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2010 MeSH/MARC

Download of any of the full data files requires the completion of an online memorandum of understanding.

Conversion Information

MeSH/MARC files available to download

Beginning with 2009 MeSH, if any changes in MeSH data are made in the middle of the year, a monthly full file and change file with these changes will be made available. Note that these monthly change files will include only changes made during that month - the changes are not cumulative. Mid-year change files that are available are indicated below.

The data are encoded in MARC-8. These files can only be transferred via FTP into a save file. A file extension of .bin has been used to prompt the local receiving computer to automatically open a file to save the data.

For users of Internet Explorer, if you want to save a file to your local hard drive rather than open it, you must right-click the link and then select Save Target As....

The full file is estimated to take 5 minutes to download on a T3 communications line (at 45 Mbps) and longer on slower lines.

  • Annual files
    • Sample file contains 41 descriptor records, 83 qualifier records, and 869 descriptor/qualifier combinations, for a total of 993 records. Download sample file [317KB]
      • Label file provides size and other statistics for the sample file. [72B]

    • Update-only file contains new and modified terms with 4,418 descriptor records, 30 qualifier records, and 11,656 descriptor/qualifier combinations, for a total of 16,104 records. Download update-only file [7MB]
      • Label file provides size and other statistics for the update file. [77B]
    • Full file contains all terms with 25,588 descriptor records, 83 qualifier records, and 572,904 descriptor/qualifier combinations, for a total of 598,575 records. Download full file [147MB]
      • Label file provides size and other statistics for the full file. [79B]

    Summary contents of files. 2010 MeSH/MARC. September 1, 2009.

    FileTotal RecordsFile SizeBytes
    Full File598,575147MB154,416,223
    Update-only File16,1047MB6,960,480
    Sample File993317KB324,945
  • Monthly change files

    Summary contents of monthly files. 2010 MeSH/MARC.
    MonthTotal RecordsFile SizeBytes
    October 200921.5KB1,520
    November 2009116KB6,136
    December 20091
    .38KB383
    January 2010000
    February 201011KB992
    March 2010000
    April 2010000
    May 2010000
    June 2010000
If you have questions concerning the content of MeSH/MARC files or FTP of MeSH/MARC data, please contact:
Jacque-Lynne Schulman
Medical Subject Headings
Telephone: 301-496-1495; FAX: 301-402-2002
email: schulman@nlm.nih.gov