A longitudinal study of associates at the National Library of Medicine, 1957-1990.

The Associate Program at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the oldest postgraduate training program for health sciences librarians in the United States. Despite the program's longevity, few data have been collected about the educational background or subsequent careers of the NLM Associates. This article describes one such study. When the study was conducted in 1990, 130 Associates had participated in the program since its inception in 1957. This report characterizes the age, gender, and educational background of the group as they entered the Associate Program and describes their subsequent employment and geographic distribution. The large number of Associates who have worked in health sciences libraries since completing the program indicates how much these individuals have contributed to NLM and the field of health sciences librarianship, and it also illustrates the value of the Associate Program in recruiting recent library graduates to the profession.