September 28, 2006 [posted]

MEDLINE® Turns 35!

october 2006 marks the 35th anniversary of MEDLINE (MEDLARS® Online). How far have we come in 35 years? Let's open the two time capsules comparing MEDLINE and what was happening in 1971 with events today:

MEDLINE Time Capsule
1971	2006 (Fiscal Year 2005 Statistics: October 2004-September 2005)
236 indexed journals; grew to 1,222 journals by September 1972 147,000 total citations for MEDLARS since January 1, 1969; grew to 490,000 by September 1972 22 users 70,000 searches/year by June 1972 Operated on an IBM 360/50 mainframe computer Available via dial-up telecommunications	4,928 indexed journals 606,000 citations indexed; 13,476,222 total citations 77 million PubMed® unique visits 754 million PubMed searches PubMed/MEDLINE runs on 20 Dell PowerEdge 1850 servers, 2 CPU 8Gb RAM, with the Linux operating system in 64 bit mode Available via the Internet World Wide Web

Current Events Time Capsule
1971	2006
NASA Mariner 1 arrived at Mars - the first spacecraft to orbit the Red Planet. Chemistry Nobel Prize awarded to Gerhard Herzberg, Canada for "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals." Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize awarded to Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. of the United States "for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones." In November Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor. The 26th Amendment lowered the United States voting age from 21 to 18. Walt Disney World opened October 1 in Orlando, Florida. "All in the Family" debuts in 1971 on CBS. National Book Award for fiction presented to Saul Bellow for Mr. Sammler's Planet. The French Connection won the Best Picture Academy Award. #1 song according to Billboard Magazine: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night).	March 10 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit. Leading astronomers declared that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight. A U.S. advisory panel recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the human papillomavirus virus that causes cervical cancer. A drug-resistant bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, became the most common identifiable cause of skin infections treated in emergency rooms, accounting for 59 percent of such ER cases in 11 major U.S. cities. April - More than 1,000 cases of the mumps reported in Iowa and seven surrounding states in the largest outbreak of the disease in the U.S. in more than 20 years. July: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens - as of September 2006 the film made over $414 million dollars in the U.S. As of September, the current number one song is "SexyBack" (Justin Timberlake).

Current Events Time Capsule

1971

2006

NASA Mariner 1 arrived at Mars - the first spacecraft to orbit the Red Planet.
Chemistry Nobel Prize awarded to Gerhard Herzberg, Canada for "for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals."
Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize awarded to Earl W. Sutherland, Jr. of the United States "for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones."
In November Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor.
The 26th Amendment lowered the United States voting age from 21 to 18.
Walt Disney World opened October 1 in Orlando, Florida.
"All in the Family" debuts in 1971 on CBS.
National Book Award for fiction presented to Saul Bellow for Mr. Sammler's Planet.
The French Connection won the Best Picture Academy Award.
#1 song according to Billboard Magazine: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night).

March 10 - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit.
Leading astronomers declared that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.
A U.S. advisory panel recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the human papillomavirus virus that causes cervical cancer.
A drug-resistant bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, became the most common identifiable cause of skin infections treated in emergency rooms, accounting for 59 percent of such ER cases in 11 major U.S. cities.
April - More than 1,000 cases of the mumps reported in Iowa and seven surrounding states in the largest outbreak of the disease in the U.S. in more than 20 years.
July: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens - as of September 2006 the film made over $414 million dollars in the U.S.
As of September, the current number one song is "SexyBack" (Justin Timberlake).

MEDLINE® Turns 35. NLM Tech Bull. 2006 Sep-Oct;(352):e4.