Category : Various Text files
Archive   : NLM-INFO.ZIP
Filename : HISTMED.TXT

 
Output of file : HISTMED.TXT contained in archive : NLM-INFO.ZIP
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
National Library of Medicine
APRIL 1993
History of Medicine Division

The Library's resources for historical scholarship in the medical and
related sciences are among the richest of any institution in the
world. Collected over many years, they include rarities and
exhaustive materials for the support of studies in the history of
human health and disease.

Collections

The History of Medicine Division (HMD) holds:

All of the Library's material printed before 1914 and thousands of
later pamphlets and dissertations, totaling some 600,000 pieces.
About 70,000 of these were printed before 1801; some 550 before
1501.

ù Ninety early western manuscripts (before 1600) and microfilm copies
of about 600 manuscripts held by European libraries.

ù Modern manuscripts numbering an estimated 1,000,000 items, including
about 200 oral history memoirs.

ù Prints and photographs, including portraits, pictures of
institutions, caricatures, genre scenes, and fine graphic art in a
variety of media, illustrating social and historical aspects of
medicine, totaling about 57,000 items.

ù Audiovisuals, including films, videocassette slide-tape programs,
film strips, and audiocassettes numbering about 3000 titles
produced between 1917 and 1970.

ù Special collections of Arabic and oriental medical literature.



Services

All HMD material is available for use within the Library, except for
certain modern manuscripts under temporary donor-imposed
restrictions. Most is also available in one form or another for use
outside the Library. Generally, however, it will be necessary for
investigators to visit the Library if they wish to undertake
extensive research in the collections.

Printed works: These may generally be borrowed by libraries in the
United States through the Regional Medical Library Network, usually
as microfilm or other photocopy. Individuals should submit
interlibrary loan requests through the library of their choice.

Manuscripts: These materials are not lent outside the Library in the
original. Early manuscripts may ordinarily be copied on microfilm.
More recent collections, because of their size, copyright, and
possible donor restrictions, usually cannot be copied in their
entirety. Each request is considered individually. Those interested
should write to the Curator of Manuscripts.

Prints and Photographs: Though the Library does not lend material
from the Prints and Photographs Collection, photographic prints and
slides may be ordered for a fee as a special service. Patrons who
cannot visit the Library may write to the Curator of Prints and
Photographs stating their needs, and HMD will attempt to provide them
with lists of available pictures on their subjects of interest.
Requests should be defined as carefully and narrowly as possible.
Slides and photographs of title pages, illustrations, and other
special pages in books may also be ordered.

Audiovisuals: Most audiovisual titles are available through
interlibrary loan. Arrangements may be made in some cases for the
production and purchase of copies. Because of the variety and
complexity of technology used to view these audiovisuals, on-site
viewing is best arranged in advance.

Reference Service: HMD provides limited reference service in
response to specific questions about the Library's holdings or other
aspects of medical history. Questions involving significant research
time cannot be answered, nor can extensive bibliographies on medico-
historical topics be prepared. Citations to material published since
1964 may be found in the Library's annual Bibliography of the History
of Medicine. Citations to works published since 1970 may also be
searched in HISTLINE" (History of Medicine Online), a database
available through NLM's MEDLARS" system.

Finding Guides

Most of HMD's monograph and serial titles, as well as most modern
manuscript collections, may be searched in NLM's online catalog,
CATLINE", and also in RLIN and OCLC. However, HMD's extensive
collections of 19th and 20th century pamphlets and dissertations, and
certain other specialized collections, are not available in online
databases. Card catalogs for many of HMD's holdingsÄprinted,
manuscript, and pictorialÄare available for use at the Library. In
addition, guides to much of this material have been published. The
NLM Catalog on microfiche is created from CATLINE and therefore has
the same limitations noted above. HMD is in the process of creating a
videodisc with automated records of its picture collection. The RLIN
system also contains records for a small portion of it.

Several specialized catalogs are also useful guides to HMD materials
acquired prior to the date of publication:

Dorothy M. Schullian, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts in
the Army Medical Library (1950);

Richard J. Durling, A Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books
in the National Library of Medicine (1967); and,

Peter Krivatsy, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Sixteenth Century
Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, First Supplement
(1971) and A Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Printed Books in the
National Library of Medicine (1989).

For works printed between 1701 and 1800, except dissertations, see:

John B. Blake, A Short Title Catalogue of Eighteenth Century
Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine (1979)

For searching many HMD materials, especially pamphlets,
dissertations, and journal articles from the 19th and 20th centuries,
this title is still invaluable:

Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office,
U.S. Army (61 volumes in 5 series, 1880-1961). The National
Library of Medicine was formerly the Library of the Surgeon-
General's Office.

The National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints is useful for some
purposes, but absence of an NLM record in NUC should not be taken as
evidence that the Library does not own the title:

The ninety NLM European manuscripts written before the seventeenth
century are listed in:

Early Western Manuscripts in the National Library of Medicine: A
Short-Title List (1989) by Elizabeth Tunis. (Free copies are
available by writing to the address below.)
Additional information about some of the manuscripts may be found in:

Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts (1937) by Seymour De
Ricci and W.J. Wilson and its Supplement (1962) by C.U. Faye and
W.H. Bond.

Many are described more fully in Schullian's Catalogue, which also
includes a section on HMD's Arabic, Persian, and related manuscripts,
prepared by Francis E. Sommer.

Cataloging data for modern manuscripts are reported to and published
in:

The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections.

For additional information write to:
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, Maryland 20894
Phone: (301) 496-5405
FAX: (301) 402-0872




  3 Responses to “Category : Various Text files
Archive   : NLM-INFO.ZIP
Filename : HISTMED.TXT

  1. Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!

  2. This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.

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