Happy holidays from HC&A

Happy holidays from all of us in OHSU Historical Collections & Archives! Christmas Day and New Year's Day happen to fall on Thursdays this year, meaning we will not hold our usual walk-in hours. OHSU Library, and thus our department, will also be closed on December 26th and January 2nd. We will be back to business as usual the following week.

Above: Mackenzie Hall with snowman

2014 was a big year for HC&A, as we said goodbye to archivist Karen Peterson, welcomed Max Johnson as our new archivist, moved our support staff into a capacious work space in the Main Library, and launched the search for a new Public Services Coordinator. We took in important archival collections from the School of Nursing and School of Dentistry; and also acquired classic rare book titles in anatomy, neurology, and nursing. To accommodate these outstanding new collections, we also made much-needed expansions to our stacks space. Our staff met significant milestones in digitization, collections processing, and exhibitions. I can't wait to see what 2015 brings!

New Accession: Woodard, Clarke & Co. Examination Table

This week I'd like to show some images of our new examination table which was recently donated to the Historical Collections & Archives.

To start, here's an image of the table in its "compact" state:

In this state, the table looks relatively compact and measures 45 inches long, 30 inches high and 22 inches wide.  The table include two drawers on either side with a third "fake" drawer screwed into the structure for looks.  Each side also contains a cabinet that rotates outward and contains small shelving.  Unfortunately the shelving is no longer intact.  The lower end of the table (near where the feet would rest) has two stirrup clasps on either side.  The bottom of the table has wheels enclosed in metal "petal" or "claw" shaped coverings.  The table boasts various knobs and handles, most of which do not currently function.

The table contains a substantial capacity for expansion, as seen in the images below:

It's like a wooden Transformer!  

As one can see there are many possibilities for increasing the patients' comfort.  If the patient needs to lie flat, the table can adjust to a full 76 inches in length, or if the patient needs to sit fully erect, the top can be made to stand straight up making the total height from the floor 66 inches.

From conversations with the donor, we learned that the table is oak with metal components for adjusting height and length.  It was purchased 30 years ago in Eugene and has had some restoration work on it.  One of the fascinating aspects of the artifact is that it was sold by Woodard, Clarke & Co. of Portland, Ore.  There are more details pertaining to that company which can be found here:

http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1904-10-30/ed-1/seq-12.pdf

The company was active between 1902 and 1924 and acted mainly as a distributor of medical, surgical and dental equipment and supplies.

Women, Power, and Reproductive Health Care exhibit - ends this month

If you haven't had a chance to see our current exhibit "Women, Power, and Reproductive Healthcare," in the Main Library, you still have time. The exhibit will run through the end of December, and is open to the public on the 3rd floor of the library.

The exhibit brings a critical perspective to the historical relationship between gender and health care, drawing on a wealth of rare books, archival materials, and artifacts from our collections. Exhibit text and selected images will remain available as a Web exhibit after the physical exhibit ends. In early January, a new exhibit of recent acquisitions from the School of Dentistry will rotate in.

Dr. David Mulder's "Canada's Contribution to 'March Madness'" lecture video

Streaming video of Dr. David Mulder's presentation "Canada's Contribution to 'March Madness': The James Naismith Story" is now available. This was the first lecture in our 2014/2015 series.

Please refer to our Website for a full list of HOM Society lectures, which include videos for lectures given from 2005 to the present.

Theodor Kerckring's Spicilegium anatomicum, 1670

Last month we were lucky to be able to acquire a copy of Theodor Kerckring's Spicilegium anatomicum, published in Amsterdam in 1670. Kerckring (1640-1693) was a Dutch physician, and this book contains many of his important anatomical observations. It is best-known, however, for its many wonderful illustrations.

The title page and the frontispiece have engravings of allegorical figures, which look very heroic and muscular, in true Baroque style.

The book contains detailed observations on the development of the fetal skeleton. These are supported by several striking foldout plates, which some of us here in HC&A consider cute, though others find them creepy!

