NLM ALCTS UPDATE - MIDWINTER 1995 NLM Classification NLM is pleased to announce that the fifth edition of the National Library of Medicine Classification will be available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office as of February 24, 1995. Prepared under the direction of Christa F.B. Hoffmann, Head, Cataloging Section, and Wen-min Kao, Principal Cataloger, who served as editor, the fifth edition updates the fourth revised edition published in 1981 and reprinted in 1992. Representing a major effort of the entire Cataloging Section staff with the assistance of many outside reviewers and inhouse consultants, it incorporates additions and changes made to the Classification since the publication of the fourth revised edition thirteen years ago. It includes revisions to selected schedules which were in special need of updating and also integrates into the Classification's index MeSH descriptors used in cataloging but not yet represented in the index to the fourth edition. To the extent possible, the terminology used in the index, headings, and scope notes has been updated to conform to current usage. The new edition contains close to 4,000 classification numbers and over 18,000 index terms including both the index entries and cross references. Approximately 300 new classification numbers have been added including new form numbers which are repeated in applicable schedules across the entire classification scheme. Most of the index entries are current MeSH descriptors. NLM catalogers began using the 5th edition of the NLM Classification on December 2, 1994, with the beginning of its internal 1995 production cycle, and bibliographic records containing these numbers appeared in CATLINEş and AVLINEş with the next weekly update of these databases. The Government Printing Office is now accepting orders for the fifth edition of the NLM Classification. The price is $40.00 (domestic) and $50.00 (foreign), and the stock number is 017-052-00319-4. 1995 MeSH/MARC file The 1995 MeSH/MARC file is scheduled for distribution in March. The major enhancement is the addition of MeSH Entry Combinations as cross-references. Entry combinations are used in NLM's online indexing system to map main heading/subheading combinations to the correct pre-coordinated heading, e.g., Knee--Injuries SEE Knee Injuries. In addition to tape distribution, NLM will offer the 1995 MeSH/MARC file to MeSH database subscribers via ftp. The availability of MeSH/MARC for ftp is viewed as a pilot project in the plans for distributing other NLM leased databases via ftp. MARC Distribution - Format Integration NLM has begun the internal database changes and input/output modifications necessary for implementing Phase 1 of Format Integration as it affects the variable length fields (010 and higher). NLM intends to complete the modifications to its databases, inputs, and distribution as well as quality control of Phase 1 by the end of April 1995. Tapes which conform to these changes should be in production no later than May 1995. It is our intent to continue producing tapes using existing software until we are able to put the variable length field changes outlined in USMARC Format for Bibliographic Data (March 1994) into place. Subscribers may request a hiatus in tape distribution if they are unable to accommodate this format. NLM expects to implement Phase 2 (affecting the fixed fields below 010) according to the timeframe adopted by the USMARC user community i.e., at the end of 1995. In conjunction with implementation of the 006 field in Phase 2, NLM will start to distribute non-print serials to AVLINE licensees. These are currently not distributed to either CATLINE or AVLINE subscribers. Investigation of Commercial Integrated Library Systems The assessment of commercial integrated library systems for application to NLM's basic library functions of acquisitions, cataloging, serials management, OPAC and circulation has become one of four projects in the Library's overall System Reinvention initiative. NLM's system reinvention includes the evaluation and selection of a new relational or object-oriented database system, the development of a new retrieval system, and an access model for gateways to NLM systems and databases. In addition to the basic functionality of any ILS, the working group is considering the compatibility of an off-the-shelf system within the framework of the other reinvention projects. The ILS working group is still in the process of conducting an informal market survey of existing commercial systems to determine whether NLM's requirements can be met by a system procurement. Contracts for serials To comply with a mandate from the NIH Division of Procurement, the NLM has altered its mechanism for acquiring journal literature. As a result, in late summer of 1994 five competitive contracts totaling some 2 1/2 million dollars in the first year were awarded. Readmore Subscription Service was selected to supply titles published in the United States and Canada. Swets Subscription Service will supply titles originating in western Europe. Smaller contracts for the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia were awarded to Blackwell Subscription Service, the Japan Publications Trading Company, and International