Virginia Tech Publishing & Press partnership earns National Library of Medicine’s top honor

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) awarded “Circulating Now, Full Circle: From the Historical Collections of the National Library of Medicine,” published by Virginia Tech Publishing & Press, the NLM Board of Regents Award for Scholarship or Technical Achievement. 

The award recognizes the book by NLM's Elizabeth A. Mullen, digitization team lead, and Jeffrey S. Reznick, chief of the Collection Branch (acting) and senior historian, for outstanding original scholarship and technical achievement demonstrated through the co-envisioning, co-curating, and co-editing of the work. 

“Circulating Now, Full Circle” features the voices of nearly 40 individuals who speak to the scholarly value and importance of the NLM's historical collections, which span eleven centuries and originate from nearly every part of the world. 

“The book draws on a decade's worth of scholarly blog posts from the NLM’s popular blog, 'Circulating Now,' that highlight the importance of the collections in the National Library of Medicine,” said Director of Virginia Tech Publishing & Press Corinne Guimont. “The posts are heavily illustrated and organized into six thematic chapters, each introduced with an original essay describing  how researchers have used these collections to better understand and advance biomedicine.”

In receiving the honor, Mullen and Reznick expressed gratitude to Virginia Tech Publishing & Press for its willingness to take on the book, its outstanding editorial expertise that shaped the final volume, and its strong collaboration throughout its production. 

Virginia Tech Publishing & Press is Virginia Tech’s digital-first, open access publisher and university press. Based in the University Libraries, Virginia Tech Publishing & Press is committed to increasing the visibility, reach, and impact of research. It advances knowledge through publishing collaborative and innovative forms of scholarship. 

“One of our primary goals is to publish collaborative and innovative forms of scholarship, and ‘Circulating Now, Full Circle’ is exactly that,” said Guimont. “The fact that the final publication is digital first and open access further provides opportunities for readers to access the original content of the blogs through the interactive links in the online version. To me personally, I am also happy that we, as a press within a library, are able to support and highlight the work of other libraries.”

The NLM Board of Regents is the congressionally mandated advisory body to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the NIH, and the Director of the NLM. Established by the board in 1970, the Regents Award honors independent creativity that enriches biomedical knowledge and is the highest honor the board can bestow upon a member of the NLM staff.