The unfortunate story of the polydactylous skeleton below is partially translated in this interesting 1940 article by Albert G. Nicholls, "Theodor Kerckring and his 'Spicilegium anatomicum'."  (free from PubMed)

The book is bound with another book by Kerckring, Anthropogeniae ichnographia - meaning we have two books in one volume. The volume once belonged to Dr. Francois Moutier, whose charming bookplate is below:

The volume will be cataloged for our History of Medicine Collection, and available for research in HC&A.

Giving thanks

This year in HC&A, all of us are thankful for the ten months of cooperative effort that led to the creation of this, our new staff work space:

Above: Student assistant Crystal Rodgers has plenty of room for her processing projects!

Above: Even the mighty Indus scanner fits in our new digs!

Believe it or not, this is the first time in almost four years that all HC&A staff have worked together in the same building. Our staff has grown rapidly in the past few years, and we struggled to find appropriate work space in BICC and the Old Library. This fine office space was made available early in 2014. So this year we give thanks to our colleagues in Library Administration, Information & Research Services, and OHSU Facilities & Logistics for helping make it happen. And special thanks to Indus technician Larry Ruud, who finished the job by relocating our overhead scanner last week.

Finally, all of our support staff (currently numbering four student workers, Archives Assistant Jeff Colby, and a to-be-hired Public Services Coordinator) have dedicated work space, and easy access to the supplies and equipment they need to do their jobs! Stop by BICC 243 and say hello if you're in the building!

P.S. As usual, OHSU Library is closed on Thanksgiving, and HC&A will not hold walk-in hours. Enjoy the holiday!

A Tour and a Talking Scanner

News from HC&A:


The Portland Emerging Archivists Visit the OHSU Historical Collections & Archives:

On Tuesday evening we hosted the Portland Emerging Archivists group on a tour of the Historical Collections & Archives spaces and exhibits.  PEA members met Department Head Maija Anderson at the lower station for the Aerial Tram and took a ride to Marquam Hill where they were shown the Diversity Wall and the OHSU History Wall on their way to the BICC for a presentation on our current exhibit from Crystal Rodgers, the exhibit curator.

After discussion of the artifacts in the exhibit, we went over to the Old Library where Max and Maija gave short talks on the history of the building and the development of our various programs including the History of Medicine Rare Book Collection, our Oral History Program, our artifacts and a brief discussion of how our archives were started and how the program grew through the years.

The tour continued through our archives stacks and our library closed stacks culminating with a visit to the Pit and the Cage.

Also . . . .

We successfully moved our massive, German book scanner!  On Wednesday morning the long-planned move of the Indus book scanner from the basement to its new home in the Staff Room took place.  The move required the efforts of Larry Ruud our Indus Systems Engineer who flew in from the Midwest, Maija Anderson, Jeff Colby and Max Johnson.  Together, we hoisted the machine onto the cart you see in the image above, moved it to the new room, then moved the massive, purpose-built table, before setting the Indus in its current location.

Below is an image of our new robot overlord, err, the Scanner sitting serenely in its new home.

Did I mention this scanner talks?  It does.  We've had the Indus for approximately five years and according to the log file it has done some 17,000 scans covering rare books, oversize items and newspaper folios.  Even after all those scans and two moves, the scanner calibrated perfectly on the first run. Truly a celebratory moment for all involved!

Till next time,
Max

Monday! OHSU History of Medicine Society lecture by Dr. David Mulder

Our next OHSU History of Medicine Society lecture is this coming Monday, November 17th!

Canada’s Contribution to "March Madness": the James Naismith Story
David S. Mulder, M.D., M.Sc., FRSC, FACS   
Monday, November 17, 2014
Public lecture: 12:15pm
Refreshments served at noon
Location: OHSU Old Library Auditorium

David S. Mulder, M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC, FACS was born in Eston, Saskatchewan, receiving his M.D. degree magna cum laude from the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in 1962.  Following a year of rotating internship there, he received residency training in General Surgery at The Montreal General Hospital/McGill University in Montreal between 1963 and 1967.  During his residency, he spent a year in research and obtained a Master of Science Degree in Experimental Surgery from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at McGill.  He then moved to the University of Iowa in Iowa City to complete two years of residency in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.  After another year in the Department of Physiology as a Research Associate at McGill University, he was appointed to the Faculty in 1970.  During his formative years as a surgeon, he was exposed to leaders in surgery as mentors that included Drs. H. Rocke Robertson, Fraser N. Gurd, and J.L. Ehrenhaft.

