Medical library

A health or medical library is designed to assist physicians, health professionals, students, patients, consumers, medical researchers, and information specialists in finding health and scientific information to improve, update, assess, or evaluate health care. Medical libraries are typically found in hospitals, medical schools, private industry, and in medical or health associations. A typical health or medical library has access to MEDLINE, a range of electronic resources, print and digital journal collections, and print reference books. The influence of open access (OA) and free searching via Google and PubMed has a major impact on the way medical libraries operate. A health or medical library is designed to assist physicians, health professionals, students, patients, consumers, medical researchers, and information specialists in finding health and scientific information to improve, update, assess, or evaluate health care. Medical libraries are typically found in hospitals, medical schools, private industry, and in medical or health associations. A typical health or medical library has access to MEDLINE, a range of electronic resources, print and digital journal collections, and print reference books. The influence of open access (OA) and free searching via Google and PubMed has a major impact on the way medical libraries operate. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the largest biomedical library in the world, and collects and provides access to some of the best health information in the world (due to its linkage to the National Institutes of Health). The NLM maintains numerous medical and genomic databases, searchable via its Entrez search system, including MEDLINE (PubMed) and OMIM (a genetic traits database). The largest medical library in Europe is the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED), which also has collections in the fields of nutrition, agriculture, and environmental science. ZB MED operates as the official European supplier of full texts in response to searches conducted in the NLM's bibliographic databases such as PubMed, and also operates its own search portals. A 2013 survey of health care providers in the United States concluded from its data that professionals in the health care industry perceive access to medical libraries valuable. The same study further concluded that health care professionals feel that information they get from libraries has a positive impact on patient care. To become accredited, every American and Canadian college of medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, or public health is required to have a health or medical library appropriate to the needs of the school, as specified by an accrediting body, such as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)'s standards. These accreditation standards include having qualified library staff on hand to answer reference questions, and provide training in using electronic resources. Some academic medical libraries are located in the same building as the general undergraduate library but most are located near or in the medical college or faculty. In support of open access to the journal literature, the U.S. NLM established an online library of digital journal articles, PubMed Central (PMC), which will soon be supplemented by a UK version. NLM works with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) to provide regional medical library support in the United States, while its consumer health information service MEDLINEplus offers free access to health information, images, and interactive tutorials. Many countries like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have well-developed medical libraries, though nothing quite as evolved as the U.S. NLM. Medical librarians are skilled professionals who assist with resources and research in the medical professions. The focus of the medical librarian is to emphasize the use of evidence based research and practice. This can be for both medical research or medical practice. As well the medical librarian is expected be a resource for assisting with publishing and presentation of research. Medical librarians use web based resources to conduct research and help generate evidence based approaches to healthcare. Organizations such as the MLA set standards for what a medical librarian should follow in practice. The Medical Library Association (MLA) is a Chicago-based advocate for library professionals and health sciences libraries - primarily in the United States. MLA maintains an online list of ALA-accredited library school programs for those who would like to pursue a master's degree in library and information studies in the US and Canada (MLIS). It furthermore administers the U.S credentialing organization for medical librarians, the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP). The main network for medical libraries in the United States is the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM).