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United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Fact Sheet
History of Medicine Division


The National Library of Medicine's resources for historical scholarship in medicine and related sciences are among the richest of any institution in the world. Collected over many years, the material in the History of Medicine Division (HMD) provides researchers with sources both rare in availability and exhaustive in scope.

Collections

The History of Medicine Division holds:

Services

All HMD material is available for use within the Library, except for certain modern manuscripts under temporary restrictions. While some material is available for use outside the Library, generally it is necessary for investigators to visit the Library if they wish to undertake extensive research in the collections.

Printed Works: Items in microfilm or other photocopy format may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Individuals should submit interlibrary loan requests through the library of their choice, preferably a medical library that uses DOCLINE®. When available, microfilm may be purchased through the NLM's Microfilm Sales Program.

Early Manuscripts: Most early Western, Persian, and Arabic manuscripts are on microfilm, and are available for loan or purchase.

Modern Manuscripts: Recent collections, because of their size, copyright, and use restrictions, may not be copied extensively or in their entirety. For more information about restrictions, contact HMD.

Prints and Photographs: The Images from the History of Medicine (IHM) database includes approximately 59,000 images from the NLM collection. The IHM is available for searching at URL http://wwwihm.nlm.nih.gov/. See Fact Sheet Images from the History of Medicine.

Historical Audiovisuals: Material from this collection is available for viewing at the NLM. Copies of most titles are also available through interlibrary loan. In some cases, arrangements may be made for the production and purchase of copies of audiovisuals. For more information contact HMD.

Reference Services: HMD staff provides reference service in response to specific questions about the Library's holdings or other aspects of medical history. Staff is unable to undertake research projects or compile bibliographies. Contact Reference staff at hmdref@nlm.nih.gov.

Online Access to Library Holdings

Most of HMD's monograph and serial titles, the Library's incunabula, Arabic and Persian manuscripts, and most modern manuscript collections, may be searched in NLM's online catalog, LocatorPlus, as well as in RLIN and OCLC. LocatorPlus is available via NLM's Web site and at URL http://locatorplus.gov/.

Modern manuscripts can also be searched by type at Manuscript Collections Sorted by Type. Look for manuscript finding aids at Finding Aids for Selected Manuscript Collections. Manuscripts can also be searched in the RLIN (Research Library Information Network) AMC (Archives & Manuscripts Control) national database.

PubMed now includes citations to more than 30,000 journal articles in the history of medicine and related fields published since 1964. These citations were in the HISTLINE database, which has been discontinued. In the PubMed query box, enter historical article [pt] to retrieve historical items on a specific topic.

NLM's ninety European manuscripts written before the 17th century are listed at Early Western Manuscripts in the National Library of Medicine: A Short Title List (1989). Paper copies are available from HMD.

Other Catalogs and Finding Guides

For searching many HMD materials, especially pamphlets, dissertations, and journal articles from the 19th and early 20th centuries, this title is invaluable: Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, U.S. Army (61 volumes in 5 series, 1880-1961). (NLM was formerly the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office.)

The Bibliography of the History of Medicine, a printed version of the HISTLINE database, was published in six cumulative volumes (1965-1993), and is useful for pre-1993 material. The Bibliography of the History of Medicine can be consulted in the HMD Reading Room and at many large research and medical school libraries.

While not as current as the online catalog, the following printed catalogs are still useful: Richard J. Durling, A Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine (1967); Peter A. Krivatsy, A Catalogue of 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); John B. Blake, A Short Title Catalogue of Eighteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine (1979).

Free copies of Early Western Manuscripts in the National Library of Medicine: A Short Title List (1989) are available from HMD. This publication is also available online.

For further description of medieval manuscripts acquired by NLM before 1950, consult: A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts in the Army Medical Library (1950) by Dorothy M. Schullian. Includes pre-16th century printed books, early Western manuscripts, and pre- 20th century non-Western manuscripts.

Many of these manuscripts are also described 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. Cataloging data for modern manuscripts are reported to and published in The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections.

For more research resources and additional information, visit the HMD home page at URL http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ or contact:

History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, Maryland 20894


Phone: (301) 496-5405
FAX: (301) 402-0872
Internet: hmdref@nlm.nih.gov


A complete list of NLM Fact Sheets is available at:
(alphabetical list) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsheets.html
(subject list): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsubj.html

Or write to:

FACT SHEETS
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20894

Phone: (301) 496-6308
Fax: (301) 496-4450
email: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov

Last updated: 05 November 2001
First published: 05 November 2001
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