The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the United Kingdom.
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is an international professional association for library and information professionals working in business, government, law, finance, non-profit, and academic organizations and institutions.
A health or medical library is designed to assist physicians, health professionals, students, patients, consumers, medical researchers, and information specialists in finding health and scientific information to improve, update, assess, or evaluate health care. Medical libraries are typically found in hospitals, medical schools, private industry, and in medical or health associations. A typical health or medical library has access to MEDLINE, a range of electronic resources, print and digital journal collections, and print reference books. The influence of open access (OA) and free searching via Google and PubMed has a major impact on the way medical libraries operate.
The Music Library Association (MLA) of the United States is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians. It also serves corporations, institutions, students, composers, scholars and others whose work and interests lie in the music librarianship field. National meetings occur annually.
The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), also referred to as the Master of Library and Information Studies, is the master's degree that is required for most professional librarian positions in the United States. The MLIS is a relatively recent degree; an older and still common degree designation for librarians to acquire is the Master of Library Science (MLS), or Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) degree. According to the American Library Association (ALA), "The master’s degree in library and information studies is frequently referred to as the MLS; however, ALA-accredited degrees have various names such as Master of Information Studies, Master of Arts, Master of Librarianship, Master of Library and Information Studies, or Master of Science. The degree name is determined by the program. The [ALA] Committee for Accreditation evaluates programs based on their adherence to the Standards for Accreditation of Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies, not based on the name of the degree."
Elonnie J. Josey was an African-American activist and librarian. Josey was the first chair of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, having been instrumental in its formation in 1970; served as president of the American Library Association from 1984 to 1985; and was the author of over 400 books and other publications.
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the development and application of biomedical and health informatics in the support of patient care, teaching, research, and health care administration.
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), and is a membership action group that focuses on the library-related needs of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The organization's members consist of both individuals and institutions that are interested in improving library services to Native American people in any type of library in the United States.
The Southeastern Library Association (SELA) is an organization that collaborates with different library associations within the Southeastern United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Credentialing is the process of establishing the qualifications of licensed medical professionals and assessing their background and legitimacy.
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA) that focuses on the needs of African-American library professionals by promoting careers in librarianship, funding literacy initiatives, and providing scholarships.
David A. Kronick was a librarian who researched the history of scholarly communication. He was once called a "bibliographic archaeologist". He was a Fellow of the Medical Library Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and achieved the rank of Distinguished Member in the Academy of Health Information Professionals.
Marcia Crocker Noyes (1869–1946) was a librarian at The Maryland State Medical Society from 1896 to 1946, and was a founding and presiding member of the Medical Library Association.
Janet Doe was a medical librarian notable for her work at the New York Academy of Medicine and her consultant work with the Army Medical Library.
Estelle Brodman (1914–2007) was an American medical librarian and medical historian. She held positions at Columbia University, the National Library of Medicine and the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM). Brodman served terms as director of the Special Libraries Association, president of the Medical Library Association, and editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. Under Brodman's leadership, the library at WUSM became known as a leader in the use of computing machines to perform library functions.
Mary Louise Marshall was Librarian and Professor of Medical Bibliography at Tulane University School of Medicine, and the longest-running president of the Medical Library Association (1941–46).
Lucretia W. McClure was an American medical librarian. McClure was a director at the Edward G. Miner library, University of Rochester Medical Center. She worked at Boston Medical Library from 1994 to 2011. McClure worked for decades within the Medical Library Association, including serving as President (1990–91). She is the only person to have been interviewed twice for the MLA Oral History Project, first in 1998 and again in 2015.
Mildred McMillan Jordan was an American medical librarian. She was the second director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library of Emory University, at the time known as the A.W. Calhoun Medical Library. She developed the second ever academic course in medical librarianship and was Professor of Medical Bibliography in the Emory University School of Medicine. Her involvement in the Medical Library Association pushed the field of medical librarianship to become professionalized and credentialed.
Miriam Hawkins Libbey was an American medical librarian. She served as the fourth director of the Emory University's A. W. Calhoun Medical Library, now called the Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library, from 1966 to 1984. In 1984, Libbey was named a fellow of the Medical Library Association for her contributions to the association and the profession of medical librarianship. In 1991, a memorial lecture was named after her by the Georgia Health Sciences Library Association.