His talent and leadership qualities were recognized early and he became Surgeon-in-Chief at The Montreal General Hospital in 1977.  He was soon appointed Professor and Chairman in the Department of Surgery at McGill University in 1982.  Among the many other positions he holds, he is also the Medical Director of the McGill Sports Medicine Centre and Consulting Staff for the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club and Alouette Football Club.

One of the significant contributions made by Dr. Mulder in health care delivery was the important role he played in the development of a trauma care system in Quebec as a member of the Trauma Committee of the Province of Quebec.  This system was based on regionalization of care, integrating four Level I trauma centers with more than ninety other trauma centers in Quebec.

The lecture will begin at 12:15 pm in the OHSU Old Library Auditorium. Light refreshments served at noon. Lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information or to request ADA accommodation, contact Maija Anderson, andermai@ohsu.edu, 503-418-2287

Oregon Historical Quarterly "Regulating Birth" symposium

Our colleagues at Oregon Historical Quarterly are partnering with Professor Christin Hancock at University of Portland to organize a symposium that is likely to be of interest to many of our patrons and readers.

"Regulating Birth" will take place at Oregon Historical Society in fall 2015, but proposals are due this fall - November 30th, to be exact. They are looking for proposals for scholarly presentations that broadly address the regulation of birth. The goal of the symposium is

"to foster the production and public sharing of scholarship that explores themes and questions including, for example: how ideas of morality impact where, when, if, and how women give birth; how changes in scientific understanding (including genetics) affect the medicines, advice, and practices that attend pregnancy and childbirth; how professionalization of the medical field has affected the work, training, and regulation of midwifes and doulas; relationships between citizenship and birth; worker protective legislation (or lack thereof) and connections to women as child-bearers; relationships between religious beliefs and birth practices; impacts of pesticides, herbicides, and other industrial material on pregnancy, birth, and babies; and how experiences of stillbirth, miscarriage, and post-partum depression are regulated."

Scholarship presented at the symposium will form the basis of a special issue of Oregon Historical Quarterly. This promises to be a novel and engaging program that will bring scholarly attention to new areas of the history of health care in Oregon.

New Accessions - Yamhill County Medical Society Records and an EKG

The past few weeks have seen some great acquisitions for HC&A and I'd like to share some details on one of them.

Pictured above is the box of records I received from George Barker, M.D. who served as the last secretary/treasurer of the Yamhill County Medical Society.  The records, which are currently unprocessed, cover the dates 1971 to 1998 and include meeting minutes, agenda items, correspondence and some materials related to published works by the membership.  The value in these records stem from their being evidence of how physicians collaborated and grew their professional standings as individuals and group practitioners.  If you are interested in medical societies in Oregon, please also check out our Edith Bolten MacCracken Collection on the History of the Physicians of Jackson County.

In addition to the records, HC&A also acquired the electrocardiogram machine that belonged to Henry D. Barker, the father of George Barker.  The machine comes in a standard wooden case with an overlaying canvas case which has zipper pockets for storing cords and other parts for the device.  The device comes complete with electrodes and wires and is loaded with graphing paper.  The device seems like it is a circa 1940's model and was used by Henry Barker in practice.

Lastly, HC&A is also home to the Henry D. Barker Papers, a 1-box collection of Barker's papers from when he was in the Army Medical Corp and materials related to the Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Until next time,
Max

OHSU History of Medicine Society lecture - November 17th

OHSU History of Medicine Society lecture sponsored by the Department of Surgery:

Canada’s Contribution to "March Madness": the James Naismith Story
David S. Mulder, M.D., M.Sc., FRSC, FACS    
Monday, November 17, 2014
Public lecture: 12:15pm
Refreshments served at noon
Location: OHSU Old Library Auditorium

David S. Mulder, M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC, FACS was born in Eston, Saskatchewan, receiving his M.D. degree magna cum laude from the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in 1962.  Following a year of rotating internship there, he received residency training in General Surgery at The Montreal General Hospital/McGill University in Montreal between 1963 and 1967.  During his residency, he spent a year in research and obtained a Master of Science Degree in Experimental Surgery from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at McGill.  He then moved to the University of Iowa in Iowa City to complete two years of residency in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.  After another year in the Department of Physiology as a Research Associate at McGill University, he was appointed to the Faculty in 1970.  During his formative years as a surgeon, he was exposed to leaders in surgery as mentors that included Drs. H. Rocke Robertson, Fraser N. Gurd, and J.L. Ehrenhaft.

