Category: News

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library Joins the Medical Heritage Library

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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.

Photograph of Ruth Lilly Medical library reading room
History of Medicine Collection Research Room

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.

Drawing of pulmonary tuberculois from medical student's pathology lab notes, 1904
Drawing of pulmonary tuberculosis from medical student’s pathology lab notes, 1904

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.

Still from a video recording of lecture on minority healthcare delivered by Dr. Joycelyn Elders at IU School of Medicine in 2000
Still from a video recording of lecture on minority healthcare delivered by Dr. Joycelyn Elders at IU School of
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.

3D model of an English pewter bleeding bowl, circa 1840s
3D model of an English pewter bleeding bowl, circa 1840s

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.

Statement on Dobbs v Jackson

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As a collaborative digitization and discovery organization committed to providing open access to the history of medicine and health resources, the Medical Heritage Library, Inc. (MHL) works to ensure that researchers and other people have access to the historical records at the heart of evidence-based history.

The June 24, 2022 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v. Jackson to overturn the 49-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, as analyzed by historians and commentators, is based, in part, on a faulty reading of history and an intentional misunderstanding of the evolution of laws around abortion.  As noted in the amicus brief filed by both the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, “the court adopted a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than 30 years. The opinion inadequately represents the history of the common law, the significance of quickening in state law and practice in the United States, and the 19th-century forces that turned early abortion into a crime.”  The MHL fears how such interpretations can and may be used to overturn existing law. We also fear what that overturning will mean for individuals seeking medical care.

This decision inserts government into considerations that should be made between an individual and their physician.  It not only restricts access to reproductive services, but also lays the foundation for increases in maternal mortality. The United States already has the highest rates of maternal mortality of any developed country, with Black women dying at a ratio of 3:1 to 4:1 in relation to white women.  This decision will also disproportionally affect individuals from historically disadvantaged communities.  We fear that this decision will become a gateway to other actions taken at the state level to restrict access to birth control and forms of medical intervention needed for reproductive and sexual health.

This decision also impacts women’s health overall by reducing a person’s ability to gain access to medications that not only aid in abortion and miscarriage recovery, but also in other aspects of health care, such as cancer treatment and in-vitro fertilization.  The MHL stands on the side of complete health care for all.

While the sources made available by the Medical Heritage Library, Inc. document what happens when access to healthcare for all individuals is limited, these sources often reflect the perspective of institutions run by white males and religiously biased organizations.

History is meant to be not only a window into our past, but also a guidepost for our future. To paraphrase, the history of medicine is also its prologue. The MHL, as professionals who serve all who learn from the health sciences, expresses disappointment at the Dobbs decision, as well as our sadness at its impact on future generations.  

Thank you!

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We’d like to extend our thanks to everyone who shared our call for applicants to our 2022 summer fellowship and to those who took the time to apply.
Our working group is reviewing applications now and will be in touch with everyone as soon as possible.

Special! Apply to be our 2022 Education Resources Fellow

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It’s that time of year, folks: time for us to search out a 2022 fellow! The full description and application instructions are below; and, please, share this unrestrainedly!

ABOUT US:

The Medical Heritage Library, Inc. (MHL) is a collaborative digitization and discovery organization of some of the world’s leading medical libraries committed to providing open access to resources in the history of healthcare and health sciences. The MHL’s goal is to provide the means by which readers and scholars across a multitude of disciplines can examine the interrelated nature of medicine and society, both to inform contemporary medicine and to strengthen understanding of the world in which we live.

DESCRIPTION:

The Medical Heritage Library seeks a motivated fellow to assist in the continuing development of our education and outreach programs. Under the guidance of a member of our governance board, the fellow will develop curated collections or sets for the MHL website on one of the following topics: climate change, aging, or LGBTQ+. Examples of existing primary source sets can be found on the MHL website: http://www.medicalheritage.org/resource-sets/.  These collections will be drawn from the over 300,000 items in our Internet Archive library. The curated collections provide a means for our visitors to discover the richness of MHL materials on a variety of topics relevant to the history of health and the health sciences. As part of this work, the fellow will have an opportunity to enrich metadata in MHL records in Internet Archive to support scholarship and inquiry on this topic.

This paid fellowship will be hosted virtually, but there may be opportunities for onsite interactions with one of the MHL member institutions.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Based on the input of MHL members and others, work on the creation of curated sets of materials drawn from MHL collections.
  • Enrich MHL metadata to highlight underrepresented topics in our Internet Archive collections.
  • Regularly create blog posts and other types of social media for posting to MHL accounts.
  • Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

This virtual position is open to all qualified graduate students with a strong interest in medical or health history, with additional interests in library/information science or education. Strong communication and collaboration skills are a must. Fellows are expected to learn quickly and work independently.  

FELLOWSHIP DURATION:

The fellowship will take place anytime between the end of May 2022- end of August 2022

HOURS:

150 hours, over 12 weeks with a maximum of 20 hours in any given week.

SALARY:

$20/hour not to exceed $3000

NUMBER OF AVAILABLE FELLOWSHIPS: 1

To apply, please provide the following:

  •     Cover letter documenting interest in position
  •     Curriculum Vitae
  •     2 References- names (with positions) and emails and phone numbers of references to contact

Please submit your application materials by March 28th, 2022 through this form: https://forms.gle/Rgf28DJVcP4eLs9M9 

Candidate interviews will take place virtually.Please contact MHL at melissa.grafe@yale.edu if you have questions.

Come join us–

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–on Instagram! We’re doing a soft open to give ourselves time to get used to the new platform and look around ourselves a bit, but we’d love to see you over there. Do you know cool accounts we should be following? Let us know!