Estelle Brodman
| Interviewer: | Nancy Whitten Zinn |  |
| Date: | May 10, 1981 | |
| Identifier: | OH052 | |
| Approximate Length: | 5 hours | |
| Biographical Information: | Medical librarian (1914-2007). Assistant librarian for reference service at the National Library of Medicine, 1949-1961. Library director and professor of Medical History, Washington University School of Medicine, 1961-1981. Editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 1947-1957; president of the Medical Library Association, 1964-1965. | |
| Summary: | Dr. Brodman explains how she came to enter medical librarianship and the School of Library Service at Columbia University. She describes her early professional experiences at the Cornell University Nursing School Library, the main library of Columbia University and its medical library. There is a section on Dr. Brodman’s experiences at the Army Medical Library—National Library of Medicine from 1949 to 1961 and the changes during that period. Dr. Brodman discusses the history of the Medical Library Association and its relationship with the National Library of Medicine. She also details her involvement in the MLA – as editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, the development of the MLA Oral History Project, and her term as president and on various committees. Brodman discusses her decision to leave the National Library of Medicine and come to the Washington University School of Medicine Library in 1961 and her 20 years there. In addition, Brodman discusses her experiences serving as a consultant nationally and internationally, and changes in medical librarianship over the course of her long career. | |
| Notes: | Part 1 of interview is approximately 3 hours long; part 2 is approximately 2 hours long. The audio quality of the interview is inconsistent. |
| Read Transcript – Part 1 | Read Transcript – Part 2 |
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