We’re delighted to welcome our new partners at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library and to share this introductory post from Brandon Pieczko, Digital and Special Collections Librarian.
The Medical Heritage Library has a new contributor, the Indiana University School of Medicine’s
Ruth Lilly Medical Library. Beginning in May 2022, the library began contributing select digitized
items to the Medical Heritage Library to improve the discoverability of print materials from its
History of Medicine Collection.
The History of Medicine Collection is a special collection unit within the Ruth Lilly Medical Library located in Indianapolis, Indiana. As part of the Indiana University School of Medicine,
the mission of the History of Medicine Collection is to support the research, learning, and educational success of Indiana University students, faculty, and community members by
collecting, preserving, interpreting, and providing access to unique materials documenting the history of medicine; medical education, training, research, and practice; and health and disease
treatment and prevention in the state of Indiana and beyond. The collection includes archival records and manuscripts from Indiana University School of Medicine faculty and alumni, researchers, professional organizations, advocates, and practitioners in the medical and health care professions; a significant number of medical instruments and other artifacts; audiovisual recordings in a variety of formats; and rare and early print books, periodicals, and other publications (1542 – present) in multiple languages (e.g., English, French, German, Latin, Russian) on various subjects including anatomy and physiology, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, pathology, pharmacology, psychiatry, military medicine, medical ethics, and public health.
To date, the Ruth Lilly Medical Library has uploaded 37 issues of the Indiana University School of Medicine yearbook to the Internet Archive, as well as an incredibly detailed notebook containing pathology lecture and laboratory notes written by an Indiana Medical College student between 1903 and 1904. Looking ahead, the library plans to contribute additional digitized resources from its History of Medicine Collection including early medical school commencement programs and a series of monthly bulletins published by the Indiana Department of Health between 1899 and 1925.
In addition to the print materials it is contributing to the Medical Heritage Library, the Ruth Lilly Medical Library has also digitized a large number of audiovisual recordings from its holdings and
made them made available for direct online streaming through Indiana University’s Media Collections Online, a digital repository developed specifically to provide access to digitized and born-digital media. Since November 2020, the library has uploaded nearly 200 items to Media Collections Online including public health, disease awareness, and emergency preparedness
programs produced by local, state, and national organizations; demonstrations of dissections, surgeries, and other medical procedures developed to inform medical student education; and recordings of history of medicine guest lectures and student and faculty conference presentations.
Medicine in 2000
The History of Medicine Collection also contains a variety of artifacts ranging in date from the late 18th to early 21st century including surgical and dissection kits; diagnostic equipment like
microscopes, ophthalmoscopes, hemocytometers, sphygmomanometers, and stethoscopes; as well as a disarticulated (Beauchene) skull and a life-size model of a human skeleton. Some of these artifacts have been digitized using photogrammetry scanning techniques to create 3D
models that researchers and learners can interact with dynamically online. These models have been uploaded to a designated collection in Sketchfab, the 3D modeling platform the Ruth Lilly Medical Library also uses to provide access to the anatomical models it creates for use in medical education. To date, the library has uploaded models of 12 historical artifacts to the collection and plans to expand this digital project to include additional artifacts from the History of Medicine Collection.
The Ruth Lilly Medical Library is excited to join the Medical Heritage Library and hopes that its contributions will benefit both the library and the MHL’s broader mission to provide open
online access to digital history of medicine resources.