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NLM Library Operations Division Announces Two Appointments

National Library of Medicine Acting Associate Director for Library Operations (LO) Joyce Backus has announced the appointment of Loren Frant to serve as deputy chief of the Public Services Division (PSD) and Kenneth Koyle to serve as deputy chief of the History of Medicine Division (HMD). NLM is the world's largest medical library and a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Ms. Frant came to NLM as an Associate Fellow in 2004. Following her Associate year, she accepted a position in PSD's Reference and Web Services Section as a systems librarian, where she led a team of librarians delivering Web site redesigns and database improvements. Ms. Frant served as the technical lead for MedlinePlus and was then appointed head of the Health Information Products Unit (HIPU), a position she held until her selection as deputy chief. As the head of the HIPU Unit, Ms. Frant led all MedlinePlus strategic decisions and directed the operations for a suite of important products and services, including MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus en español, MedlinePlus Web services, and she was key to the successful launch of MedlinePlus Connect in November 2010. Ms. Frant is a skilled spokesperson who has represented NLM on numerous occasions before the NLM Board of Regents, at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, to the HHS Web Council and to many other NIH Institutes. She brings a combination of excellent technical, interpersonal, and management skills to the leadership of the Division.

Mr. Koyle is a retired Army officer with more than 25 years of service. Since 2010, he has served as deputy chief of the US Army Medical Department's Center of History and Heritage (AMEDD) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In this capacity, he has been the executive officer of the Center and the sole active duty historian in the Army Medical Department, responsible with the chief of the Center for supervision of an 18-person staff of history, archives, and museum personnel and administration of a $2.1 million annual budget, as well as historical research in support of AMEDD and the Office of the Surgeon General.

Prior to his tenure at AMEDD, Mr. Koyle was a medical history fellow at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where he received his master's degree in history. He holds a second master's degree in adult education from Penn State University.

NLM's largest division, Library Operations traces its roots to 1836, the founding year of NLM, when the Library of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army was established in Washington, DC. Library Operations hosts access to the physical library and to its online counterpart, creating places where users can discover and gain access to the world's medical literature. It is also home to the Bibliographic Services Division, History of Medicine Division, National Network of Libraries of Medicine and National Network Office, the Public and Technical Services Divisions, and the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR).

The Public Services Division (PSD) offers a range of services for accessing the NLM collection and information resources. Through the onsite Reading Room and an interlibrary loan network, PSD provides access to the world's largest collection of biomedical literature. A staff of information specialists offers reference and customer service assistance to health professionals, researchers, educators, and others in need of biomedical information. PSD staff organizes NLM information for access through the World Wide Web at URL http://www.nlm.nih.gov and consumer health information through MedlinePlus® at http://medlineplus.gov. PSD also carries out NLM's mission to preserve its invaluable collection of printed literature and non-print media for future generations.

NLM's History of Medicine Division collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets for diverse audiences one of the world's richest collections of historical material related to human health and disease.

  

Loren Frant, Deputy Chief, Public Services Division, Library Operations

Loren Frant, Deputy Chief, Public Services Division, Library Operations

Kenneth Koyle, Deputy Chief, History of Medicine Division, Library Operations

Kenneth Koyle, Deputy Chief, History of Medicine Division, Library Operations