Bibliographic Services Division Home Page

The Bibliographic Services Division (BSD), a part of Library Operations at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), provides access to biomedical literature references. It does this primarily through MEDLARS® (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System), the Library's well-known computer-based system for storing and retrieving bibliographic and factual information, and the printed products derived from this system, such as Index Medicus® (a monthly listing of references to current articles from over 3,600 of the world's biomedical journals published in about 30 languages), International Nursing Index, Index to Dental Literature and others.

The Division is composed of two Sections:

Index Section - creates and maintains the MEDLINE® database containing references to current articles from over 4,500 of the world's biomedical journals including the data used to produce Index Medicus®; coordinates the data entry, indexing, and commentary contracts.
MEDLARS Management Section (MMS) - provides access to bibliographic databases and publications through its overall development and management activities. Is also responsible for: assuring database quality through testing and quality assurance initiatives; expanding access to health professionals and the general public through training, outreach and documentation; supporting new developments in Web access to NLM databases by responding to user feedback; answering specialized customer inquiries; coordinating data distribution and licensing activities; and coordinating participation of non-NLM collaborating data suppliers.

The Office of the Chief coordinates:

Interactions with publishers and editors of biomedical journals and assisting the NLM Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC) in their review of journals for inclusion in MEDLINE®/Index Medicus®. A list of committee members is available.
Access to the UMLS database and support of its licensees.
Promotion.
The Trademark, Copyright and Domain Name contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Publications

NLM Technical Bulletin - a bimonthly newsletter for online searchers
Index Medicus (IM) - bibliographic listing of references to current articles from over 3,300 of the world's biomedical journals published in about 30 languages.
Cumulated Index Medicus (CIM) - a cumulation of citations appearing in Index Medicus®, generally appearing in May of the following year.
Abridged Index Medicus (AIM) - subset of citations from 120 English language clinical journals indexed for Index Medicus. While this publication is no longer available in print it does still exist as an electronic tag that is a subset available when searching MEDLINE via PubMed.

Sample References

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References

Staff Presentations

Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Basics Training Class slides (June 2003)
Indexing for MEDLINE (presentation to Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Animal Use Information, April 2000)
MEDLINE to PubMed and Beyond (December 1998)

Contact Information:

Bibliographic Services Division: Sheldon Kotzin, Chief; Lou Knecht, Deputy Chief (Ms.); Ann Bornstein, Secretary; Bibliographic Services Division; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 496-6217; FAX: (301) 496-0822
Index Section: James Marcetich, Head; Fred Bowell, Secretary; Index Section; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 496-3261
Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC): Sheldon Kotzin, Executive Editor MEDLINE/ Index Medicus; LSTRC Scientific Review Administrator; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 496-6217; FAX: (301) 496-0822
MEDLARS Management Section: David Gillikin, Head; Renee McLean-Banks, Library Technician; MEDLARS Management Section; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 402-1076; FAX: (301) 496-0822
Unified Medical Language System (UMLS): Carolyn Tilley; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 402-1076; FAX: (301) 496-0822
Promotion: Karen Hajarian; Director of Promotion; National Library of Medicine; 8600 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, MD 20894; Phone: (301) 402-4277; FAX: (301) 496-0822

Last updated: 18 October 2004
First published: 01 January 1996
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanent: Dynamic Content