the National Library of Medicine. It allows users of NLM services to initiate searches from one Web interface, providing "one-stop searching" for many of NLM's information resources or databases. The current Gateway searches Medline/PubMed, Oldmedline, Locatorplus, Medlineplus, Dirline, AIDS Meetings, Health Services Research Meetings, HSRProj, and, as of September 5, 2001, Space Life Sciences Meetings.

In the NLM Gateway, Author Name Searching is only possible against certain collections. For those collections searchable by author names, enter the author name in the format last name plus initials (no punctuation), followed by the field qualifier, [au] or [author]. Author names must be enclosed in quotes.

For example:

"Harris MI" [AU]
"Charron-Prochownik D" [au]
"Siminerio LM" [au]
"Ferris FL 3rd" [author]
"Kovacs" [AUTHOR]

Because of limitations in the Voyager Z39.50 interface, this type of Author Name Searching has not been implemented for the Locatorplus collection (Books/Serials/AV's) in the current Gateway release. Instead, in order to search authors in Locatorplus via the Gateway, search an author as a keyword search using an author's last name without a field qualifier. For more information regarding author searching in the Gateway and the training classes available, see the NLM Gateway website at http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov.

Simplified URLs

NLM has completed the implementation of new, simplified URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) for five of its Web resources: in February 2001, locatorplus.gov for Locatorplus; in May 2001, docline.gov for DOCLINE and nnlm.gov for the Web site of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine; in June 2001, pubmed.gov was introduced for PubMed; and, most recently, pubmedcentral.gov was introduced for PubMed Central.

Cataloging News

Moving on to initiatives related to Cataloging, in September 2000, NLM published the NLM Classification, fifth edition, 1994, revised 1999. This print product is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office and may be ordered online at www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs. The online beta version of the NLM Classification became available on the web, debuting in May 2001 at the MLA annual meeting. Both the online and print versions incorporate all additions and changes as of 1999, including Index entries for several hundred new MeSH terms, published from 1994 to 1999 in the Medical Subject Headings - Annotated Alphabetic List. We'll talk more about the features and functionality of the online NLM Classification in a few minutes.

Conversion to pinyin Romananization

NLM has begun the conversion from Wade-Giles romanization of bibliographic records to the romanization scheme known as pinyin. The pinyin transliteration system for Chinese is replacing the Wade-Giles system which has been used in U.S. libraries for over four decades. NLM is working with OCLC to complete this conversion which is planned for sometime in 2002. For further details on how this conversion will impact NLM systems see NLM's Plan for Conversion from Wade-Giles to pinyin Romanization of Chinese Characters in Bibliographic and Authority Records on the NLM Web site at the URL:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/pinyinconversion.html

New Distribution Product: Catfileplus

CATFILEplus is a new product added to NLM's suite of bibliographic records for books, serials, audiovisuals, and other resources available in the MARC 21 format at no cost to licensees. The new data distribution includes NLM cataloging records, as well as monographs and monograph chapter records created by contributing special producers in the fields of bioethics, health technology assessment, history of medicine, population studies, and space. This data distribution replaces the distribution of monographs and chapter records previously found in BIOETHICSLINE, HealthSTAR, HISTLINE, POPLINE, and SPACELINE.

A major difference from the standard weekly CATFILE distribution is that subject headings in CATFILEplus are not recombined into the traditional subject heading string generally found in library catalogs. Subject headings are distributed in separate fields as they are stored in LOCATORplus, NLM's online public access catalog, specifically in MARC 21 fields 650, 651, 655 and the NLM locally-defined field 659. CATFILEplus is made available to licensees to ftp on a monthly basis.

NLM Bibliographic Control Numbers on OCLC (MARC 21 Field 016)

As of April 2001, NLM's bibliographic control numbers appear in the OCLC Worldcat in the 016
National Bibliographic Agency Control Number field rather than in the 069 - Other System Control Number field previously used for this purpose. This change is the result of OCLC's implementation of the MARC 21 field 016 as defined in MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, published by the Library of Congress. This change is of particular importance to catalogers and other users of NLM records on OCLC accustomed to locating the NLM bibliographic control number in the 069 field.

Classification Practices

Two new classification numbers have been added to the NLM Classification, fifth edition, 1994 revised 1999 since the publication of this tool in September 2000. In the "WZ" schedule, for the classification of biography of individuals in particular specialties, "WZ 112.5.G2" has been added for gastroenterologists and "WZ 112.5.P3" has been added for pediatricians.
For the present, NLM continues to announce changes and additions to the NLM Classification in the NLM Technical Bulletin.

In a change in classification practice, all new journals with citable articles are being classed in W1, with the exception of serials in the field of information science which are classed in the appropriate Library of Congress Z schedule. Prior to the implementation of this policy, journals outside the field of biomedicine were classed in an appropriate LC number.

