摘要：Since 1972, Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare has been promoting researches on so-called Intractable Diseases, which are chronic, often complicate other diseases and have severe effects and accompanying physical and social handicaps. Beginning with 8 Committees in 1972, they grew to 43 in 1976, and from that time have remained steady in number. The 43 Committees fall into 2 groups; those researching a single disease, for example Behçet's Disease, and groups researching several diseases with a common aspect, for example Autoimmune Diseases. In 1983, 1466 researchers and physicians from 260 organizations, including all medical schools in Japan, were contributing to this project. Diseases under research numbered more than 150. However, although the Annual Reports of the Research Committees are recognized as important primary information resources in medical libraries, sometimes they can't be used effectively, because they are published as government reports, and thus lack the unified form that publishing materials usually have. Also the Committees are re-evaluated every three years and some Committees are changed or discontinued at that time. Furthermore Reports are not indexed in secondary information sources like Igaku Chuo Zasshi. To use there Reports more effectively as a library materials, we have made 2 tools. One is “Table of transitions of Research Committees, 1972-1980”. The second is “Index of diseases referred to Research Committees”.
