History of the Health Sciences Resources: Digital Collections and Online Resources

The collections described in this Directory database provide research and reference services to scholars interested in the history of the health sciences. Some of the subjects include: dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, military medicine, and pharmacy. While the Directory is by no means exhaustive, it serves to draw attention to the depth and variety of history of medicine collections available to researchers. In the future, we expect that more institutions will wish to be included.

A discovery tool providing keyword search services across a union catalog of finding aids describing archival collections broadly related to the history of medicine and its allied sciences.

A tool for those researching Medieval and Early Modern medicine and medical imagery, this site provides access to an extensive collection of medical illustrations dating from the 6th to the 16th century and gathered from more than 30 institutions and libraries. Users can browse by many topics, including: subject, language, and date. The site also offers a list of related resources (e.g. bibliographies and other digital collections).

MEDLINE is the U.S. National Library of Medicine® (NLM) bibliographic database that contains more than 22 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine.

An interactive annotated bibliography of the history of medicine, biology, and dentistry from circa 2000 BCE to circa 2000 CE.

The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection consists of books, journals, reports, bulletins, minutes, proceedings, and histories covering topics in medicine, public health, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing, dating from 1849 to the present. These materials thoroughly document the development of health care and the health professions within North Carolina and is thus a significant part of the state’s cultural heritage and history.

The Osler Library Prints Collection brings together a rich variety of visual documents related to the history of medicine, spanning several centuries, countries, and artistic media. Ranging from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, the collection consists predominantly of prints, though it also includes some photographs, drawings, posters, and cartoons. Medical professionals throughout history are represented largely through portraiture, as well as through caricatures and scenes. The images in this collection, acquired from various donors at different times, are fascinating for both their historical significance and their artistic merit. Straddling the disciplines of art and science, the collection is a valuable resource on the history of medicine and the history of portraiture.

The Physician Assistant History Society, Inc., is dedicated to the history and legacy of the physician assistant profession through the identification and collection of appropriate papers, manuscripts, magazine and newspaper clippings, newsletters, reports, dissertations, oral histories, and visual artifacts, such as films, slides, videos, photographs, and digital images.

The Florence Nightingale Digitization Project is a collaborative effort to create a comprehensive database of digitized correspondence written by Florence Nightingale.

The mission of the North Carolina Nursing History (NCNH) website is to provide an online resource about the history of nursing in the state of North Carolina. We have selected content to be viewed by anyone who has an interest in learning how professional nursing in North Carolina developed from its beginnings to the present day. This website is offered as a tribute to the dedicated service of North Carolina nurses and their contributions to the health and well-being of citizens of this state.

Anatomical fugitive sheets provide an early interactive model for looking inside the human body. These printed illustrations are single sheets, similar to broadsides, that depict the body using layers or flaps that can be lifted to reveal internal organs and other body parts, mimicking what one would find upon dissection.

The Center for the History of Family Medicine (CHFM) was officially established in 1992 to actively collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to the records of the leading family medicine organizations involved in all aspects of the specialty. It also solicits personal and professional papers of family physicians and family medicine educators before and after 1969, when family medicine officially became the 20th specialty in American medicine. It designs and exhibits materials from its collections that highlight the specialty's history. CHFM also creates online exhibits and information on its collections via the Center's web site.

The Four Seasons are unique, 17th-century copperplate engravings from the Trent Collection that were digitally reconstructed from more than 200 photographs in order to reproduce the experience of lifting the multilayered flaps and volvelles to reveal various anatomical dissections. A metaphor for the stages of human life, the prints illustrate not only human anatomy but are replete with allusions to alchemy, astrology, astronomy, botany, geography, palmistry, physiology, uroscopy and zoology.

The AAP Pediatric History Center (PHC) houses all historic and official Academy records. Publications, policy statements, selected documents, photographs, and books on AAP history are preserved as a lasting record and resource that documents the Academy role in advancing child health. The AAP archives include the books that address medical and social history of childhood, pediatric texts, rare books, photographs, videotapes, and a collection of pediatric artifacts that provide a fascinating insight into the changes of infant care and feeding over the years. In addition, the PHC houses select personal papers and manuscripts from those who worked to enrich the lives of children and improve their health. View the collection policy.

This collection allows users to browse and search the full text of over 900 historical and contemporary federal dietary guidance publications. As a part of the National Agricultural Library Digital Collections, it also provides reliable, long-term online access to this content.

This database shows the results of our ongoing survey of museums, libraries, archives and historical societies about their dental artifacts. On the left-hand side of the page, you will find several options for viewing the database. You may also use the search box to search by keyword (e. g. “instruments”; “Baltimore”; “museum”).

Spans the social, cultural, and scientific aspects of the history of medicine worldwide.

The Newsletter is published quarterly (January, April, July, October) and features articles, reports, discussions, news from the society and the history of science generally, member news, and other important information from the field.

Since its inception in 1912, Isis has featured scholarly articles, research notes and commentary on the history of science, medicine, and technology, and their cultural influences. Review essays and book reviews on new publications in the field are also included. An official publication of the History of Science Society, this is the oldest (and most widely circulating) English-language journal in the field.

The Journal of the History of Dentistry is authored by dentists, historians, archivists, and enthusiasts. Its scope includes all aspects of dental history, from tools of the trade to biographies to social histories.

The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences is internationally recognized as one of the top publications in its field. The journal's coverage is broad, publishing the latest original research on the written beginnings of medicine in all its aspects. When possible and appropriate, it focuses on what practitioners of the healing arts did or taught, and how their peers, as well as patients, received and interpreted their efforts.

Nursing History Review is the official publication of the American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN). It publishes significant scholarly work in all aspects of nursing history as well as short and extended reviews of recent books.

Founded in 1936 by George Sarton, and re-launched by the History of Science Society in 1985, this annual thematic journal highlights recent research on significant themes in the history of science. Recent volumes of Osiris include Expertise: Practical Knowledge and the Early Modern State, Klima, Clio Meets Science: The Challenges of History, and Music, Sound, and the Laboratory.

Social History of Medicine is concerned with all aspects of health, illness, and medical treatment in the past. It is committed to publishing work on the social history of medicine from a variety of disciplines. The journal offers its readers substantive and lively articles on a variety of themes, critical assessments of archives and sources, conference reports, up-to-date information on research in progress, a discussion point on topics of current controversy and concern, review articles, and wide-ranging book reviews.