NLM’s Engagement Branch serves as a strategic connector, equitably and accessibly linking the credible biomedical information and resources created and curated at the National Library of Medicine to diverse individuals and communities around the world. The Engagement Branch has two programs: the Access Program and the User Engagement Program.

Access Program

Reading Room

The NLM Reading Room is open to all by appointment Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00. Visitors may access hundreds of databases, full text resources, and request materials from the general and historical collections. Staff are available to assist visitors with collection access and reference questions.

Customer Service

NLM Customer Service helps to meet biomedical information needs of U.S. health professionals, scientists, health sciences librarians, and the public.  Staff help online and onsite researchers use NLM products and services, such as PubMed and a variety of electronic and print resources. Our staff respond to requests for help with any of the resources, services, and programs of the Library. Staff can be reached through the online Support Center, by telephone (1-888-FIND-NLM), or by mail. 

Interlibrary Loan

The Engagement Branch provides access to the library’s collection to patrons through interlibrary loan using DOCLINE®, NLM's automated interlibrary loan request, routing, and referral system. Libraries that do not participate in DOCLINE® can place requests using the NLM Interlibrary Loan Request Portal.

User Engagement Program

The User Engagement Program (UEP) coordinates programs, products and services that reach NLM’s diverse stakeholders and audiences at both national and global levels.

• The Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) is NLM’s field force with its mission to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public's health by providing U.S. researchers, health professionals, the public health workforce, educators, and the public with equal access to biomedical and health information resources and data. NNLM’s main goals are to work through libraries and other members to support a highly trained workforce for biomedical and health information resources and data, improve health literacy, and increase health equity through information.
• The NLM All of Us Program is a partnership between the NIH All of Us Research Program, the NNLM, and the Engagement Branch. The NNLM All of Us Program Center supports training and engagement with public libraries and community partners to further their access to health information and enhance health, digital, and research literacy skills, which facilitate an individual’s ability to participate in research. The Program Center also supports the All of Us program by providing instructional design and training access for the All of Us Consortium partners, who provide enrollment in the research program and engagement opportunities. Through the NLM All of Us Data Training and Engagement Program, academic libraries and community partners that have a historic and current commitment to, or track record of, educating underrepresented students, are enhancing their skills in biomedical and public health data to further their campus research capacity by using the All of Us datasets.
• Specialized engagement products for the History of Medicine at NLM connect researchers, librarians, educators, and the public with one of the world’s richest repositories of historical material related to health and disease. The NLM collection spans ten centuries, encompasses a range of digital and physical formats, and originates from nearly every part of the globe. Through a variety of tailored products, the Library demonstrates and facilitates new, timely, and relevant humanities research to inspire curiosity about and improve understanding of social, scientific, and historical factors that affect health.
• The Environmental Health Information Partnership (EnHIP), aims to enhance the capacity of minority institutions to reduce health disparities through the access, use, and delivery of environmental health information on their campuses and in their communities.
• The African Journal Partnership Program (AJPP) partners open access African health and medical journals with mentor journals published in the United States and the United Kingdom to promote high editorial standards and visibility. The journals are broadly indexed in PubMed Central and PubMed/Medline. AJPP is sponsored by NLM, the NIH Fogarty International Center, and the Elsevier Foundation.

The User Engagement Program staff coordinates NLM product experts, NNLM Training Office staff, and NNLM instructors into effective teams that combine product knowledge, instructional design, evaluation, and logistical experience and expertise. Staff have an in-depth understanding of and experience with diverse audiences. These teams develop authoritative instruction on NLM resources in the form of train-the-trainer programs offered via the NNLM, adaptable lesson plans, and online tutorials for the public and for embedding into learning management systems.