Subject Cataloging

With the adoption of 1999 MeSH, NLM announced changes in its subject cataloging practices and since then MeSH headings on NLM bibliographic records have been structured one way internally at NLM and another way for external distribution to OCLC and other licensees. NLM encourages organizations to let us know whether to continue to distribute the MeSH subjects in the traditional library string or whether to distribute subject information following NLM internal practices.

NLM and Metadata

Moving on to electronic resources, NLM joined the OCLC CORC (Cooperative Online Resource Catalog) project in March of 2000 in order to evaluate the Dublin Core data element set and to apply the experience gained to develop an experimental metadata element set that can be applied NLM-wide.

In October 2000, the NLM Director approved the recommendations of the NLM Task Group on Metadata and Methods of Recording Permanence levels. These recommendations included guidelines for an initial standardized set of metadata elements to be used for NLM electronic resources that will be tested in a variety of program areas throughout the library. Based on the Dublin Core, the proposed data element set includes expansions and modifications as required by NLM and has evolved even since the Director's initial approval.

For a look at the process of implementing standardized meta-data at NLM, see the presentation written by Diane L. Boehr, Head of Unit II in the Cataloging Section, which was presented at the American Library Association annual meeting in July 2000. This presentation titled "Developing the use of metadata at the National Library of Medicine: from planning to implementation" is available on the web at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/metadata/index.htm.

NLM is very closely monitoring the development of the Dublin Core and the associated "Library Application Profile" with the view to maintaining as much synchronicity as possible between these standards and NLM's local interpretations. To give some highlights, the NLM Task force on Meta-Data embraced the following principles in preparing its recommendations. Because this standard has become an important part of the emerging infrastructure of the Internet and has attracted broad ranging international and interdisciplinary support, the NLM metadata element set is based on the Dublin Core but with modifications to meet NLM's requirements. Use of the Dublin Core increases the searchability of metadata across repositories in multiple domains.

The NLM metadata element set is intended to be "simple to use" and initial metadata creation should be the responsibility of the resource creator or person responsible for promoting the resource to the Web. Only those resources to which NLM assigns a permanence rating of "permanent" will receive a more detailed metadata element set, with authorized, consistent forms of names and subjects (or, in a word, cataloging) and these cataloged electronic resources will be included in Locatorplus.

To outline the expansions and modifications required by NLM for its metadata element set would take more time than we have today. Briefly, though, as opposed to the Dublin Core, where all fields are optional and repeatable, NLM has mandated that some fields are required (for example, the title) and that some fields are non-repeatable (again, for example, the title). NLM has also defined specific fields to accommodate permanence data related to archiving electronic resources. Once the NLM metadata element set has been tested and firmly established, it will be made publicly available.

Electronic Resources: Selection

As we grapple with metadata and digital resources, NLM has also developed selection and cataloging policies related to electronic resources. NLM selects electronic biomedical monographs, journals, databases, digital collections, and other web resources for standard descriptive control. The Library's selection guidelines were originally drafted in 1996 and finalized as an internal working document in 1997. The Library plans to revise and publish these guidelines in conjunction with the forthcoming revision of the Collection Development Manual of the National Library of Medicine.

It is likely that many of the principles of the earlier document will remain in effect, notably a selection focus on electronic resources which are:
1. Likely to have high research or reference value; (I.e. those which are content rich, well documented, and, where applicable, refereed;
2. Stable and seem likely to continue to be supported in the future;
3. Well-organized, displaying appropriate identifying information (such as author, title, update date, etc.)
4. Produced by authoritative sources, including international, U.S., national, regional, or state government and government sponsored organizations, professional societies of national or international importance, major trade or academic publishers, and educational and research institutions.

Electronic Resources: Cataloging

To lessen confusion for NLM catalog users and to properly route ILL requests, the Cataloging Section, last fall, implemented the single record approach for material issued in print and online formats. All indexed serial titles with multiple records in the database were converted to single records, and other serial records are being converted as they are encountered. NLM developed local application and coding for the 022 field to allow multiple 022s for the print and online versions to be stored with the record, while still following CONSER practice in outputting this data to our licensees. This local coding of the 022 field may be viewed in the MARCVIEW of Locatorplus and includes a local subfield $9 indicating whether the ISSN recorded is for the print or electronic version and whether the ISSN recorded is the primary version reflected in the cataloging record. Another local subfield 022 $0 contains qualifier of either "(Print)" or "(Online)" which displays in Locatorplus to differentiate the ISSNs for users of the NLM OPAC. NLM distributes only the ISSN coded as the primary version (e.g., $9 PY or $9 EY) to OCLC, so only the ISSN associated with the primary version appears in that database.

