Skip to main content

Medical Library Association Archives

 Collection
Identifier: MLA 1

Abstract

Founded on May 2, 1898, by four librarians and four physicians at the suggestion of George M. Gould, M.D., editor of the Philadelphia Medical Journal, the Medical Library Association (MLA) is the second oldest special library association in the United States.

Dates

  • 1898-2002

Extent

787 Linear Feet

Creator

Physical Location

Materials stored offsite. 30 days prior notice required for delivery. Retrievals made last Friday of the month. Contact the NLM Support Center for scheduling.

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival collections often contain mixed copyrights; while NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Historical Note

Founded on May 2, 1898, by four librarians and four physicians at the suggestion of George M. Gould, M.D., editor of the Philadelphia Medical Journal, the Medical Library Association (MLA) is the second oldest special library association in the United States. Membership was limited to librarians representing medical libraries of not less than 500 volumes and with regular library hours and attendance. The Association of Medical Librarians (as it was known until 1907) was founded "to encourage the improvement and increase of public medical libraries".

MLA has grown to a professional organization of more than 1,200 institutions and 3,800 professionals in the health information field. It continues to assist librarians with the exchange of health sciences books and periodicals (the MLA Exchange is one of the founders' earliest and most important projects) and to develop a variety of programs to serve the needs of health information specialists.

MLA is dedicated to improving excellence and leadership of the health information professional to foster the art and science of health information services. It furthers the professional development of our members through career information resources, meetings, publications, courses, awards, scholarships, and various support services. The association also serves as an advocate for the profession and for all health sciences libraries and librarians.

Excerpted from http://www.mlanet.org/about/overview.html.

Collection Summary

The Medical Library Association papers document the growth of the organization through correspondence, journals, surveys, minutes, and photographs. Series numbers reflect record group numbers used by the association. Not all record groups are accounted for in this guide.

Abstract

Founded on May 2, 1898, by four librarians and four physicians at the suggestion of George M. Gould, M.D., editor of the Philadelphia Medical Journal, the Medical Library Association (MLA) is the second oldest special library association in the United States.

Physical Location

Materials stored offsite. 30 days prior notice required for delivery. Retrievals made last Friday of the month. Contact the NLM Support Center for scheduling.

Provenance

Gift of Medical Library Association. Periodic additions are made to the collection. Contact Curator for additional finding aids.

General

Processed by
HMD Staff
Processing Completed
2002
Encoded by
Cynthia Rand; John P. Rees
Title
Finding Aid to the Medical Library Association Archives, 1898-2002
Status
Edited Full Draft
Author
HMD Staff
Date
2002
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latn
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English
Edition statement
1.0

Revision Statements

  • July 2004: PUBLIC "-//National Library of Medicine::History of Medicine Division//TEXT (US::DNLM::MLA 1::Medical Library Association Archives)//EN" "mla" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).

Collecting Area Details

Part of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Collection Collecting Area

Contact:
8600 Rockville Pike
Bldg 38/1E-21, MSC 3819
Bethesda MD 20894 US
1-888-FINDNLM (1-888-346-3656)