The Medical Library Association in retrospect, 1937-1967

Abstract

The medical librarian of 1967 lives in a period of changing concepts, dramatic new methods, everwidening scientific horizons. In looking toward the immediate past he may think of the medical librarian of thirty years ago as a complacent follower of accepted procedures, not as a pioneer in a brave new world. Yet the corps of trained medical librarians today and the resources of our collections and their management are dependent upon the efforts of those who were then pioneers in medical librarianship. Training, standards, recruitment, literature control, international relations, all had continuing attention at a time when financial assistance through government funds, support by administrators, concern by scientists was almost nonexistent. In these years the day of the devoted amateur passed; the trained medical librarian came into being and matured.This, the first Janet Doe Lecture, is named for one who illustrates the best in medical librarianship, serving with scholarly distinction. It is a brief survey pointing to some of the Association's significant achievements during the years of Miss Doe's greatest activity when she and her colleagues met their "Challenge of Change."