View source for NOAA Central Library

{{Short description|Central library of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration library network}}
{{Infobox library
| name = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Library
| name_en = <!-- Name in English if different -->
| logo = NOAA logo.svg
| logo_size = 
| logo_alt = 
| image = NOAA Central Library Front Doors.jpg
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = NOAA Library front doors
| country = United States of America
| type = Government science library
| scope = 
| established = 1970
| ref_legal_mandate = 
| location = 1315 East-West Highway <br />SSMC3 2nd Floor<br />Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
| coordinates = {{coord|38.992491267170934|-77.02982601409487}}
| branch_of = Department of Commerce
| num_branches = 
| items_collected = 
| collection_size = 
| criteria = 
| legal_deposit = Yes, federal depository
| req_to_access = Members of the public must contact the library in advance to access materials.
| annual_circulation = 
| pop_served = NOAA employees and affiliates, general public
| members = 
| budget = 
| director = Ben Hope
| num_employees = 
| website = http://library.noaa.gov/
| references = 
| embed = 
| module = 
}}

The '''NOAA Library''' is the flagship library of the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]’s (NOAA) network of over 20 research libraries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://library.noaa.gov/About/Library-Network|title=NOAA Libraries Network {{!}} NOAA Central Library|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> It is also a selective [[federal depository library]] for United States [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] publications.<sup>[6]</sup>

==Location==
The NOAA Library is located on the second floor of NOAA Building III on the Silver Spring Metro Center campus, near the Silver Spring Metro station.

==History==
In 1970, with the formation of NOAA, the libraries of the [[National Weather Service]], [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]], and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] (which became NOAA's [[National Marine Fisheries Service]] (NMFS)) merged to become the NOAA Central library.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/research-programs/climate-database-modernization-program|title=Climate Database Modernization Program {{!}} National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)|website=www.ncdc.noaa.gov|access-date=2016-09-30}}</ref>

Part of the NOAA Central library collection is from the former United States Weather Bureau library, itself descended from the United States Signal Corps library.

The library was previously located in Rockville, Maryland just northwest of Old Georgetown Road until 1993, when it moved to its current location in Silver Spring, Maryland. Its website was established in 1995.

==Patrons==
NOAA employees have full access to the library's e-resources and physical holdings. Visiting scientists, contracted labor, and other NOAA affiliates can gain access through their federal supervisor. Members of the public can access the library by calling in advance. The library is open from 8:30 am through 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, and is closed on federal holidays.

==Contents==
The library subscribes to over one thousand peer-reviewed journals in print and electronic formats,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://library.noaa.gov/E-Resources/Journals|title=Journals {{!}} NOAA Central Library|website=library.noaa.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> and is the official repository of all NOAA publications.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://repository.library.noaa.gov/|title=NOAA Institutional Repository|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> It also holds works and artifacts pertaining to the history of NOAA. Its microfilm collection includes decades of surface weather observations and surface weather analyses from the United States and Japan.

The library maintains an online photo collection of over 30,000 images taken by NOAA staff.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://library.noaa.gov/Collections/Photo-Lab|title=NOAA Photo Library|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> Some of those images are also hosted on the NOAA [[Flickr]] account.

==Role within data digitization==
The NOAA Library has been active within the [[Climate Digital Modernization Program]] (CDMP), which is headquartered at the [[National Climatic Data Center]] (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina. Projects have included digitizing foreign climate data books, the United States Daily Weather Map series, and ''[[Monthly Weather Review]]'' articles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/cdmp/noaa-tasks.html|title=CDMP NOAA Tasks|author=National Climatic Data Center|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|date=2008-08-22|accessdate=2012-04-26}}</ref> 

Researchers at the library from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC, now the [[Weather Prediction Center]] or WPC) are digitizing the library's microfilm North American and Northern Hemispheric map collections, originally created by the National Meteorological Center (NMC).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ncep.noaa.gov/newsletter/|title=HPC Scanning|author=National Centers for Environmental Prediction|author-link=National Centers for Environmental Prediction|newspaper=NCEP Quarterly Newsletter|date=January 2012|accessdate=2012-04-26|issue=4|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]}}</ref>

==Awards==
In 1999 the NOAA Library organized over 500 NOAA websites under a single locator and created a significant digital image library of meteorological images from the 1800s to the 1950s, which won the Federal Library and Information Center Committee award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/accessamerica/docs/libraryaward.html|date=2000-03-06|accessdate=2012-04-27|title=Federal Libraries and Information Centers, Librarians and Technicians Win FLICC Awards|author=Access America Awards|publisher=Cyber Cemetery}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060712090225/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/ NOAA Central Library]
* [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/ NOAA photo library]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/noaaphotolib/ NOAA photo library on Flickr]

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[[Category:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
[[Category:Research libraries in the United States]]