Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. was a strong proponent of self-improvement for all professions. He believed it was imperative for health sciences librarians to embrace lifelong learning as the Internet and networked information radically changed their work and opened new opportunities to increase their scope and impact. During Dr. Lindberg's 1984-2015 tenure as its Director, the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) became an even more dominant influence on education and career development of health sciences librarians. This chapter focuses on the way NLM partnered with other institutions and organizations to ensure that education and training were consistently part of the roll-out of new NLM programs and services as they were implemented.
Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) from August 1984 to March 2015, had a remarkable vision for NLM's scope, goals, and function. This vision resulted in many external partnerships and initiatives with the publishing industry, commercial and non-profit, journal editors, and professional organizations. These partnerships ranged from ongoing collaboration and dialogue, such as the NLM Publisher's Committee and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). to the more practical, such as the creation of HINARI and the Emergency Access Initiative (EAI). Dr. Lindberg fostered partnerships outside the NLM to expand the use and reach of Library resources, including MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov to support innovations in the processes that build them, and to improve the quality of biomedical journals. Dr. Lindberg also encouraged the use of technology to enhance medical information and supported the early development of fully interactive publications. Attitudes that contained a measure of skepticism and distrust faded as collaborators came to have a better understanding of both NLM and their partners. This chapter discusses these relationships and accomplishments that NLM achieved working with publishers and other creators and disseminators of medical information under Dr. Lindberg's leadership.