21 1 higher education and individual scientists for the purpose of 2 supporting biomedical scientific publications of a nonprofit 3 nature and to procure the compilation, writing, editing, and 4 publication of reviews, abstracts, indices, handbooks, bibliographies, and related matter pertaining to scientific works 6 and scientific developments. 5 7 "(b) Grants under this section in support of any single 8 periodical publication may not be made for more than three 10 "(c) Payment pursuant to grants made under this sec11 tion may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement 12 and in such installments as the Surgeon General shall pre 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 scribe by regulations after consultation with the Board. "SEC. 399a. Funds appropriated to carry out any of the purposes of this part for any fiscal year shall remain available for such purposes for the fiscal year immediately follow ing the fiscal year for which they were appropriated." REGIONAL BRANCHES OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE SEC. 3. Part H of title III of the Public Health Service Act which deals with the National Library of Medicine is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: 22 1 "REGIONAL BRANCHES OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF 2 3 MEDICINE "SEC. 378. (a) Whenever the Surgeon General, with 4 the advice of the Board, determines that 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 £3 13 14 "(1) in any geographic area of the United States, there is no regional medical library adequate to serve such area; "(2) under the criteria prescribed in section 398, there is a need for a regional medical library to serve such area; and "(3) because there is located in such area no medi cal library which, under the provisions of section 398, can feasibly be developed into a regional medical library adequate to serve such area, 15 he is authorized to establish, as a branch of the National 16 Library of Medicine, a regional medical library to serve the 17 needs of such area. 18 "(b) For the purpose of establishing branches of the 19 National Library of Medicine under this section, there are 20 hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year, 21 22 2 2 2 2 * 23 beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, such sums, not to exceed $2,000,000 for any fiscal year, as may 24 be necessary. Sums appropriated pursuant to this section 25 for any fiscal year shall remain available until expended.” 23 1 2 3 COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE SEC. 4. Part H of title III of the Public Health Service 4 Act which deals with the National Library of Medicine is 5 amended by striking out, in section 373 (d) thereof, “$50" 6 and inserting in lieu thereof “$75”. The CHAIRMAN. We are all familiar with the distinguished history of the National Library of Medicine. This Thursday we will honor its 100th anniversary as a national resource and pay tribute to one of the truly great men of medicine, the founder of the Army Medical Library, Dr. John Shaw Billings. As we know, the Army Medical Library was later known as the Armed Forces Medical Library. It was transferred in 1956 to the Public Health Service as the National Library of Medicine. I had the privilege of sponsoring the legislation that authorized the transfer with the late President Kennedy who at the time was serving in the Senate. Through the many years since its establishment, the Library has contributed importantly to the health of mankind through its contributions to medical research, to medical education, and to the practice of medicine. The library today is faced with new challenges due to the rapid accumulation of new medical knowledge over the past two decades. Scientists have stated the period of the past 20 years has been the most productive of new medical knowledge in the entire history of medicine. If this new knowledge is to be used to the fullest advantage it is imperative that we increase and expand the resources and authorities of the National Library of Medicine. Legislation to achieve these objectives was recommended by the President's Committee on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke. This is the legislation that we shall consider here this morning. We are very happy to have you, Dr. Dempsey, you, Dr. Terry, and you, Dr. Cummings, here with us and you may proceed now in your own way. STATEMENT OF DR. EDWARD W. DEMPSEY, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY, HEALTH AND MEDICAL AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANIED BY DR. LUTHER L. TERRY, SURGEON GENERAL, U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; AND DR. MARTIN M. CUMMINGS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE Dr. DEMPSEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased indeed to appear this morning to indicate the enthusiastic support by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare of S. 597, the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965, which has been introduced by the distinguished chairman of the committee. There can be no doubt but that this bill addresses itself to a most serious problem confronting the Nation in relation to the health of our people. We urge the enactment of this legislation as essential to the success of the health programs of the Department and of the Nation. Unless a bold program of library assistance is mounted, major investments in programs of health service and research will be placed in jeopardy through failure of effective development of health information systems. The report of the Secretary to the chairman of this committee on S. 597 outlines in detail the Department's position of support of the program of assistance for medical libraries. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to briefly underline the magnitude 49-825-65- -8 of the problem and to emphasize some of the things this bill will accomplish. I would like to indicate, therefore, that the detailed analysis and recommendations appear in the Department's report on this bill which we have submitted to you. The CHAIRMAN. All right, sir. Good. We will have that printed in full in the record. (See p. 166.) Dr. DEMPSEY. Our society has seen fit to support large programs of medical research by private and governmental agencies. Overlooked in these programs has been support for medical libraries, the services and facilities of which are needed by the research scientist, the teacher, the student, and the practitioner to further the advance of knowledge, to transmit the knowledge to coming generations, and to apply the knowledge to the benefit of the people. The Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 sets forth a program of assistance designed to correct the deficiencies of biomedical libraries. At the present time they are: Ill housed; understaffed; inadequately stocked with books, journals, and other resources; functioning with antiquated procedures and technologies. The bill would authorize the Public Health Service to award grants of up to 75 percent of the costs of constructing, renovating, expanding, or remodeling biomedical library facilities. This section of the bill is directed at one of the most serious problems of the libraries. In many of them there is crowding to the point that routine day-to-day activities are impeded, access to certain materials is made difficult or impossible, and utilization of the libraries by scientific and medical staffs is inhibited. However, since the technology of library science has shared in the technological revolution of the last few decades, we feel that the construction program should be preceded by a careful study of the kinds of facilities which will be best suited to meeting present and future requirements in the light of these rapid technological developments. We have, therefore, recommended in our letter to you, Mr. Chairman, that this provision be amended for this purpose. The contribution that biomedical libraries can make to the advancement of medical knowledge and medical service is directly related to the caliber of the people who staff them. There is a tremendous deficit of professionally trained manpower in this field. The bill would authorize the Public Health Service to make grants to assist in the training of medical librarians and other information specialists in the health sciences. Today it is essential that the personnel responsible for the operation and future planning of the medical libraries have special training over and above traditional librarianship. This training must be related to the specialized communication problems of the medical community. They must be well grounded in the biomedical sciences and they must be thoroughly familiar with the design of technical information systems. Many of those presently staffing biomedical libraries are in need of intensive specialized training in order to increase and update their competence. The urgency to begin action programs in this area cannot be overstated. The requirements of medical libraries for books, journals, and other resources is of such magnitude and so directly related to medical research, to the training of medical manpower and the information |