Electronic Resources: Staffing

As with other libraries, NLM staffing has been affected by the proliferation of electronic resources. In May, NLM added a position for a selector devoted to electronic resources. In addition, the Cataloging Section is cross-training all librarian staff to handle print and electronic materials.

SERHOLD

Moving on to SERHOLD, I would like to update you on our progress. In an effort to relieve libraries from having to key their holdings information into multiple systems, NLM has been working to establish several batch update programs which will either accept data from other systems, or output data from SERHOLD to external systems. At last year's ALA mid-winter, NLM met with the OCLC Union List Users group and staff from OCLC who were interested in working on a pilot project to import SERHOLD data into OCLC. NLM provided SERHOLD test data to OCLC several months ago and again in August 2001.

NLM is in the process of creating a special "library group" delimited union list product that will be available to OCLC on a quarterly basis. We have added two new fields to DOCUSER in preparation for batch update. Any library that wishes to participate in batch update can update the "Batch Update Authorization" and the "Date of Batch Update Authorization" fields in their DOCUSER record to indicate which method of batch update they plan to use. NLM will need to test further with OCLC and then we will work with the nine test libraries that have been identified in Regions 3 and 6. (Note that DOCLINE participants continue to have access to the union list products that are currently available through DOCLINE. Batch update is an additional service).

It will be up to each library to decide how best to update their library's holdings. As always, we encourage all libraries to update their holdings online using the SERHOLD functions within DOCLINE. This is the best way to ensure consistently up-to-date holdings.

NLM plans to make SERHOLD batch update available late this year and to begin SERHOLD to OCLC Batch update in the January to April 2002 timeframe. Other output and batch update methods are planned and NLM hopes to make MARC 21 output of SERHOLD data for an individual library available early in 2002. MARC 21 to SERHOLD batch update should be available by the end of 2002.

NLM will keep participants up-to-date about batch update via DOCLINE-L and there is a FAQ on this topic that may be of interest at http://ww.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_batch_update.html.

MeSH Topics

Moving on to MeSH, there were 847 new MeSH terms added this year, representing new concepts. One hundred eighty-five (185) descriptors were replaced with more up-to-date terminology and forty-seven (47) descriptors were deleted.

All Viruses were reviewed and updated to conform with the 7th Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Terminology related to complementary and alternative medicine was re-structured. Terminology related to plant family and genera headings have been greatly expanded with more use of the scientific Latin binomial names and less use of common names as preferred terminology, though common names were retained as entry terms. Through a joint effort with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, there was enlargement and enhancement of terminology in the area of bioethics and it should be noted that some fifty new descriptors were created and numerous other changes were made in MeSH in this regard. In addition, there are now fifty new categories of transport proteins listed under "Member Transport Proteins" and numerous changes to the trees were also made.

The MeSH Browser continues to make available two years of the MeSH vocabulary: the current year (default) and an alternate year accessible by a link on the MeSH Browser Home Page. There are no plans for the MeSH Brower to support subject links to specific class numbers, such as the form numbers for "atlases", "statistics", "popular works", etc. This may be possible from the online classification at some later point down the road.

MeSH 2002data will be made available in XML format, the same general format used for MEDLINE data and thus the replacement for data previously distributed in Elhill Unit Record format.

The MeSH Web site has been redesigned to make it easier to use and find information. The new page keeps everything in a compact arrangement so scrolling is eliminated.

UMLS Topics

The goal of the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project is to facilitate the development of applications that connect users and relevant machine-readable information from disparate sources. The UMLS involves a combination of three Knowledge Sources (the Metathesarus®, the Semantic Network, and the SPECIALIST Lexicon) plus a variety of lexical programs and a tool for producing custom subsets of the Metathesarus®.

From time to time, the NLM Technical Bulletin will include information about the UMLS, reporting on new developments and informing medical librarians and other readers about the UMLS. Recently, NLM introduced a new website at http://umlsinfo.nlm.nih.gov, a public site which provides a broad range of information on the UMLS that will be useful for both new and existing users.

The UMLS is a licensed NLM product. Information about the license and related copyright information is available at the new UMLS web site at http://umlsinfo.nlm.nih.gov.

History of Medicine Topics

NLM's and the British Library's "Turning the Pages" project, featuring Elizabeth Blackwell's A Curious Herbal (London, 1737-39), was completed and opened on March 16. This project is a system that uses computer animation, high quality digitized images, and touch screen technology to simulate the action of turning the pages of a book, in this case a beautiful and informative18th century herbal.

On May 21, the National Library of Medicine opened the exhibit, The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet. The exhibit may be viewed online at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/onceandfutureweb/.

