{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T20:26:21Z","timestamp":1777753581947,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"3-4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,26]],"date-time":"2022-04-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1650931200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ISU"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,26]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Before the modern internet and World Wide Web drastically simplified our access to scientific information, accessing the authoritative information of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) from outside the U.S. was for many very difficult. Compared to the totality of people with access to computers globally at the time, only a privileged group of biomedical researchers and practitioners could afford this access. The NLM was making great contributions developing products and collaborations to reduce the information gap for many underserved communities. This article describes a remarkable initiative started from the other end, underserved information users creating a solution to help the international community reach the NLM resources. Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., the NLM Director and health informatics pioneer, believed in letting users guide the NLM down its path of service. The BITNIS project is a successful example of his leadership philosophy at a turning point in health informatics history.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3233\/isu-210128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,28]],"date-time":"2021-12-28T12:34:19Z","timestamp":1640694859000},"page":"269-280","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["BITNIS \u2014 Bridging the information gap before the web"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Victor","family":"Cid","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"U.S. National Library of Medicine, , USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.6017\/ital.v37i3.10749","article-title":"Information technology and libraries at 50: The 1980s in review","volume":"37","author":"Dehmlow","year":"2018","journal-title":"ITAL"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref2","first-page":"6","volume-title":"Database Management\u2014How Much Power is Enough? Issues for Librarians and Information Scientists. Proceedings of the 26th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, 1989, Urbana","author":"Shaw","year":"1989"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.3109\/14639238009043434","article-title":"The United States National Library of Medicine\u2019s international relationships","volume":"5","author":"Corning","year":"1980","journal-title":"Med Inform (Lond)"},{"key":"#cr-split#-10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref4.1","unstructured":"Grateful Med: Personal Computing and User-Friendly Design [Internet]. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, 2016, [updated 2016 April 28"},{"key":"#cr-split#-10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref4.2","unstructured":"cited 2021 Jul 16]. Available from: https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2016\/04\/28\/grateful-med-personal-computing-and-user-friendly-design\/."},{"issue":"1","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref5","first-page":"35","article-title":"Grateful Med: Getting started","volume":"3","author":"Shearer","year":"1990","journal-title":"J\u00a0Am Board Fam Pract"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.3109\/14639237809014179","article-title":"Medline data communications","volume":"3","author":"Sternick","year":"1978","journal-title":"Med Inform"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref7","first-page":"363","volume-title":"Internet, Telematic and Health","author":"Cid","year":"1997"},{"issue":"8814","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"308","DOI":"10.1016\/0140-6736(92)92398-y","article-title":"Costs of MEDLINE and CD-ROM searching","volume":"340","author":"Thirion","year":"1992","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"899","DOI":"10.1590\/s1413-81232008000300012","article-title":"Informa\u00e7\u00e3o cient\u00edfica, educa\u00e7\u00e3o m\u00e9dica e pol\u00edticas de sa\u00fade: a Organiza\u00e7\u00e3o Pan-Americana da Sa\u00fade e a cria\u00e7\u00e3o da Biblioteca Regional de Medicina\u2013Bireme [Scientific information, medical education and health policies: The Pan-American Health Organization and the creation of the Regional Library of Medicine\u2013Bireme]","volume":"13","author":"Pires-Alves","year":"2008","journal-title":"Cien Saude Colet"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref10","first-page":"68","volume-title":"Programs and Services Fiscal Year 1978\u2014Communication in the Service of American Health; A Bicentennial Report from the National Library of Medicine","author":"National Library of Medicine (US)","year":"1978"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1109\/mahc.2008.32","article-title":"The technical development of Internet email","volume":"30","author":"Partridge","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE Ann History Comput"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1109\/85.841135","article-title":"A social history of BITNET and Listserv, 1985\u20131991","volume":"22","author":"Grier","year":"2000","journal-title":"IEE Ann History Comput"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref13","first-page":"335","article-title":"Using BITNET to access the National Library of Medicine databases","volume":"80","author":"Hsieh","year":"1992","journal-title":"Bull Med Libr Assoc"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref16","first-page":"77","volume-title":"Health, Information Society and Developing Countries","author":"Oliveri","year":"1997"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref17","first-page":"74","volume-title":"Programs and Services Fiscal Year 1991","author":"National Library of Medicine (US)","year":"1991"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref18","first-page":"64","volume-title":"Programs and Services Fiscal Year 1995","author":"National Library of Medicine (US)","year":"1995"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref19","first-page":"103","article-title":"HealthNet: Solving communications problems for health care workers","volume":"7","author":"Brown","year":"1996","journal-title":"Seminars of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"316","DOI":"10.3163\/1536-5050.95.3.316","article-title":"The Central American network for disaster and health information","volume":"95","author":"Arnesen","year":"2007","journal-title":"J\u00a0Med Libr Assoc"},{"key":"10.3233\/ISU-210128_ref22","unstructured":"R.M. Goodwin, J.S. Ash and D.F. Sitting (eds), At the Helm of the World\u2019s Largest Biomedical Library. 2005 Interviews of Donald A.B. Lindberg, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, 2005, p. 71."}],"container-title":["Information Services &amp; Use"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/content.iospress.com\/download?id=10.3233\/ISU-210128","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T12:03:13Z","timestamp":1777464193000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.3233\/ISU-210128"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,26]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3-4"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3233\/isu-210128","relation":{},"ISSN":["0167-5265","1875-8789"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0167-5265","type":"print"},{"value":"1875-8789","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,26]]}}}