he NLM Classification, available online at http://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/class/, has a new look for 2005. The new design includes a customized banner for the NLM Classification and conforms more closely to the overall style of the National Library of Medicine site. A sub-navigation bar has been added for user convenience to link to other locations. In addition, a poster outlining the NLM Classification will be made available at MLA 2005 in San Antonio. The poster can be ordered from the homepage for shipment after May 20, 2005.

The 2005 edition incorporates all additions and changes to the schedules and index from April 20, 2004 through April 2005.

Major Changes

• NLM established a new range of numbers in QU for cells (QU 300-400) and genetic concepts (QU 450-550). These topics were formerly scattered in various numbers in the Library of Congress general biology schedule, QH. Incorporating the new numbers into NLM's schedules allows specific medical classification of subjects that have become integral to biomedicine and often have significant clinical importance. The numbers also improve the collocation of medically relevant materials, keeping works arranged by subject in a manner more closely aligned with the hierarchical arrangement of the MeSH thesaurus.
  
  
• New numbers were added for works in the areas of military medicine, naval medicine, and veterans' health to better integrate clinical materials into the NLM schedules. Formerly, these subjects were classified in various parts of schedules "U" (Military Science) and "V" (Naval Science) of the Library of Congress scheme. The changes were needed because the Library of Congress now classifies clinical material on these topics in Schedule "R," its range for medicine, a schedule that NLM does not use.
  
  
• New class numbers were added and existing class numbers were canceled as needed to reflect other changes in MeSH and the biomedical and related sciences literature cataloged.

Other Changes to the Schedule

• Selected class number captions were augmented to clarify their scope, e.g., at WY 157, Nurse midwifery was added to Obstetrical nursing.
  
• Selected schedule outlines were changed to reflect changes in MeSH , e.g., Forensic Medicine and Dentistry was broadened to Forensic Sciences.
  
  
• Various instructional notes were added or modified to clarify classification practices, e.g., notes were added at the beginning of the WY schedule to clarify classification of works on nursing care vs. background materials for nurses and nursing care of specific diseases.
  
  
• Public health statistics for monographs now are exclusively classed at WA 900, rather than in WA 16.

New Table G Numbers
The following Table G numbers were added to the outline of geographic tables used in the NLM Classification (see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/class/TableGOutline.html) to cover international organizations.

MC6-Commonwealth of Independent States

MN2-North Atlantic Treaty Organization

CHANGES TO THE INDEX

• Ninety-three (93) new main index entries were created, sixty-seven (67) of which are from the 2005 MeSH; the remainder are MeSH terms from previous years.
  
  
• Numerous main index entries and cross references were modified to reflect changes in the MeSH vocabulary. In particular, major categories of index terms affected by MeSH changes include:
  
  

  Historical Events, e.g.,

  History of Medicine, 15th Cent. to History, 15th Century

  Animals, e.g.,

  Pongidae to Hominidae

  Reproduction, e.g.,

  Puerperium to Postpartum Period

  
  
• Various instructional notes were added to index entries to clarify classification practices. For example, to more fully account for their medically relevant facets, improved classification guidance has been added to the index for certain headings in the behavioral sciences, ethics, anthropology, and comparative anatomy.
  
  
• All index entries pertaining to the aforementioned schedule additions and changes were modified.

To learn more about the NLM Classification, see the Fact Sheet.

By Sharon R. Willis and Paul DeAnna, Ph. D.
Cataloging Section, Technical Services Division

Willis SR, DeAnna P. NLM Classification 2005 Edition Now Available. NLM Tech Bull. 2005 Mar-Apr;(343):e10.