"This is a tremendously important appointment," said Virginia Bowden, director of the Health Science Center's Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library. "His serving on this prestigious committee is an honor to our institution."
Dr. Thomas, who has served on numerous editorial boards, is one of the newest members of the committee that reviews and selects scientific journals to be catalogued in Index Medicus, more commonly known as MEDLINE. As the world's premier database for biomedical information, MEDLINE contains citations from more than 3,000 journals from throughout the world.
The committee has also recently expanded its role to evaluate and recommend various computer software and technologies to be used in the library of the future. This group has a significant role in the quality and performance of medical libraries.
Each year hundreds of journals are submitted to the committee for review, but only about one-third are selected for indexing. Dr. Thomas' appointment is from 1993-1997.