The Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has just completed its first book shipment to the Internet Archive. The College is one of four sub-grantees in the NEH grant awarded to the MHL via the Open Knowledge Commons. With this shipment, The College begins digitizing over 500,000 pages of rare American medical journals, some of which only exist in a handful of libraries nationwide. This is the first time The College has been able to digitize any journals in its extensive collection, and it marks their first contribution to the Internet Archive. Last Monday, two College Library staff members drove to the Internet Archive in Princeton to deliver their first load of book totes. They received a tour of the facilities and had a chance to talk through the process with the regional manager.
The College’s first shipment includes several foundational works on homeopathy, including The American Homoeopathist volumes 1-34 (1877-1908), The Homoeopathic Record volumes 1-37 (1886-1922), and The Hahnemannian Monthly volumes 1-57 (1865-1922), the journal of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania. Another item of general medical interest includes the first six volumes of The Southern Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences. One series that stands out amongst the others is Forest Leaves, the journal of the Sanatorium Gabriels in New York. This journal includes many literary contributions, including poetry and fiction, and gives an overview of operational activities at the Sanatorium. The College has sent volumes 1-18 (1903-1922) of Forest Leaves, the full run permitted for digitization by copyright.
Now that scanning has begun, it is estimated that it will take approximately six months to complete the project. Forthcoming shipments will include volumes of the Psychoanalytic Review, American Practitioner, and several regional medical journals.