摘要：Our associates, the Medical Record Librarians, have in recent years and in their own bulletin pointed up the advantages and disadvantages of their professional title under the heading: "What's in a Name?"" 2 One writer has been unable to find a term other than that of Librarian which will cover the several tasks carried on in the Record Department; another finds "analyst" satisfactory, and holds that "there is an unattractive stigma attached to the word 'librarian' when it is aligned with the duties required of the M.R.L." The Medical Librarian, proud of his profession, regrets the confusion which occurs through this duplication of title and the time and effort wastefully expended through misdirected phone calls, and mail, and books which go astray; in reading, he is annoyed to find that he has searched for a published article headed "Medical Librarian" only to find that it is concerned with the Record Department. Hospital personnel, much closer to the problem than is the editor of the journal, are equally careless in differentiating between the two departments. The explanation that the Medical Record Librarian in some hospitals also has charge of the Medical Library is begging the question. It is not because of this fact that she has been given the title, Librarian. A very limited portion of the time of even a small section of record personnel is ever devoted to library tasks. At most, these include the recording of the receipt of journals and a notation of the materials borrowed and returned. The record personnel has no time for the cataloging of the collection or for the compilation of references, quick reference work, research service, or translating-the tasks which mark the services of a trained medical librarian.
