-Results of Survey of Abstracting Services in Clinical Medicine 1947 April 22, 1947

Item — Box: 3

Scope and Contents

From the Series: This collection of records concerning the Medical Library Association is part of the records of the Office of the Librarian of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The collection, which spans 1931 to 1958, includes correspondence, papers from annual MLA meetings, and miscellaneous material.

Series 1 contains some correspondence from Emlen Wood, Acting Librarian of the College from 1932 to 1933; the majority of the correspondence, however, concerns W. B. McDaniel and his involvement in the MLA from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. Also present in Series 1 is the correspondence of Mary Louise Marshall, who was president of the MLA from 1941 to 1946; Marshall apparently transferred her files to McDaniel when he succeeded her as president of the organization.

Included in the correspondence are letters from various officers of the MLA, including Marcia C. Noyes, Charles Frankenberger, William Willoughby Francis, and Eileen R. Cunningham, all of whom served presidential terms in the organization. Also included is correspondence from secretaries and committee chairmen, including Marjorie Darrach, Florence Cooksley, Henry R. Viets, Heath Babcock, L. Margueriete Prime, Janet Doe, John F. Fulton, Mary E. Irish, and Sanford V. Larkey. Included with the letters from these correspondents are carbon copies of McDaniel's replies.

The correspondence from 1934 to 1935 documents McDaniel's involvement in the Program Committee of the MLA. McDaniel's influence increased in 1936, when he became editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association and was elected to serve a three year term on the Executive Committee; included in the correspondence are "Executive Committee circulars". The correspondence from 1940 to 1941 pertains to the preparation of the MLA's "Handbook of medical library practice".

McDaniel served as president of the MLA from 1946 to 1947. The correspondence dating from 1947 and 1948 documents his influence as "past-president" of the organization. McDaniel served on the Executive Committee and the Program and Entertainment Committee during these years. Included are numerous letters concerning the preparation of the Proceedings of the MLA for publication in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association. Other correspondence concerns the formation of committees and the appointment of committee members.

Series 2 contains records from the annual meetings of the MLA. Included are registration forms, programs, banquet menus, minutes, amendments to the by-laws, committee reports, and other miscellaneous material. The annual meeting of 1947 is the best documented in the collection. Of special interest are the numerous committee reports from this year; the reports of the "Committee on the Handling and Disposal of Foreign Duplicates of the War Years" and the "Advisory Committee on Foreign Importations" deal with the effects of World War II on American medical libraries. These reports address concerns such as the increasing cost of foreign journals due to rising post-war inflation.

Included in Series 3 is miscellaneous material pertaining to the MLA. Present is the MLA Secretary's Manual (1939), a list of medical subheadings prepared by the Library of the New York Academy of Medicine (1942), MLA financial records (1945-1946), and other miscellaneous items.