MEDLARS utilization profile in New England

The Northeastern Consortium for Health Information's Ad Hoc Committee on Online Statistics conducted a three-month MEDLARS utilization study in New England. Mailing lists from the New England Regional Medical Library Service and the New England Online Users Group were used to solicit participants. Seventy-four libraries submitted data on 8,899 MEDLARS searches. Each search was described by (1) type of institution; (2) occupation of requester; (3) purpose of search; (4) whether requester was a new or repeat user; (5) if the requester was from inside or outside the online center's institution; (6) fees-for-service; and (7) choice of vendor or vendors for accessing MEDLARS. Overall, patient care and research were the most frequently stated purposes of search; 44% of the searches were initiated by physicians.