Medlars computer information retrieval

RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances). 1995. MEDLARS Online Information Retrieval System, National Library of Medicine. Computer printout. 

In addition to the publications dealing with ingredients, there are also publications dealing with nomenclature (e.g., United States Approved Name (USAN) and USP Dictionary of Drug Names), information indexing (e.g., Index Medicus, National Library of Medicine), and information retrieval (e.g., computer-based Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System MEDLARS and MEDLINE, National Library of Medicine). 

Harley, A. J. The medical literature analysis and retrieval system — Medlars. In Computer-based information retrieval systems (ed. B. Houghton). London Clive Bingley 1968. 

The inverted search process, in conjunction with modern developments in computing, lends itself to on-line information retrieval. The librarian-information officer, or even the scientist himself, sits at a typewriter terminal connected, over telephone lines, to the computer. He explores the dictionary, establishes the search formulation, and then the computer searches for the references and prints them out before his eyes. In the USA this service is known as MEDLINE and is the main means of access to the MEDLARS data base. Various experimental services of this kind are in operation at European MEDLARS centres, but the relatively higher cost of telephone communication here makes it more expensive than batch searching. 

CRISP. 1991. Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects. National Library of Medicine. Medlars Toxline File. 

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