Twenty-eight medical schools formed the Southern Medical School Consortium, later expanded to the Health Sciences Consortium. The sole purpose was to set in motion the Self-Instructional Materials Project to produce self-instructional materials which could be used in several institutions. The project developed self-paced, inexpensive instructional packages which could be exported to other schools; these materials also had to meet the criteria of possessing clear objectives and practice activities, being documented by post-test evidence of student learning, providing feedback to students, and of allowing for revision as needed. In its earliest stages 55% of the project time was allocated to faculty training, 30% to dissemination and the remainder to production, testing, and revision; in the future the need for the first activity will decline, but more effort will be required for the last three. The first Directory of Self-Instructional Materials was published in 1972; 150 instructional packages were cataloged and over 4000 user orders resulted. A second edition is scheduled for 1974 and will contain 300 packages. The project has been successful to date and should make greater contributions as production, quality control and dissemination activities increase. (PB)