University Libraries: HIST 451: History of Medicine and the Body: Home

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Locating Sources for Digital Research

Digital Libraries and Archives for research in History of Science, Medicine, and the Body.

MEDLINE
Medical articles on topics relating to research, clinical practice, administration, policy issues, and health care services.
Dates of coverage: 1949-current.
History of the Health Sciences: Libraries and Archives
Alphabetical list of libraries and archives world-wide with significant medical history resources. List is also available by state/country.
History of Health Sciences Worldwide Web Links
Access to museums, archives, libraries, and organizations with digital collections on all aspects of the history of the health sciences.
Hathi Trust
E-text of books, many are full-text with no restrictions. Excellent source for books published after conflicts prior to 1950. Largest collection is pre-1923. Search by topic or keyword to locate books. Also includes government reports.
Medical Heritage Library
"The MHL’s growing collection of digitized medical rare books, pamphlets, journals, and films number in the tens of thousands, with representative works from each of the past six centuries, all of which are available here through the Internet Archive."
National Library of Medicine: Medicine in the Americas
The collection includes materials related to all aspects of medicine in the Americas from 1610-1920.

Organizations and Museums with History of Science, Medicine, and the Body Interests

Organizations and Museums with History of the Health Sciences Interests
International listing of museum exhibits and holdings related to all aspects of the history of health and medicine.
US Army Medical Department: Office of Medical History: Books and Documents
Histories of the Army Medical Services from the 1700's forward.

Major Figures in Health Sciences--Their Lives and Works

Important Figures in Health Sciences - Their Lives and Works
Comprehensive list of websites devoted to specific persons or groups of major figures in the Health Sciences.
Black Nurses in History: A Bibliography and Guide to Web Resources
Extensive bibliography and entries for specific nurses.
Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians
"A Medicine of Their Own: The Stories of American Women Healers introduces students to women's entrance to the medical profession in the nineteenth century through readings in fiction, autobiographical documents, and medical history."
Digital Collections of the Archives of American College of Surgeons
Archive search, some collections are in digital format.
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences
Comprehensive list with brief biographies and bibliographies for further research.
Dr. Joseph Goldberger and the War on Pellagra
History of the discovery that diet, not germs, was the cause of pellagra, the scourge of the South.
Medical Library Association Oral Histories
The MLA Oral History Project conducts and preserves interviews that help illuminate the history of health sciences librarianship.
Medicine in the Americas
"Medicine in the Americas is a digital library project that makes freely available original works demonstrating the evolution of American medicine from colonial frontier outposts of the 17th century to research hospitals of the 20th century."
The William Osler Photo Collection
Chronicle of the life of Sir William Osler (1849-1919) from the Canadian frontier to Oxford.
Profiles in Science (National Library of Medicine)
"Celebrates twentieth-century leaders in biomedical research and public health. It makes the archival collections of prominent scientists, physicians, and others who have advanced the scientific enterprise available to the public through modern digital technology."
Women Physicians, 1850s-1970s
Collection of materials "documenting the history of women physicians beginning with the first medical school for women, Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP)."

Primary Source Material on Medicine, Health, and Disease

Primary Source Material on Medicine, Health, and Disease
List of locations of primary source materials on wide-ranging topics, includes text, images, and multi-media.
Introduction to mortality statistics in England and Wales: 17th-20th century
Starting point for finding mortality statistics for the England and Wales.
Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics
e-text available through Harvard University Library. Separate pages for Cholera, Smallpox, Syphilis, Yellow Fever, Great Plague, Spanish Flu, Tuberculosis, and Tropical Fevers.
National Center for Health Statistics
Entry page to current and historical health statistics for the US.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Based on reports to the CDC by state health departments, the MMWR reports incidence and presentation of selected diseases. Includes brief articles on infectious and chronic diseases, as well as data tables for some diseases by state and region.
Fit to Breed: Eugenics in Indiana
Multi media examination of eugenics using primary source materials.
American Influenza of 1918 Archive
Digital encyclopedia of the pandemic based on primary sources.

Databases for Historical Research on Medicine, the Body, and Disease

Americas Historical Newspapers

American newspapers from 1690 to 1876. Search by presidential era or periods in American history.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

Searchable content of American historic newspapers from 1777-1963, as well as U.S. Newspaper Directory for finding information about American newspapers published between 1690-current.
US Newsstream (ProQuest)

Coverage of national leading newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and other US newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites.
New York Times, Historical, 1851-2020

Full text of the newspaper from 1851-2017.

Georgetown County Digital Library
Includes photographs, newspapers, booklets, diaries, etc. covering local families, institutions, and events from Georgetown, SC and the surrounding county.

Times of London Digital Archive, 1785-1985

Full text coverage of the newspaper from 1785-1985.
Illustrated London News

Online access to the entire run of the ILN. Each page has been digitally reproduced in full color. Articles and captions are full-text searchable. Dates of coverage: 1842-2003.
Daily Mail Historical Archive

Full-text articles and images from the Daily Mail (1896-2004) and the Daily Mail Atlantic edition (1923-1931).
JSTOR

Provides full-text and images of over 1000 scholarly, peer-reviewed journals in a variety of disciplines. Has best coverage in older volumes of journals.