"The NLM Gateway is a Web-based system that lets users search simultaneously in multiple retrieval systems at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). It allows users of NLM services to initiate searches from one Web interface, providing "one-stop searching" for many of NLM's information resources or databases. It is being developed by the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications (LHNCBC) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)."

One target audience for the Gateway is the Internet user who is new to NLM's online resources and does not know what information is available or how to best search for it. This audience may include physicians and other health care providers, researchers, librarians, students, and increasingly, patients, their families, and the public. Other users may find the Gateway useful for an overall search of NLM's information resources. Some searchers may locate what they need immediately, while others will utilize the Gateway as an adjunct tool to other NLM search services such as PubMed® and MEDLINEplus®.