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-----Original Message-----
From: Schulman, Jacque-Lynne (NIH/NLM) [E] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 10:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: 50th Anniversary of Medical Subject Headings

On November 18th, NLM marks the 50th anniversary of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary. There will be a talk by Robert Braude, PhD entitled "MeSH at 50 years." The event will be videocast with captioning at http://videocast.nih.gov/ and will also be available for viewing later.   

Date: November 18
Time: 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Place: Lister Hill Auditorium, Building 38A.

The first edition of MeSH represented a departure from the then usual library practice. MeSH contained 4300 descriptors, and it was designed to be used for both indexing and cataloging. It is likely the first vocabulary engineered for use in an automated environment for production and retrieval.  MeSH continues to evolve and grow. The 2011 edition contains more than 26,000 subject headings in an eleven-level hierarchy and 83 subheadings. It is the basis for searching and retrieval of scientific research using PubMed. Annual revision and updating are ongoing to assure that MeSH remains useful as a way to categorize medical knowledge and knowledge in allied and related disciplines for retrieval of key information. MeSH is 50 years old and new each year. 

The speaker: Robert M. Braude attended MEDLARS training at the National Library of Medicine in 1965, then still the era of punch cards. His talk reflects on his 45 years of life with MeSH. His career includes positions as director of three academic health science libraries and he has served on many NLM Committees and Panels such as IAMS Review Committees, the Planning Panels on Medical Informatics and NLM Outreach Programs, and the Biomedical Library Review Committee. He is a Fellow of the Medical Library Association, Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Division of the History of Medicine/NLM and the Medical Subject Headings Section/NLM.


Sign Language Interpreters will be provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should contact Jacque-Lynne Schulman, MeSH Section/NLM, 301-594-2091 and/or the Federal Relay (1-800-877-8339).