Librarianship,

An

Annotated

Bibliography of

Education for Medical

Librarianship,

1940-1968

BY

SHERRILYNNE

SHIRLEY,

Head

Cataloging Department Anchorage Public Library Anchorage, Alaska

ABSTRACT

An attempt has beenmade in this bibliography torepresentthe variousviewpoints concerning edu-cation formedicallibrarianship equally.The topics

covered include: general background reading and readings forthose interested inestablishing courses

in medical librarianship. The former includes

an-notations on the history and international aspects of the subject. The latter consists of annotations of articles on early courses and present coursesin medical librarianship. A finalarea discussed is the Medical Library Association's Code for the Train-ing and Certification of Medical Librarians.

INTRODUCTION

EDUCATION

for medical librarianship has

been a controversial topic for a number of

years. In this annotated bibliography, an

at-tempthas been made to represent the different

viewpoints equally. With only one or two

ex-ceptions, no articles have been included which were writtenbefore 1940. There are three rea-sons for this. Firstly, little was actually being

done with education for medical librarianship

before this time. Secondly, this early period (before 1940) is well covered by the histories written from 1940 on. Thirdly, these early articles are of little importance except for historical purposes.

This is not an exhaustive bibliography of

everything written on education for medical librarianship since 1940. All the important ref-erences have, however, been included. Articles on training for sub-professionals have been ex-cluded; this bibliography is concerned strictly with the education of the professional medical librarian.

All the references are annotated. The an-notations are a combination of the descriptive and informative type.

The bibliography will be presented in outline form with several references listed for each of the topics. Where necessary, topics will be ex-plained briefly.

EDUCATION FOR MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP

I. General reading for those interested in edu-cation for medical librarianship.

A. History of education for medical li-brarianship in the U. S.

B. International aspects of education for medical librarianship.

II. Readings for those interested in establishing

courses in medical librarianship.

A. Descriptions of early courses given in

medical librarianship.

B. Present courses.

1. Curricula and where courses are given.

2. Internships.

3. Continuing education.

C. Medical Library Association Code for Training and Certification of Medical Librarians.

GENERAL READING FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN EDUCATION FOR

MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP.

HISTORY OF EDUCATION FOR MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP IN THE U. S.

1. KEEP, T. E. Medical librarianship: looking toward 1970. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 27: 208-12, March 1939.

Describestheneed for graduate schools for research and for the training of librarians. Suggests that they should be sponsored by the MLA and be a special school or department of one

of the leading universities. Interesting inthat it describes what the "state of

the art" should be in 1970.

2. PURINGTON, ALICE M. Bibliography on standards-medical,hospital andnursing

libraries and librarians, 1925-1945. Bull.

Med. Libr. Ass. 37: 72-8, Feb. 1946. An annotated bibliography containing

afew articles oneducation for medical

librarianship. It is included here be-cause it covers the years not

specifi-cally covered by this bibliography.

3. MARSHALL, MARY LOUISE. Training for medical librarianship. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 34: 247-52, Oct. 1946.

One of the classic articles in the field of education for medical

librarian-ship. Three factors are given which

lead togoodmedicallibrarianship: the first isrecruitmentofcarefully selected

and properly qualified personnel, the

second is education, both general and

professional, and the third is

experi-ence, preferably supervisedexperience

asrepresented byinternship ina medi-callibrary.

4. DOE,JANET. The development of education for medical librarianship. Bull. Med.

Libr. Ass. 37: 213-20,

July

1949.

Medical libraries for many years ex-isted apart from ordinary libraries. The cause probably lies in the

differ-ence in the evolution of medical

li-braries and of general libraries. In

medical libraries, the books existed

firstand then camethe librarian. How-ever, in general libraries, the librarian

came first, and then a collection was

organized. Gives an excellent

descrip-tionofthebeginninganddevelopment of medical libraries and librarians.

Oneof thefirst coursesformulated for medical librarians at the University of Minnesota is discussed. This article

givesacomprehensivehistory of medi-cal librarianship up to 1949.

5. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. Education for medical librarians in the U. S. Libri 3:

205-13,

1954.

A detailed historical background is

given. This is one of the most detailed histories of medicallibrarianship to be

found.

