By about 4:30 a.m. every day, two colonial- era cooks—Nathan and Lucy, both slaves—were well into their typical work day on Mount Vernon plantation near Alexandria, Va. We know from historical record that a cook’s duties would have included lighting fires in the kitchen hearth for breakfast prep, and perhaps in the dining room for…
In Quick Q&A, NLM staff share a bit about why they’re motivated and inspired. We also ask them to add something surprising about themselves. For our third Quick Q&A, we reached three scientists in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) who work in the Statistical Computational Biology Group. Meet John Spouge, Mileidy Gonzalez, and…
Dr. Patti Brennan’s new blog launched yesterday, and we’re all invited to read—and comment—as she shares her experiences heading the world’s largest biomedical library, the US National Library of Medicine. She chose to call her new blog NLM Musings from the Mezzanine, which reflects the variety of postings we can expect and the location of…
The National Library of Medicine is helping young historians discover its rich collections related to the National History Day 2017 theme, “Taking a Stand.” Middle school and high school students throughout the US are preparing projects for History Day, which takes place throughout the school year, with the national finals held over several days—June 11-15,…
In Quick Q&A, NLM staff share a bit about why they’re motivated and inspired. We also ask them to add something surprising about themselves. For our second Quick Q&A, we reached four scientists in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) who work in the Computational Biophysics group. Meet Anna Panchenko and her team: Alexander…
The steady rhythm of drums. The smell of sage. The sense of community. You’ve arrived at a Native American powwow. The powwow program at NLM is entering its fifteenth year this month. NLM staff travel up and down the East Coast from New York to North Carolina to about a dozen powwows per year between…
Celebrities share health struggles. Expert health advice. Discoveries that will help in the future. NIH MedlinePlus magazine has been bringing trusted health information to consumers since 2006. This quarterly publication of NIH and the Friends of the National Library of Medicine brings accurate and timely information on health topics to patients and helps explain how NIH…
When NLM Director Patricia Flatley Brennan, PhD, called on NLM staff to unleash their creativity and provide art that captured the “Beauty of Science,” they answered with 23 submissions. Entries included 3D imaging of T-cells, a scarf woven with a double helix, scientific photographs, blown glass, a hand-carved wooden stamp of the Library’s front facade,…
A disease once spoken about in hushed tones and whispers—library voices, if you will—in the early 1980s became the centerpiece of a groundbreaking outreach effort at the National Library of Medicine in 1994. As the Library announces this year’s funded projects, we look at how NLM’s AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP) has improved information…
We’ve gone from 22 users to 601 million and from thousands to billions of searches. Check out what else has changed over the last 45 years. Notable MEDLINE Events, 1971-2016 1971 2006 (Fiscal Year 2005 Statistics) 2016 (Fiscal Year 2015 Statistics) 236 indexed journals 1,222 indexed journals by September 1972 4,928 indexed journals 5,618 indexed…
