The experience of a department of medicine with a clinical medical library service.

Five years of experience using the services of a full-time clinical medical librarian (CML) by the Department of Medicine at the Hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania have been reviewed. Over the five years there was a marked increase in queries from faculty and house staff members with an accompanying decrease in CML-initiated questions, while requests by students and others remained constant. The largest category of queries was patient-related. There were increases in the use of the CML for patient-related queries, for research, and for oral presentations. The number of requests obtained on rounds or in conferences decreased, while the number obtained by phone, in the library, or elsewhere increased. Requests for computer searches remained constant.