His talent and leadership qualities were recognized early and he became Surgeon-in-Chief at The Montreal General Hospital in 1977.  He was soon appointed Professor and Chairman in the Department of Surgery at McGill University in 1982.  Among the many other positions he holds, he is also the Medical Director of the McGill Sports Medicine Centre and Consulting Staff for the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club and Alouette Football Club. 

One of the significant contributions made by Dr. Mulder in health care delivery was the important role he played in the development of a trauma care system in Quebec as a member of the Trauma Committee of the Province of Quebec.  This system was based on regionalization of care, integrating four Level I trauma centers with more than ninety other trauma centers in Quebec. 

The lecture will begin at 12:15 pm in the OHSU Old Library Auditorium. Light refreshments served at noon. Lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information or to request ADA accommodation, contact Maija Anderson, andermai@ohsu.edu, 503-418-2287

OHSU Library receives LSTA grant to digitize historical public health data

Yesterday's mail brought great news: Our proposal for Library Services & Technology Act funding was approved! Early next year, we'll embark on our next big grant-funded project, titled Public Health in Oregon: Accessing Historical Data for Scientific Discovery.

Our project proposes to solve a problem experienced by many of our researchers: HC&A's collections contain a wealth of scientific data that is still valuable for research, but can't be used in today's research environment until it's digitized. From the proposal:

    OHSU Library’s Historical Collections & Archives (HC&A) holds extensive 19th-20th century collections documenting public health in Oregon. The collections consist of unique archival materials that are available nowhere else, as well as rare publications held in few other libraries. Many of the records deal with under-served populations, including rural communities, the disabled, the mentally ill, ethnic minorities, and adolescents. Historians and journalists often visit HC&A to consult these materials for research on the history of public health. However, these analog materials are largely inaccessible to the data-driven health sciences researchers whose predecessors created them. This is a regional example of the global problem of legacy data – valuable research information that is difficult to use due to format or access system. Inaccessible legacy data hinders scientific discovery, and generates redundancies and inefficiencies in the research enterprise.

    (...)

    To serve the needs of public health professionals and related interdisciplinary researchers, we propose to develop a digital resource that provides open access to historical records on public health in Oregon. The resource will be accessed through the library’s website as a digital collection.

    A key feature of this project is that it will provide access to both scans of original materials, as well as data extracted from the materials into downloadable electronic files that are suitable for data analysis. According to the users we surveyed in the public health field, open access to hard data, as well as the original documents where the data is found, is necessary to the success of this project. Staff assigned to this project will use a combination of automated and manual processes to curate and create access to the data, consulting with advisors to establish standards and measure success. The data curation aspect of the project is experimental, and our results have the potential to greatly benefit both our users and the library and archives communities at large.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, the grant will support hiring student workers to conduct digitization, a few equipment and software purchases, and some consulting time with a data scientist in the Ontology Development Group. Max Johnson and I will consult with our target audience of public health researchers, educators, students, service providers, and historians to gather detailed feedback on their needs, prioritize materials for digitization, and establish standards for organization and description. The final results will be a collection in Digital Commons that presents both digitized materials from our collections, as well as downloadable data files. Much about this project will be experimental, and we don't know exactly what's around the corner - which is part of what makes it so exciting!  

Ask an Archivist - October 30th during Research Hours

Bertha Hallam, 1st Librarian of the University of Oregon Medical School

To continue with the Archives Month celebrations, the Society of American Archivists is employing a strategy from the curatorial world to engage members of the public and our own communities in understanding more about the role of archivists.  This #AskAnArchivist event is largely taking place on Twitter as a means of engaging audiences far and wide.

Maija Anderson, Head of Historical Collections & Archives and Max Johnson, University Archivist will take to Twitter during the day and provide answers to common questions related to what archivists really do, what we talk about during breaks or anything related to your own historical preservation needs (family archiving, personal electronic records, email).

