Frank Bradway Rogers Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 465

Abstract

Frank Rogers was director of the NLM from 1949 until 1963 and was largely responsible for the NLM achieving national status. Primarily correspondence, this collection highlights Rogers' early work at the NLM and for medical librarianship.

Dates

1949-1981

Extent

3.95 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Creator

Rogers, Frank B. (Frank Bradway), 1914-1987 (Person)

Physical Location

Materials stored onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English

Restrictions

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

Copyright and Re-use Information

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.

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Biographical Note

Frank Bradway Rogers was the first permanent Director of the Army Medical Library. He also served as the Director of the University of Colorado Medical Center Library at Denver from 1963 through 1975. As a surgical resident at Walter Reed Army Hospital, he was offered the position of head of the Army Medical Library. He subsequently received a library degree from Columbia, and continued to instill the belief that a physician should be head of the National Library of Medicine.

His tenure at the library, 1949-1963, was one of major changes. It included instituting a new classification system, closing of the Index Catalogue, development of computerized indexing and retrieval projects culminating in MEDLARS, loaning microfilm in lieu of materials when possible, planning and construction of a new building, and a major organizational change from the Army Medical Library to the Armed Forces Library to the National Library of Medicine as part of the Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health.

Collection Summary

Correspondence, speeches, research materials, and administrative reports highlight Rogers' early work at the NLM and for medical librarianship. The 1952 correspondence, in particular, discusses Rogers' paper comparing and contrasting the Library of Congress and Armed Forces Medical Library subject classification systems. Additionally, administrative files and correspondence related to the Johns-Hopkins research project to analyze medical indexing are included. There is a large set of speeches and presentations delivered at a wide variety of occasions.

Another significant portion of the collection consists of internal narrative reports compiled by each AML operational division. These provide more detailed information about functional activities than appears in the AML Annual Report. Files designated as "Corner Committee" and others document the negotiations and politics of transferring the AML from the Army to the Public Health Service and NIH, and the concomitant issues of needing a new building and defining the Library's role as a national library.