Frank Bradway Rogers

Frank Bradway Rogers (1914-1987) was director of the US National Library of Medicine as a premed student.

Life

Frank Bradway Rogers was born on December, 1914 in Norwood, Ohio. He attended Yale University as a premed student and received a BA degree in 1936. He later enrolled at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and graduated MD in 1942 and joined the US Army Medical Corps and served in various hospitals. In 1948 he accepted a position as Director of the Army Medical Library and was sent to complete an MS in Library Service at Columbia University before taking up the position in 1949. The library was renamed Armed Forces Medial Library in 1952 and in 1956 transferred to the Public Health Service and became the National Library of Medicine.

1949 until 1963. In July 1974, he wrote a paper for Library Trends discussing limitations of batch searching and feasibility of online systems (Bellardo & Bourne). He also worked at: Librarian, Univ. of CO Medical Center 1963-74; Consultant 1974-?.

Contributions

Rogers was instrumental in changing the Army Medical Library into the National Library of Medicine. He replaced the Index-Catalogue with a revised Current List of Medical Literature and a new Index Medicus and introduced data-processing equipment.

He helped develop an electronic system of storing and retrieving information called Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS), which laid the groundwork for MEDLINE. He earned his Library Science degree from Columbia. He was director of the NLM from 1949 until 1963. In July 1974, he wrote a paper for Library Trends discussing limitations of batch searching and feasibility of online systems (Bellardo & Bourne). He also worked at: Librarian, Univ. of CO Medical Center 1963-74; Consultant 1974-?.

He was largely responsible for the NLM achieving national status; [Adkinson book-] Changes in products and services at NLM during his tenure included loaning microfilm in lieu of materials when possible and mechanizing the production of Index Medicus. After working at the NLM, Rogers was director at University of Colorado Medical School Library, 1964(?)-1974 (retired from this position).

Publications

• Medical Library Association Oral History Committee interview with Frank Bradway Rogers. Interview by Nancy W. Zinn. Chicago, Ill. : Medical Library Association, 1979. OCLC (OCoLC)ocm16578879.

Offices

• Medical Library Association. President, 1962-63.
• American Association for the History of Medicine. President, 1966-68.

Awards

• Medical Library Association. [Award], 1961.
• American Library Association. Dewey Medal 1963.

Further reading

• "Frank Bradway Rogers." Wikipedia [1]
• Blake, John B. "Frank Bradway Rogers 1914-1987." [Obituary.] Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 76, no 1 (Jan 1988): 95-7. [2]
• Miles, Wyndham D. A history of the National Library of Medicine : the nation's treasury of medical knowledge. Bthesda, MD: National Library of Medicine, 1982. NIH publication 85-1904. [3]

Papers

• National Library of Medicine. History of Medicine Division. Bethesda, MD:
  • Frank Bradway Rogers Papers. MS C 465. [4]
  • Wyndham D. Miles Papers on the History of the National Library of Medicine. MS C 431. [5]

Location #3 University of Colorado Medical School Library

• • • There are the "deposited" papers.
    • The library staff at the Medical School are not aware that he deposited his papers anywhere. They have administrative papers of his work as director of the library, 1964-1974.