ARMED FORCES MEDICAL LIBRARY SERVICES TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 7th STREET & INDEPENDENCE AVE., S. W. WASHINGTON 25, D. C t DECEMBER 1955 The Armed Forces Medical Library is the central Medical Library for the Department of Defense. Its aim is to make available to medical personnel within the Department of Defense the resources of the world literature of medicine and related sciences which have a bearing on their professional duties. The Library's services are naturally subject to limi- tations imposed by the availability of time and per- sonnel; officers are therefore expected to exhaust the facilities of their local libraries before calling upon the Armed Forces Medical Library for additional aid. This applies to all categories of services listed here. The Armed Forces Medical Library will l) pre- pare microfilm and photoprint reproductions of in- dividual journal articles, 2) lend books and journals, and 3) provide reference services, in- cluding the compilation of short lists of references. The Library does not act as a literature distri- bution agency. FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ARMED FORCES MEDICAL LIBRARY SERVICES Further information on the services of the Armed Forces Medical Library may be found in AR 40-405, Bu Med Inst 5070. 1A, AFR 160-110, 23 December 1952. Letters of inquiry should be addressed to: The Director Armed Forces Medical Library 7th & Independence Ave., S.W. Washington 25, D. C. - 2 - THE LIBRARY IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Monday through Saturday . . • 0 • 8 AoMo to £ P.M. Sunday Closed Special hours of opening during the summer and on holidays© FHOTODUPLICATION SERVICES le What will be copied. The Armed Forces Medical Library will provide microfilms or photoprints of single articles in its journal collection free of charge to members of the Armed Forces who need such copies for their official duties. Neither entire journal issues nor copyrighted monographs can be re- produced without written permission of the copyright owners nor can more than one copy of any work be furnished© 2. Row to obtain photoduplication service0 (a) Requests for microfilm or photostats must be made on official order blanks, AFML Forms U8^ which can be obtained upon request from the Armed Forces Medical Library. They should be filled out in duplicate giving the entire reference desired, and the original copy should be signed by the officer requesting the service. The order form should then be routed through the post or hospital library for transmittal to the Armed Forces Medical Library. Where there are no local library f aciiities, the re- quests may be sent directly. (b) In order to expedite the photoduplication service,, it is suggested that the number of requests made at any one time be limited, and that the total number of requests made be held within reasonable limits* Wherever possible, microfilm, rather than photoprints £ should be used. It would help if the source cf the reference were stated. In the case of research reports published by Agencies of the Ue S© Government© it is recommended that officers request copies for retention from the issuing installation before ordering photoduplication copies fromthe Armed Forces Medical Library©- - 3 - LOANS 1© What may be borrowed. The Library will m&e its materials available for loan to Department of Defense medical personnel on active duty with in the Continental United States, with the exception of rare books, unbound journals, and a selected core group of reference books and journals. Books and journals are not loaned outside the United States. (Officers on active duty outside the United States have access to the Library's journal collection through the photoduplication service of the Armed Forces Medical Library described above*) 2© How loans should be requested. Requests for loans should be submitted through a local or station library. Material will be sent direct to medical officers as individual borrowers only where there are no local library facilities. Request forms for this service may be obtained from the Circulation Section, Reference Division, Armed Forces Medical Library* 3. Period of loan. Books and bound journals are loaned for a period of two weeks from date of receipt by borrower,. The time may be extended for an addi- tional two weeks if so requested. All books for the use of medical officers on active duty are shipped at government expense; they should be returned care- fully wrapped in corrugated paper or stiff card- board© - h - REFERENCE SERVICES 1. Telephone service and service to readers. Reference librarians are available t o help those who come to the library. Questions which require short searching will be answered by telephone (Code 131, Extension 65167 or 6^168). 2© Bibliographical searchesa Short, lists of references and more extensive bibliograhical searches on specific subjects can sometimes be undertaken, in response to written requests. As explained previ- ously, it is expected that local resources will be exhausted before such requests are made. The re- quest should state, 1) the subject of a requested search, defined in considerable detail with deline- ation of any special aspects which are of particular interestj 2) the years to be covered by the search; 3) the languages to be includedj and k) the sources already searched. It should be remembered that it is helpful to the bibliographer to know in detail the purpose for which a bibliography is to be used. A special form (AFML Form 16) to use in submitting requests for searches is available fromiiie Reference Division, AFML* 3© Selection of material for photoduplication. In compiling bibliographies for medical personnel overseas, the librarian will arrange, on requesst, to have a few of the most import,ant articles photo- printed and forwarded at once© The recipients of the bibliographies may then request photoduplication of additional articles as desired. (See page 3«) k© Abstracting and translating© The Armed Forces Medical Library d oes not provide translating or abstracting services, but searches will be made for abstracts or translations already appearing in the literature,, when this is desiredo Names of private abstractors and translators can be supplied upon request, as well as a leaflet listing sources about existing translations© - 5- PUBLICATIONS 1© The Current List of Medical Literature is a monthly publication of the Library which lists the contents of selected scientific journals currently received. A subject and author index is included with each issue, and a semi-annual cumulation of the indexes is also furnished. The Current List is distributed on request in limited quantities to in- stallations and offices within the military estab- lishment© Subscriptions to the Current List are available through the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C*, at #13©50 a year ($17.00 for foreign subscriptions), 2, The Subject Heading Authority List used by the Current List Division, Armed Forces Medical Library, contains all the main headings and cross references, as well as the complete tracings utili„ Armed Forces Medical Library Catalog© This annual publication contains the record of books and journals cataloged during the year; the material is arranged both by author ar.d by subject© The first quinquennial cumulation of the Catalog- covering the years 1950-1951+, has just been issued, in 6 volumes. Major medical installations of the Armed Forces receive the Catalog by distribution from the Library; others may purchase the six-volume set for , #6U by placing orders direct with the publisher, J© W© Edwards, Ir.c> Ann Arbor, Michigan© lu The Library's Catalog Cards for the current year are available on subscription from the Card Division, Library of Congress. The cards are sold - 6 - only as a complete series, and only one copy of each card is furnished. Subscription is at the rate of one cent per card© 5© Army Medical Library Classification (1951) is out of print. A revised edition will be issued early in 1956. 6© The Index-Catalogue of the library of the Surgeon General's Office is a publication of the Armed Forces Medical Library. Fifty-eight volumes have been published since 1880, in four series; the latest to appear is Volume XI of the Fourth Series, published in 1955* No more volumes in the regular series will be published, except for a Supplementary Series containing monographic material only, expected to be completed during the next decade. The Subject Index, the unpublished card file of material in- dexed for the Index-Catalogue up to 1950, is avail- able to readers in the Library and by photodupli- cation to those at a distance© 7© Occasional bibliographies of a comprehensive nature on subjects of current interest are published and distributed free on request. Bibliographies on ACTH and cortisone, plasma substitutes, physiology of burns, gas gangrene, and military psychiatry have appeared since 1950. A bibliography on The Structure, Growth and Composition of Bone appeared in 1955, and a long bibliography on the chemotherapy of cancer will appear in 1956. A complete list of biblio- graphies is available on request© THE REFERENCE LIBRARY OF THE OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL Officers stationed in Washington may also make use of the Reference library of the Office of The Surgeon General of the Army (Main Navy Building, Room 1651, Ext© 62352)© This Library has a collection of current, chiefly domestic, journals, and recent text and reference books. A librarian is in charge to assist readers in the use of this collection© - 7 -