Subscription Agency, respectively. SERHOLD The use of the Online SERHOLD Updating System continues to grow. SERHOLD is NLM's database containing an estimated 1.3 million serial holdings records for over 40,000 titles held by over 3100 biomedical libraries. As of January, 1995 over 75 online codes have been assigned to regional SERHOLD coordinators. These coordinators are using the system to update holdings for almost 900 libraries, or 28% of all SERHOLD participants. Although NLM continues to support batch updating using tapes, the use of Online SERHOLD improves the currency and accuracy of holdings data and thus improves document delivery via DOCLINE, NLM's online interlibrary loan request and referral system. NLM completed the redesign of its SERHOLD conversion program for OCLC holdings data in 1994. The new program creates more accurate SERHOLD holdings statements from the OCLC union list records and produces more usable exception reports of serial titles in OCLC that lack the NLM serial title control number link in the 069 field. Preservation Since 1993, NLM's preservation microfilming program has been focused on ensuring that high quality film exists for the brittle portions of all Index Medicus titles. This has involved inspecting commercially produced film and older NLM film produced before preservation level standards existed. Inspection of commercial film and older NLM film for U.S. Index Medicus titles has been completed. Inspection of older NLM film for 67% of the foreign IM titles has been completed. Seventy-one percent of the older NLM film was found to be of acceptable quality. Filming of the 102 U.S. titles for which no acceptable film exists will be completed by March, 1995. Filming of the 346 foreign IM titles will be completed by June, 1996. NLM wishes to thank all of the libraries that supplied copies of missing pages or loaned missing volumes to help ensure that the national preservation master of these important titles will be as complete as possible. "Visible Man" In November NLM released the "Visible Man" - a 15 billion byte 3- dimensional anatomy dataset - onto the Internet at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago. According to NLM director, Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D., "The Visible Man represents an incredibly detailed atlas of human anatomy, created from thousands of images of a human body collected with state-of-the-art radiographic and photographic techniques. This is the first time such detailed digital information about an entire human body has been compiled." The Visible Man is so complex that those who wish to access the data will need up to two weeks of uninterrupted Internet time and 15 gigabytes of computer storage. There is no charge for accessing the data, but users will be required to sign a licensing agreement with NLM stating how the information will be used. For more information, contact project coordinator Michael Ackerman via email: ackerman@hpcc.gov or by telephone at 301/402-4100. Persian and Arabic Manuscripts Exhibit On September 12 NLM and the Friends of the National Library of Medicine sponsored a program on "Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts" to mark the opening of an exhibit of Persian and Arabic manuscripts. The exhibit, which closed in January, also was entitled Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts. It commemorated the 900th anniversary of the oldest item in the NLM collection and the third oldest Arabic manuscript on any medical topic known to be preserved today. The work is a treatise on gastro- intestinal diseases by al-Razi who worked in Baghdad in the tenth century. Records for NLM's important Arabic and Persian manuscripts collection are available in NLM's online file CATLINE or through its online public access catalog, LOCATOR. HISTLINE On September 26, NLM released a new version of the HISTLINE file, the online bibliographic database containing citations to recent monographs, journal articles, symposia, congresses and similar composite publications dealing with the history of medicine and related sciences. Sources of the literature cited in HISTLINE include entries in MEDLINE, CATLINE, AVLINE, journals in the history of medicine and science, and recent publications in fields such as classics and general history. The new HISTLINE contains nearly 150,000 records and is searchable using MeSH and the same ELHILL retrieval capabilities as MEDLINE and other MEDLARS databases. NLM Serial Publications Available via INTERNET The 1995 List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (LJI) and the 1995 List of Serials Indexed for Online Users (LSI) are now available from the NLM Gopher (gopher.nlm.nih.gov) and via FTP (ftp to nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov and login as anonymous, using your email address as the password). The online 1995 LJI available via INTERNET includes entries for titles selected for indexing in late Fall, 1994. This information was not available when the printed LJI went to press. The printed 1995 LSI, which is scheduled for distribution by early Spring 1995, will be identical to the 1995 LSI available via INTERNET. For further information, contact Esther Baldinger, Serial Records Section, NLM, (elb@nlm.nih.gov)