The Relationship between the Activities of NLM regarding Long Range Plan and the Revision of MeSH.

概要

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The National Library of Medicine of the United States annually updates Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), in order to adapt vocabulary to various biomedical environments. MeSH has been extensively revised, particulary in recent years, since Long Range Plan was published in 1986-1987. This study examines the relation between the cause of MeSH revisions and the activity of NLM in connection with the Long Range Plans. The method is (1) ascertaining the MeSH's revisions for each year of 1988-1995 from the "general introduction" of the MeSH annotated alphabetic list and "the NLM technical bulletin", (2) arranging the main activities of NLM during this period, and (3) comparing the annual revision with the NLM activities. As a result, (1) MeSH up dating is required for the Long Range Plan, (2) MeSH are revised in the same field as new databases, GenBank, AIDSLINE and so on, which the Long Range Plan recommends for establishment, and (3) the UMLS project prompts structural improvements in MeSH, for example, modifications in tree structure. The author expects that MeSH will be continually reinforced in the area of biotechnology, toxicology and public health in the future, and discusses the influence of this government policy on MeSH.
特定非営利活動法人日本医学図書館協会の論文