MEDLARS® is an acronym for the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, a computerized platform developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) to provide quick access to its vast collection of biomedical data. This system is instrumental in producing publications such as Index Medicus®, a monthly guide that lists articles by subject and author across 3,000 journals. Today, people worldwide can access MEDLARS search services for free via the Internet and World Wide Web.Among NLM's databases, MEDLINE® is the most renowned. Essentially an online version of Index Medicus, MEDLINE allows users to search NLM's extensive archive of journal article references on specific subjects. Currently, it contains 9 million references dating back to the mid-1960s. Other databases offer information on cataloging, serials, toxicology, environmental health, and other specialized fields. Through the Web, approximately 350,000 MEDLINE searches are conducted daily by health professionals, researchers, librarians, and the general public. Additionally, a new online service called MEDLINEplus connects users to a wide range of consumer health resources.The NLM, based in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It houses materials covering all aspects of biomedicine and healthcare, along with works related to the biomedical aspects of technology, the humanities, and the physical, life, and social sciences. NLM serves as a crucial resource for health science libraries and the medical community at large, and it is through MEDLARS that this remarkable resource is made accessible.