International

aspects of medi-cal

librarianship

are

treated

briefly.

6. JORDAN, M. Events in the

development

of

education for medical

librarianship

in the lastdecade. Bull.Med. Libr. Ass.45:

351-60,

July

1957.

Gives a year-by-year account of the developments from 1946-1957. Lists courses in medical

librarianship

as

they were given.

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF EDUCATION FOR MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP

7. BRODMAN,

ESTELLE.

Education for medical librarians around the world. Bull. Med.

Libr. Ass. 52: 99-116, Jan. 1964. The history of the training of librar-iansisgiven, includingthe three

coun-tries which most influenced

develop-ment in other parts of the

world-Great Britain, Germany and the

UnitedStates. ThepresentBritish and U. S. systems are treatedin detail with

less detail given for Germany. There

is a discussion of American attempts to aid in educating medical librarians

inothercountriessuchasLatin

Amer-ica, Israel, Africa, and Asia. The

ef-forts of organizations such asUnesco,

Rockefeller Foundation and Eli Lilly

Foundation are mentioned.

8. Unesco Bulletinfor Libraries, v. 21, no. 6, Nov./Dec. 1967.

Whole issue devoted to education and training of librarians in various

coun-tries-including Africa, Arabic-speak-ing countries, Europe, Latin America,

and Russia. Some knowledge about education for medical librarianship in these countriescan begained by

read-ing these articles.

9. SECONDI, JUAN CARLOS. Medical library education and regional seminars in Latin America. Libri 3:

238-49,

1954.

Discussed in this article are library

facilities, medicallibrary practice, and

the educational problem of medical librarians and library schools.

Al-though it is out of date, there is a discussion of the various international organizations which have been active

in Latin America. The author of the article suggests regional seminars as

the answer to problems in medical li-brarianship and gives a lengthy de-scription of advantages and

possibili-ties of such a program.

10. RUSSELL, M. P. Education and training of the medical librarian in Great Britain. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 52: 90-8, Jan.

1964.

A short history of education and train-ing for librarians in Great Britain is given. The author believes that inclu-sion ofmedical material inthe

exami-nations nowgiven toprospective medi-cal librarians will encourage library

schools toprovideappropriate instruc-tion in this field, thus achieving a sys-tem much like that in the U. S. The medical section of the Library Asso-ciation carries oncontinuing education

for its members through the meetings

held four times a year.

11. BISHOP, W. J. Education and training for medical librarianship in Great Britain. Libri 3: 232-7, 1954.

The questionofqualificationsin

medi-cal librarianship is involved in the whole system of certification in Great Britain. A general overview of the

system is given including the type of

examination given for the degree and also the number of candidates who have attempted it.

Two articles of general interest but not fitting into the above categories:

12. MARY BERNICE, SISTER. Need of profes-sionaltraining in preparation for the

ad-ministration ofa medicallibrary. Catho-lic Libr. World 33:

556-7,

May 1962.

Attempts to distinguish between medi-cal librarians and medical records

li-brarians. Indicates that sometimes medical librariansareexpected totake charge of medical records. What should be done to educate oneself in this area is discussed.

13. POSTELL, WILLIAM. Education for medical librarianship. Special Libr. 48: 186-8,

May-June 1957.

This article is good asa general sum-marywhich includes history,

certifica-tion, and international aspects of

train-ing.

READINGS FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN

ESTABLISHING COURSES IN MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP

DESCRIPTIONS OF EARLY COURSES GIVEN IN

MEDICAL LIBRARIANSHIP

Articles already listed in the historical section also contain descriptions of early courses, al-though these are not detailed.

14. CUNNINGHAM, EILEEN. Library school un-dergraduate curriculum; can it be modi-fied to meet the needs for training in medical librarianship? Special Libr. 31:

15-20, 1940.

Discusses the arguments for and against offering specialized training for those interested in special

librarian-ship, both from the library school's point of view and the student's point of view. Two tables of courses are given listing possible elective courses for a "Degree of Bachelor of Library Science Emphasizing Trainingin

Spe-cial Librarianship." This article is

mainly ofhistorical interest, but it in-dicates that even twenty-eight years ago therewas discussion about special

education for special librarians.

15. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. Education for medical librarians.Bull. Med.Libr. Ass. 37: 221-30, July 1949.

Discussesthecoursein medical

librar-ianship offered at the School of Li-brary Service at Columbia University. Her philosophy of medical education is given.Thisisquiteimportantto the

field because Dr. Brodman has been active ineducation formedical librar-ianship for many years. The curricu-lum of the school is given for 1948-1949,together withashort description ofeach ofthe courses. Class plansfor the course in medical library admin-istration are also given. This article

serves as an excellent background to an early course for medical

librarian-ship.

16. PLIEFKE, FRIDA. Medical library training at the University of Minnesota. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 37: 231-4, July 1949.

Discusses thecourseinhospital

Minnesota, and specifically the course in medical reference. The article is mainly of historical interest. Little course detail is given.

17. KINGSLEY, JAMEs M. Training in medical librarianship at the University of Min-nesota. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 37: 235-37, July 1949.

The follow-upto no. 16. Gives a little more detail on the medical reference course. Asbefore, mainly of historical

interest.

18. BRODMAN, ESTELLE, Chairman. Report of

the Subcommittee on Curriculum. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 37: 327-31, Oct. 1949. The report of the first year's work on curriculum since the establishment of

the committee. The scope of the

in-vestigation of the committee was

de-fined as what goals such education should have, and how it should go about attaining those goals. A

ques-tionnaireon thelevel of education for

beginning medical librarians is

de-scribed. The statistical analysis of the

questionnaire indicates the level of education of medicallibrarians atthis

time and their realization that this

educationwas not adequate.

19. MOHRHARDT,FOSTER.Medicallibrary

train-ing courses conducted by the Veterans

Administration. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass.

39: 177-81, July 1951.

In 1949 the Veterans Administration arranged for intensive short-term

courses in medicine and medical bib-liography for its medical librarians

throughout theU. S. The general plan for the course is given. This article is of interest because it indicates early

interest by an agency of the federal government in the training of medical

librarians.

20. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. Teaching medical

bib-liography to medical librarians. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 40: 366-8, Oct. 1952.

Gives the theoretical bases for

teach-ing medical bibliography. On-the-job

training is emphasized.

21. DISBROW, M. E. Impressions of the course

inmedical libraries at Emory University. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 41: 277-82, July

1953.

One of the few articles on courses in medical librarianship which has been written from the viewpoint of the stu-dent. Detailed information on course content and arrangement is given. 22. JORDAN, MILDRED. Report on two courses

for medical librarianship sponsored by the Medical Library Association. Libri 3: 214-8.

The first course discussed is onegiven at Columbia University and taught by Thomas Fleming in 1954. The second is a course taught by Mildred Jordan atEmoryUniversity in1954. Both in-clude detailed description of syllabi

used and also other aspects of the courses such as field trips and guest lecturers.

23. SIMON, BEATRICEV. The trainingfor medi-cal, hospital and nursing librarians.

Spe-cial Libr. 39: 71-76, March 1948.

The author of this article feels that it is not the duty of the library school to give specialized training to special librarians. Rather after the completion

of thebasiclibrary science courses an internship in a medical library should be taken. At the time this article was

written, the author was in a very smallminority withthis point of view. However, this approach is now the accepted one.

PRESENT COURSES.

Curricula and where courses are given 24. COHAN, LEONARD, AND CRAVEN, KENNETH.

Science Information Personnel. New

York, Modern Language Association, 1961.

Discusses the new profession of

in-formation combining science,

librar-ianship and foreign languages.

Sub-jects discussed in this publication

includeundergraduate education, grad-uate education, training, and

profes-sional support.

25. DARLING, LouISE.On education

opportuni-ties for librarians in the biomedical sci-ences. Catholic Libr. World 35: 176-80,

Nov.-Dec. 1963, 243-6, Dec. 1963.

Describes the courses given to

ac-quaint librarians with the

retrieval. TheBiologicalSciences

Com-munication Project of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and

the program of the Institute for Ad-vancement ofMedicalCommunication

are described as two ways of gaining

specialized training in this particular

area. Many other projects and pro-grams are mentioned to indicate ways in which biomedical librarians can

gaintraining in other areas. Examples

includevariousinternships andcourses in medical librarianship. The course

taught atUCLAis describedin detail.

