Overview
The National Library of Medicine started in 1836as asmall collection of medical books and journals in the office of the United States Army Surgeon General Before the collection moved in 1962 to National Institutes of Health Bethesda，MD campus，it was housed at these locations:
- （1862-1866）Riggs Bank Building at 15 th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
- （1866-1887）Ford’s Theatre at 513 10 th Street NW
- （1887-1962）Army Medical Museum and Library Building at 7th Street and Independence Avenue SW
The Early Years:1836-1862
办公楼总经理，DC
The National Library of Medicine began quite humbly，as a few books in the office of the Surgeon General of the Army.The first request for funds for the library—$150 for medical books—appeared in the 1836estimate of expenses for the Surgeon Geners Office，and in 1840 the office ised suits first“alcature of bookins the brary the brary the brary。“As historian Wyndham D.Miles noted in his1982history of NLM，”The entire collection[as listed in that1840catalog]could have been held by a four-shelf bookcase，shoulder high and 7or8feet wide.”Although the collection grewunder Thomas Lawson，Surgeon General from1836to1861，it was still insignificant and disorganized if one accepts the appraisal of Joseph J.Woodward，who served in the Surgeon General’s office from1862to1864:“At the time the late Civil War broke out nothing deserving the name of a medical library existed in Washington。
ANew Building，and Billings Comes Aboard:1862-1866
第15街和Pennsylvania Avenue，NW
Washington，DC Washington，DC
In1862，the Surgeon General’s library was moved to the Riggs Bank Building at15th and Pennsylvania，NW，in Washington，DC.The library issued its first printed catalogue in1864，listing approximately2100 volumes.One year later，with the closing of the Army's temporary Civil Wahospitaland the soir， the Surgeon General’s office got a windfall of medical books and journals。
In January1865，the Army summoned27-year-old surgeon-and book lover—Lieutenant John Shaw Billings to take charge of the burgeoning collection.His appointment marked a turning point in the development of the library.Within six years，the library had13000 volumes and by1873 the collection included25000 and books，000pamphlets。By1880，the number of books had doubled to 50000and the number of pamphlets had quadrupled to 60000。
An enthusiastic book collector，Billings wrote physicians，librarians and editors to request donations of books，and even accosted State Department officials，asking them to bring back foreign medical works from their trips abroad.Before resigning from the Army in 1895， Billings had transformed the collection into the world's greatest medical library，covering the medical literature of virtually all eras and nations.Its holdings in1895included116847books and 191598pamphlets。
John Shaw Billings helped chart the course for today's National Library of Medicine in many ways.By the end of his tenure，and with his encouragement，books and journals were regularly going out on loan to physicians，and thousands of reference inquiries were being answered annually。
地面和开发：1866-1887
Ford’s Theatre
513第10街，NW
Washington，DC
On April141865，U.S.President Abraham Lincoln was assassassinated while attending a performance of“Our American Cousin”at Ford's Theatre.Citizens protested so violently against further productions that the government tookover the theater and purchased it the following year to house the Army'rdmes，dicals，museum and library.In the years that the library's collections were kept at Ford's，the first eight volumes of the Index Catalogue appeared.Launched in 1880and the brainchild of John Shaw Billings，this monumental work was a combined author and subject catalog of the library's growing collection of monographs and periodicals。William Welch（1850-1934），the celebrated professor of pathology and the first dean of the Johns Hopkins Medical School，pronounced the Index-Catalogue America's greatest contribution to 19th century medicine。
The Ford's Theatre era was a time of dramatic growth and change for the Surgeon General’s library.A spirit of ambition took hold and，as early as1871，Surgeon General Joseph K.Barnes and Billings started laying plans to develop the collection into the“National Medical Library。“To Barnes，this meant that the library would contain”every medical book published in this country and every work relating to public health and state medicine，”that would be，in Billings'words，“as complete as possible in all publications relating to military organization，medicine，and the allied sciences，“and would be”an universal library of references。“上方向时间，the library was know to Army physicians，visitors who passed by as they walked up to the third floor of Ford's and to those who heard of it by word-of-mouth.Now Billings setout to inform the American medical profession that the library existed and would be developed for the use of all physicians。
In1879，Billings began the first comprehensive index of journal articles，the Index Medicus.It was inspired by his own experience:while writing his thesis on epilepsy，he was frustrated by the lack of a subject index to the medical literature.MEDLine，NLM's ondatabase， is an electronic version of that publication.MEDLINE contains over14million references dating back to the mid-1950s。
More Services，More Technology:1887-1962
Army Medical Museum and Library Building
第7节Street and Independence Avenue，SW
Washington，DC
From1887to1962，the Library of the Surgeon General’s Office，officially renamed the Army Medical Library in1922，was located with its sister agency，the Army Medical Museum，in this three-story，red brick building that Billings had designed.（The Hirshhorn Museum now stands on the site，Inspired by Billings’vision of agreat national institution，the library began offering expanded services to meet the information needs of health professionals.By the 1880s，books and journals were regularly going out on loan to physicians across the country and，as technology improved， microfilming and photocopying of literature for patros followed.The historical collection grew significantly during this period and was shipped to Cleveland，Ohio for safekeeping during World War II.The library also tookits first steps into the computer age while at7th and Independence， launching a mechanized system for producing its publications in 1958。
A1956act of Congress transferred the library to the Public Health Service and named it the National Library of Medicine.Senators Lister Hill and John F.Kennedy were the driving force behind the bill.Kennedy would see his vision realized in 1962 when，during his presidency， NLM opened its doors on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda，Maryland。
National Institution Enters the Computer Age:1962-Present
存储结构的国家库
安全壳，安全壳
Bethesda，Maryland
The new National Library of Medicine tookits place on the NIH campus in 1962，on the wooded site of a former golf course.Designed to protect the collection from possible Cold War threats，the building features foot-thick limestone walls，over50miles of subterranean bookshelves and a collapsible of Theblouter， Biomedical Communications in1968，the creation of MEDLIN in the 1970 s，the establishment of the National Center for Biotechnology Information in1988，the introduction of free MEDLIN1997，the creation of consumer-friendly MedlinePlus in1998， and the introduction of ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed Central in2000，among other developments.Meanwhile，the collection has grown dramatically and with it the number of interlibrary loan requests filled.NLM now partners with over20nations and has expanded its outreach efforts to consumers and healsifelond。
莫尔NLM History
