In This Issue:
"ClinicalTrials.gov"
Launched
49
High-Tech Projects
New
Version of PubMed
Marcetich
Named Head of Index Section
New
Policy on Clinical Alerts
NLM
Long Range Plan in Place
New
Regents Named
"Racism,
Sexism and Poverty are Hazardous to Our Health"
Lakota
Officials and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Leaders Visit Library
MEDLINEplus
Adds Medical Encyclopedia
"PubMed
Central" Debuts
NLM
"Adopts" D.C.'s Woodrow Wilson Senior High School
Hospital
and Health Administration Index
Images
from the History of Medicine Rescanned
NLM's
"Breath of Life" Exhibit Extended Through March 2001
In Every Issue:
Names
in the News
Products
and Publications
NLM
In Print
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NLM Long Range Plan in Place
Will Chart Library's Course Through 2005
NLM recently completed a new Long Range Plan for 2000-2005. This
is the latest chapter in the Library's very successful long range
planning under Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, who became NLM Director in
1984.
In 1985, the NLM Board of Regents sought to develop a 20-year
Long Range Plan to guide the Library in using its human, physical
and financial resources to fulfill its mission. Supplemental reports
in the years following addressed specific topics, such as outreach
to underserved health professionals and electronic imaging, that
required a fresh look due to dramatic changes in the social and
technological landscape in which the NLM operates. The Library's
planning efforts have guided it in resource allocation and program
direction, and have led to major new programs, such as outreach, the
Visible Humans and the National Center for Biotechnology
Information.
In 1999, the Board of Regents asked the Director to prepare a new
Long Range Plan for the Library, for the next five years. The Track
Record, prepared as a first step in this process, summarized these
past planning efforts, and noted specifically those recommendations
that have been substantially accomplished, and those that require
additional attention and/or a redirection of program efforts.
The Track Record was shared with approximately 250 individuals,
many of whom had participated in previous NLM planning panels.
Comments were received from roughly a hundred respondents. These
comments were reviewed carefully, summarized, and discussed with the
Board of Regents at its September meeting, and again at a highly
successful December 1, 1999, meeting at NLM. The purpose of the
December meeting was to bring together a group of interested
individuals representing important constituent groups, to discuss
the overall NLM plan, and to comment on high priority areas
previously identified by the Board of Regents.
The Plan identifies four overall goals for NLM:
- Organize Health-Related Information and Provide Access to It
- Encourage Use of High Quality Information by Health
Professionals and the Public
- Strengthen the Informatics Infrastructure of Biomedicine and
Health
- Conduct and Support Informatics Research
Within the structure of these four goals, the Plan identifies
seven priorities, in addition to support of basic library services:
- Health information for the public
NLM has
historically focused its services and products on an audience of
health professionals and biomedical scientists. With widespread
deployment of computers and telecommunications, the time is now
right for NLM to provide access to health information that is
useful both to the general public and to practitioners who need
information outside their particular field of expertise. The Plan
also recommends that NLM promote research on ways that information
services can improve personal health care decisions and outcomes.
- Molecular biology information systems
The Plan
recommends that NLM continue its commitment to organize genomic
data to meet the rapidly evolving genome research agenda. The
explosive growth in the fields of genetics and molecular biology,
spurred largely by the worldwide success of the Human Genome
Project, has resulted in staggering amounts of data that have
increased by many orders of magnitude over the past decade. The
challenge for the next decade will be to keep pace with the flood
of genome data, while also designing the tools and databases for
the gene discoveries of the 21st century -- discoveries that will
advance understanding of molecular processes affecting human
health and disease.
- Training for computational biology
The nation's
biomedical research enterprise needs more trained professionals in
computational biology, including mathematical modeling in the life
sciences, imaging and molecular biology. NLM should contribute to
NIH efforts to increase the number of people who are trained in
computational biology, by building on its unique informatics
training program that bridges the gap between basic and clinical
research.
- Definition of the research publication of the future
NLM should play an active role in defining the research
publication of the future. Electronic methods for disseminating
biomedical research results (such as PubMed Central; see related
article in NLM NEWSLINE) are being developed, keeping pace with
the rapid improvements to electronic computing and communications
technologies. As a major player in the management of scientific
information, NLM should contribute to the development of new forms
of publishing which can provide more rapid exchange of
information, increased multimedia capabilities, the opportunity
for lower dissemination costs, and wider global accessibility.
- Permanent access to electronic information
The rapid
increases in electronic publishing and technological change make
the problem of ensuring long-term access to electronic information
difficult. The Plan recommends that NLM be a leader in responding
to the problem of impermanence of electronic information. As a
creator, organizer and disseminator of information in electronic
form, NLM has a responsibility to contribute to the development of
technical methods and affordable collaborative strategies. Success
will require collaboration with other libraries and a range of
stakeholders to develop the necessary technical standards, and
scalable national and international approaches required to ensure
permanent access.
- Fundamental informatics research
The Plan notes that
advances in computing, storage, and communications provide new
opportunities for productive basic research in medical informatics
and digital libraries. NLM should increase resources for
extramural and intramural research in these areas. A major problem
for research is how to build robust systems that can produce "just
in time" answers to specific questions that occur to busy
clinicians in the context of direct patient care. The Plan
suggests that NLM should explore the potential of research and
development in information systems that move beyond information
retrieval to provide specific knowledge needed for clinical
decision-making. A related research issue is how to help patients
and families find information specific to their immediate health
concerns.
- Global health partnerships
The increasing
globalization of knowledge has made it clear that domestic and
international functions of the NLM are not separable. The Plan
reaffirms the international mission of NLM. In particular, the
Library should focus on establishing new partnerships to leverage
its resources. It should also seek to improve the effectiveness of
the international initiatives of others (e.g., health science
centers and libraries, research funders, donor organizations,
non-governmental organizations, etc.) through improved access to
and use of new computer and information technology and knowledge
management tools. It is important that NLM carefully select
targets of opportunity for involvement in areas of the world where
NLM can make a difference.
Overall responsibility for the development of the Long Range Plan
rested with Susan Buyer, Chief, Office of Planning and Analysis, and
Elliot Siegel, PhD, Associate Director for Health Information
Programs Development.
The NLM Long Range Plan 2000-2005 will be available shortly on
the NLM web site and will also be printed as a report. To receive a
printed copy of the plan when it is published, please send your name
and mailing address to publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov, or
call the NLM Office of Communications, 301-496-6308. |