26. DARLING, LOUISE. Development oftraining

programs in American medical libraries.

Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 51: 339-53, July

1963.

Early programs are described briefly. The NationalLibrary of Medicine in-ternship is described in some detail

with the criticisms which have been

made of it. The UCLA program is described in great detail. A

compari-son is made between the course at

UCLA andthat atEmory. Other pro-gramspresentlybeing offeredare

men-tioned. These include courses offered by the Veterans Administration, the

NewYorkAcademyofMedicine, and

Columbia University.

27. WOOTEN, E. B., AND EASTERLING, W. S.

Pilotprojectintrainingfor mental health

librarianship. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 53: 239-244, Apr. 1965.

In an effort to recruit and train

com-petent personnel for its medical

li-brary, Central Louisiana State

Hos-pital undertook apilot project in the

summer of 1964 in preprofessional

training inmentalhealthlibrarianship. Students received an introduction to

thelibraryasit operatesin thehospital setting

through

asurvey ofthemental health sciences and the needs for li-brary resources and services with

spe-cial emphasis upon the librarian as a member of the team. A detailed

out-line of coursecontent is given.

28.

Project

to

study

medical

librarianship.

Li-braryof

Congress

Inform. Bull.26: 320, May

18,

1967.

A one-year

experimental

program in

continuing education was to be initi-ated June 1, 1967, at Western Reserve University inCleveland. Under a grant fromthe U. S. PublicHealth Service, theprojectwas tohave three parts: ex-plorationof the present stateof

medi-cal library practice; design of several coursesinmedical librarianship; evalu-ation of the courses offered. Publica-tions should be soon forthcoming on thisproject.

29. Journal ofEducation forLibrarianship. V. 8, no. 3, Winter 1968.

Contains the Directory of American Library Schools. It listslibrary schools offering courses in medical librarian-ship, the professors teaching the courses, and the titles of the courses

offered.

As of 1966, courses in medical librarianship approved by the Medical Library Association were being offered by the following ten

uni-versities: Catholic University of America,

Co-lumbia University, Drexel Institute of Technol-ogy,Emory University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Illinois, Univer-sity ofNorthCarolina,UniversityofPittsburgh,

University

ofSouthern California, andWestern Reserve University. Other schools are in the process of setting up similar courses. It has

proved impossible to find a more recent listing

of universities offering approved courses in

medical librarianship. Internships

30. ANDERSON, ISABELLET., Chairman. Report of the Sub-Committee on Internships.

Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 37: 333-6, Oct. 1949.

Describes the initial attempts of this sub-committee to draw up require-ments for a library which might give

intern training, for an intern who

might take such training, and to give

ageneral outlineofthe trainingwhich should be offered. This is the first statement in the literature of these

standards, andthis article is quite im-portant for this reason.

31. FLEMING, T. P. Present status and future

possibilities of education for

librarian-ship in the medical sciences. Bull. Med.

Libr. Ass. 45: 467-70, Oct. 1957.

The most interesting aspect of this article is the predictions made by the author. Based upon the certification grades he states the following: (1) By 1962, fifty percent of the library school graduates will be taking an in-ternship toqualifyforGrade II.(2)By 1967, more than fifty percent of top administrative positions will be oc-cupied by Grade III librarians. (3) By 1972, it will be unusual to find im-portant posts filled by anyone other than a Grade III, who has taken at

least a six-month internship upon

graduation from library school. 32. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. Continuing education

for medical librarianship; a symposium: internships ascontinuing education. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 48:

408-12,

Oct. 1960.

Internship is defined as a period of supervised experience specifically de-signedtogivethe trained but

inexperi-enced librarian a well-rounded

work-ing view of the field. The distinction

is made between in-service training

and internship. In-service training is

education for a particularjob,

intern-ship is education for any job in the

field. The author attempts to

distin-guish further between these concepts and also to indicate the benefits of in-ternship which cannot be gained from academic study.