• Search the NLM Learning Resources Database for online tutorials, training videos, and other instructional materials.
• Explore PubMed Online Training, including quick tours, webcasts, and classes on how to use the system.
• View the NLM Bioinformatics Education for Librarians, which introduces different topics and NCBI databases that support bioinformatics education and discovery, including the NCBI databases Nucleotide, Gene, Structure, and Protein.
• View all NLM training opportunities.
• Watch: COVID-19 Educational Videos

The User Engagement Program is committed to capacity building and workforce development and coordinates two fellowship programs:

• The National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship is a 1-year residency program for recent library science graduates interested in careers in health sciences libraries. The program combines curriculum and project work along with professional development activities to foster the acquisition of subject matter, technical, and soft skills.  The NLM Associate Fellowship Program is one element of the NLM commitment to supporting and developing a skilled workforce in library and information science and open science.
• The National Library of Medicine Michael E. DeBakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine, established in 2016 with funding from the DeBakey Medical Foundation, supports historical research in the NLM collection. Selected fellows receive a research stipend to support their research, which can take place onsite at NLM and/or remotely using NLM digital resources over the course of the award year.

The User Engagement Program maintains several programs and products that engage, educate, and enrich its diverse audiences. 

• The NLM Technical Bulletin (TB) is a serial publication that keeps users informed about NLM product updates and changes, training sessions and other events.
• NLM’s traveling and online exhibitions focus on a variety of historical topics which explore the relationship between medicine and the arts, science and society, patients and practitioners, and the technology of medicine. Our exhibitions feature the library’s rich collection, which encompasses ten centuries of medical knowledge to enhance awareness and appreciation of the NLM’s trusted health information resources.
  • Traveling Exhibitions: These graphic banner displays are loaned free of charge through The Network of National Library of Medicine (NNLM). To learn more about the request and booking process, go to Host NLM Traveling Exhibitions.
  • Online Exhibitions: These websites feature curated selections of digitized books, images, ephemera, films, and historical documents from the NLM Digital Collections, the library’s health information resources, educational activities, and more.
• NLM History Talks promote awareness and use of NLM and related historical collections for research, education, and public service in biomedicine, the social sciences, and the humanities. The series also supports the commitment of the NLM to recognize the diversity of its collection and to foreground the voices of people of color, women, and individuals of a variety of cultural and disciplinary backgrounds who value this collection and use it to advance their research, teaching, and learning.
• Circulating Now conveys the vitality of medical history in our 21st-century world and the importance of the NLM collection for current research, teaching, and learning about the human condition. Since 2013, Circulating Now has published stories drawn from our physical and digital collections. Our contributors include our multidisciplinary staff and hundreds of historians, artists, physicians, biographers, and many others who have discovered new meaning in the collection.
• NLM participates in national and international conferences to increase awareness, access, and use of NLM resources for new and existing users of NLM products and services. NLM's presence at these conferences is designed to reach numerous audiences, including librarians, health and academic professionals, and the public to demonstrate NLM products and services that support and benefit their work and health.

The User Engagement Program supports the evaluation needs of NLM and the NNLM through consultation, training, resources, and tools. The staff develops metrics and measures for assessing personal and community impact of health information provision and promotes use of evaluation to engage and learn about NLM’s programs, help leadership make data-driven decisions, and enhance the visibility of successes. These efforts are carried out through:

• The NNLM Evaluation Center (NEC) works with the User Engagement Program and NNLM staff to develop strategies and standardized approaches for evaluating NNLM’s outreach and education services; provide continuing education opportunities for NLM, Regional Medical Libraries (RMLs), and network members; and ensure NNLM evaluation strategies are aligned with the NLM Strategic Plan.  
• The User Engagement Program gathers data about NLM’s engagement activities using the Outreach and Evaluation Reporting System (OERS), NLM’s centralized system for entering, evaluating, and reporting all NLM outreach and engagement activities. We also provide support for selecting appropriate evaluation tools, tailoring them to activities, and reporting them in the OERS system.

Past Engagement Programs:

• The HIV/AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP) was designed to improve HIV/AIDS information access for patients and the affected community as well as their caregivers and the general public.
• Science Day for Students at NIH aimed to inspire the next generation of biomedical researchers and clinicians by engaging students from partnering schools in activities and panels with top scientists and health professionals at NIH.

Last Reviewed: June 25, 2024