Profiles in Science is a Web site (at the URL http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov) which makes the archival collections of prominent twentieth-century biomedical scientists available to the public through modern digital technology. This year, NLM mounted the papers of Marshall W. Nirenberg, an American biochemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or his work on deciphering the genetic code, as well as additional material to the Joshua Lederberg site where the latest update brings the total number of public documents up to 6,846. The newly released Lederberg materials are drawn from two writings subseries; his published reprints, which date from 1946-1999, and articles from his Washington Post newspaper column "Science and Man", which date roughly from 1965-1975. (N.B. Since this talk was given, the papers of Barbara McClintock, Ph.D., the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on "mobile genetic elements", have been added to the Profiles in Science site).

DOCLINE

NLM continues to work closely with RML Coordinators regarding DOCLINE system enhancements. DOCLINE® Version 1.3 was released September 29, 2001 with changes to DOCUSER and Loansome Doc. New Borrow (requests) features were also added. All these changes are detailed at the DOCLINE URL http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline/newdocline.html.

Collaborative Initiatives

There are several other partnership projects of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine that are of interest. The Grey Literature project is an agreement with the New York Academy of Medicine for the selection and cataloging of grey literature in the area of health technology assessment. The purpose is to enhance NLM's biomedical and health services related databases by expanding the Library's coverage of grey literature relating to health policy and public health, utilizing the expertise of the New Academy of Medicine staff who produce the Grey Literature Report.

NLM has also entered into an agreement with the New York Academy of Medicine to conduct a pilot project to determine the extent to which there are important monographs in need of preservation that are not held by NLM but are held by other U.S. biomedical libraries, such as the New York Academy, the Countway Library or the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The results of this analysis could be used to demonstrate the need for funding a national preservation program for biomedical libraries. OCLC's Automated Collection Assessment and Analysis Services will be utilized to conduct portions of this pilot study.

NLM has provided funding to the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) to support health sciences library participation in LibQUAL+, a research and development project undertaken by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in collaboration with Texas A & M University with financial support from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). LibQUAL+ is defining and measuring library service quality across institutions and creating useful quality-assessment tools for libraries; it is one of the ARL New Measures Initiative projects, which seek to develop innovative ways for libraries to describe their contributions to their institutions.

[N.B. The AAHSL and ARL are working jointly on the Spring 2002 pilot implementation of LibQUAL+ to develop a tool for measuring library service quality for academic medical libraries. Approximately 40 of the AAHSL 125 member libraries will participate in the pilot LibQUAL+ service effectiveness project].

Online NLM Classification

I'd like to spend the last portion of my talk on the features and a quick demonstration of the online NLM Classification. This online tool debuted in May 2001 at the Medical Library Association Annual meeting. The system is based on the NLM Classfication, 5th edition, 1994, revised 1999 and consists of the class schedules and the index mounted on the web as HTML pages which resemble the familiar print version.

The web version of the online NLM Classification takes advantage of the web-based model to provide hyperlinks from index headings to appropriate class numbers, from MeSH terms in the index to full descriptor data in the MeSH Browser, from cross-references within the index to the referred term, and between and among numbers within the text of the schedules. There are also hyperlinks to the geographic Table G tables. The online tool also provides links to useful documentation regarding classification practices, such as the Introduction to the Classification, which can assist in the cataloging process. The Table of Obsolete numbers lists numbers deleted from schedules from 1978 through 1998, the approximate deletion date, and the new class number for each concept.

The online NLM Classification utilizes "point and click" and "copy/paste"; functions of the Web browser and facilitates the cataloging process by allowing easy, "one-stop shopping" for the applicable MeSH term and its matching classification number, including geographic code if needed.

Using the online web tool, cataloging quality is enhanced because keyboarding is reduced and transcription of class numbers is no longer needed. Cataloging efficiency is supported with the elimination of page-turning. Additional efficiencies are provided by linked access to MeSH via the "tree" icons in the Index which allows quick look-up of descriptor data, including definition, annotations, allowable qualifiers, tree structure, see also references, and other information.

Searching instruction are available on the web at: http://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/class/searchhelp.html.

The Cataloging Section is currently developing an in-house editing system for the classification which will support more automated, as well as more timely, maintenance of the scheme. In this system, cross references and other entry terms will be updated automatically, assuring a quality product. A new production version is planned to be available in 2002 which will include additions and changes from MeSH 2000, MeSH 2001, and MeSH 2002. Future updates will be timed to coincide with annual MeSH updates and will includes separate search boxes for the 19th century schedule and Table G. When the editor is fully functional, NLM hopes to transition the online NLM Classification to a true database-driven public-access system, which will no longer be dependent on the flat HTML page model as currently is the case.

Judith Dzierba, Facilitator and Alice Jacobs, NLM