33. KENNEDY, MAXINE. An internship. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 49: 423-5, July 1961.

In 1957 an internship program was established at the National Library of Medicine. The program was designed

to provide through a year's special

training a broadly based work

experi-ence. The program began with a week's thorough orientation to the re-sponsibilities and functions of the

li-brary. The schedule was arranged so that in the twelve-month period there

were three rotation periods of three monthseach. The intern attends

meet-ings of professional associations and visits other libraries in the area.

34. DARLING, LouISE.Development of training programs in American medical libraries. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 51: 329-53,

July

1963.

Gives the history of the internship movement in medical libraries. De-scribes the first internship offered, whichwas atthe Orleans Parish Medi-calSocietyLibrary in 1941. A

descrip-tion of the course of study is given.

Later internships are discussed in less detail.

35. MARTIN, JESS A. What happens to medical library interns. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 55: 416-7, Oct. 1967.

Resultsarereported ofaquestionnaire survey on medical library interns who had participated in internship pro-grams approved by MLA. Forty of forty-five interns to whom the ques-tionnaires were sent responded. 36. MARTIN, JESs A. Medical library

intern-ship at NIH. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 55: 207-8, Apr. 1967.

The internship program for medical librarians sponsored by the National Institutes of Healthwasbegun in 1964 and was approved by the MLA. Pro-gram objectives are given and the

course work is described briefly. Continuing Education

37. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. Education of medical

librarians. Special Libr. 37: 68-71,

March 1946.

Indicates the ways amedical librarian can gain an education after only the basic bibliographical courses on the subject in library school. Internship

of three to six months is considered important. Membership in professional

organizationsis emphasized. The most important way, however, is to work

on someproblem connected with med-ical libraries and then to publish con-clusions on the subject for the aid of others.

38. BRANDRETH, HELEN M. Training oneself for medical librarianship. Libri 3: 226-31, 1954.

This paper is intended primarily for

those who have not had the benefit ofspecific courses of training in

medi-cal libraries. It offers practical infor-mation as well as some theory. 39. TROXEL, WILMA. Continuing education for

courses. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 48: 404-7, Oct. 1960.

Individualcourses areoffered inmany

library schools for medical librarians. Places where these courses areoffered are listed and general content is de-scribed. Theseareemphasizedasbeing

single courses rather than a complete set of courses for medical librarians. 40. POSTELL, WILLIAM D.

Continuing

educa-tion for medical librarianship; a sym-posium: some practical thoughts on an internshipprogram.Bull. Med. Libr.Ass.

48: 413-4, Oct. 1960.

The author doubts the usefulness of the internship concept. He indicates his reasonsfor thesedoubts, andstates

that ifno moreprogressismade in the nextthree yearsthanhas beenmadein

the pastfew years,the

internship

pro-gram should be abandoned.

4 1. BLOOMQUIST, HAROLD, AND KINNEY, M.

Continuing education of medical librar-ians: continuing education in the

profes-sions. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 51: 357-67, July 1963.

Seven professions areexamined to de-termine their attitudes toward the

problem of continuing education and thus methods for

implementing

it. The

professions studied are architecture, clergy,

education,

law,

librarianship,

medicine, nursing.

42. WITHROW, B. A. Continuing education of

medical

librarians;

a symposium: the MLA and

continuing

education. Bull.

Med. Libr. Ass. 51:

368-75, July

1963. A history of

continuing

education for medical librarians since 1898. 43. MEYERHOFF, ERiCH. Continuing education

ofmedicallibrarians;asymposium: eval-uation ofthe Association's past perform-ance andsuggestionsforthefuture. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 51: 376-83, 1963.

Describes the 1961 courses given at

the MLAmeeting in Seattle. The

par-ticipantsweredivided intotwogroups:

libraries over 10,000 volumes, the ad-vancedseminar,andtheother, a

work-shop for smalllibraries. Criticisms are

given of theseworkshops. There is an

evaluation and discussion of the other

continuing education courses offered

yearly

atAssociationmeetingsand the

statement is made that the most im-portant single element in the success

of a program of continuing education is the quality of instruction.

44.

BRODMAN,

ESTELLE. Continuing education

of medical librarians, Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 51: 354-83, July 1963.

A

history

of the Committee on

Con-tinuingEducation is given along with the purpose of continuing education,

and a description of the various

spon-sorsofcontinuingeducation for medi-callibrarians.

45. BRANDON, A. N. On continuing (or dis-continuing) education. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 55: 92, Jan. 1967.

An editorial on continuing education for medical librarians as given at the MLA annual meeting. The author feels that until financial support is forthcoming from the government or

theNLM or someprivate foundation,

the Association will have to continue

totaketheresponsibility ofcontinuing

the present program and expanding thecourse offering and thegeographic coverage asfully as finances permit. 46. BRODMAN, ESTELLE. A philosophy of

con-tinuing education. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 56: 145-9, Apr. 1968.

Librarians are today developing a phi-losophy because they no longer have the implicit assumptions about li-braries that they once had, and thus theynolongerhave a unified goal. The

professional associationhas a responsi-bility to its members to aid in their search forreality-"philosophy"-and specifically in their need for continu-ing education.

MLA CODE FOR THE TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF MEDICAL

LIBRARIANS

47. POSTELL,W. D. Isthere a need for a

certifi-cation program for the medical library profession? J. Ass. Amer. Med. Coll. 16: 385-6, Nov. 1941.

Since school, college, and university librarians have standards which must

be met, theauthor feels that the medi-cal library profession should have a Bull. Med. Libr. 57(4)

certification board appointed or spon-sored by the MLA which would setup

certain standards for its members.

There are no specific standards

men-tioned, but the author feels that there

are some aspects of the certification

programs in other areas of librarian-ship which would be applicable.

48. JORDAN, MILDRED. Certification: astage of professionalization. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 36: 112-3, Apr. 1948.

Theclassic article in the field of certi-fication for medical librarians. This article provided the

impetus

for the certificationmovement.

Advantages

of certification for the medical librarians

are listed.

49. MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Code for

the training and certification of medical

librarians. Bull. Med.Libr.Ass. 37:

350-2, Oct. 1949.

The original code of the Medical

Li-brary Association.

50. MEDICAL LIBRARY AsSOCIATION. Code for

the certification and training of medical librarians.Bull.Med. Libr.Ass.52: 784-9,Oct. 1964.

The code as it stands at present is given in fullalongwithashorthistory of MLA certification.

51. MLACertification: letters. Bull. Med.Libr. Ass. 55: 18-9, Jan. 1967.

Written in response topart of a gen-eral session on "Issues of 1966" held

at the Sixty-fifth Annual Meeting of the MLA, Boston, Massachusetts, June 8, 1966.

52. LIBBEY,

MIRIAM.

MLA Certification: the

certification program and education for

medical librarianship. Bull. Med. Libr.

Ass. 55: 5-17, Jan. 1967.

The certification program was offi-cially adopted by the MLA in 1948

in an attempt to establish standards

for medical librarians. In this article the program is reviewed and some of its effects on education for medical librarians are discussed. At the time of its adoption the program defined the kind of education librarians in the field thought necessary for work in medical libraries. Asaresult ofnewtechniques and ashortage of personnel the Asso-ciation must reevaluate certifications and standards programs frequently. Excellent article for an overview of

the current situation.

53. MLA Certification: discussion. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 55: 13-4, Jan. 1967.

Part of a general session in "Issues of 1966" at the Sixty-fifth Annual Meet-ing of the Medical Library Associ-ation, June 8, 1966. Some very inter-esting points are raised aboutitem nos. 52 and 54, which were given at this convention.

54. PROCTOR, WILMA. MLA Certification: its present problems and future

develop-ment. Bull. Med. Libr. Ass. 55: 9-12,

Jan. 1967.

In contrast toitem no. 52, this article questions the actual existence of the three certification grades. The author states that since large institutions whichemploy many medicallibrarians do not officially recognize the certifi-cates, she believes that the three types

of certificates should be replaced by

onegrade. A program isproposed for

the improvement of education for medical librarianship.

Additional information on the activities of the Committee on Standards, the Committee on Curriculum and the Committee on Continu-ing Education of the Medical Library Associ-ation may be found in the annual reportin each

volume of the Bulletin of the Medical Library