In addition, as part of our regular research room hours, Max will be available in the Old Library on Campus between Noon and 3 pm for drop-in questions about archives at OHSU, maintaining electronic files or any needs or concerns related to the preservation of history and cultural heritage.

So, if you have a general question for archivists and cannot make it over to the Old Library, feel free to send a Tweet with the hashtag #AskAnArchivist

This is a great opportunity to hear from a variety of practitioners in the world of archives and cultural heritage preservation, however as a reminder, the OHSU Historical Collections & Archives Staff is always available Monday through Friday by phone, appointment and email to assist with OHSU Community needs related to archiving papers, records groups, digital materials, medical artifacts and campus history.  Just drop us a line at homref@ohsu.edu

Happy Archives Month !
-Max

Oral history program update: Interview with Dr. Grover Bagby

We just received our DVD copies of our recent oral history interview with Grover C. Bagby, M.D. Dr. Bagby is hematologist whose research focused on cancer and blood diseases. He was the founding director of the Knight Cancer Institute. While officially retired, Dr. Bagby is still an active part of the campus community.

Dr. Bagby was interviewed on August 28th by Joseph Bloom, M.D. Their conversation includes significant discussions about the evolution of hematology and oncology research at OHSU, and the founding and early development of a cancer institute. Dr. Bagby also spoke about more recent history-making events, such as the discovery of Gleevec, and fundraising successes at the Knight Cancer Institute.

The video is now off to our transcriptionist. Transcripts and recordings of interviews from the OHSU Oral History Program are added to the archives, and are also available for checkout from the Main Library. HC&A volunteer Kathleen Feduccia is also adding transcript PDFs to a digital collection, with more on the way

Doctor or Doctoress?

All of  us here in HC&A have become big fans of a new website from Drexel University College of Medicine's Legacy Center. Doctor or Doctress? presents students and educators with the opportunity to "explore American history through the eyes of women physicians." But this isn't just your garden-variety digital collection!

What's especially unusual and important about the site is that it's aimed at high school students and teachers, rather than the more traditional special collections audiences in higher education. The site content was developed to support national curriculum standards for grades 9-12, and both the content and interactive features are geared towards more structured teaching and learning.

The site is interactive and rich in content, centered around topics such as "A Female Medical Student's Life" and "Early African American Women Physicians." Each topic has a page filled with interpretive features, such as a timeline, discussion questions, and a Google map of important locations. Items from digital collections are selected to support learning objectives for the topic, and are supported by extensive yet approachable interpretive content.

And, of course, we have to point out the topic featuring our own Esther Pohl Lovejoy.
"The American Women's Hospitals and the Fire of Smyrna"  features photographs and manuscripts of Dr. Lovejoy's, contextualized within the broader response to the Greek and Armenian refugee crisis.

Hear Ye' Hear Ye' the 4th Oregon Archives Crawl is just around the corner

It is that time of the year again, time for falling leaves like old onionskin records crunching beneath your feet, the brisk air--somewhat reminiscent of the climate controls in a repository and the musty scent of autumn with its rarebook aroma.  As you can tell, it it is also time for the Oregon Archives Crawl!

This year OHSU Historical Collections & Archives will have a table at the City of Portland Archives and Records Center (PARC) located at 1800 SW 6th Ave, Suite 550. Portland, OR 97201

We plan to have a multitude of examples from our collections centered around the theme of Multiculturalism  and some examples from our collections related to OHSU history, academics and perhaps a unique artifact or two!

More information can be found here:  http://pdxarchivists.wordpress.com/

We hope to see you there!

-Max

Job Posting: Public Services Coordinator, OHSU Historical Collections & Archives

Job Title: Public Services Coordinator, Historical Collections & Archives (Library Technician 3)      

Department: OHSU Library                                                         

Work Schedule, Hours, FTE, Salary Range: 1.0 FTE; Monday - Friday; Salary range $18.84 - $25.25 per hour

Functions/Duties of Position

Responsible for day-to-day coordination of complex public services and programs in OHSU Historical Collections & Archives. Uses independent judgment and in-depth knowledge of collections and services to respond to patron needs. Supports outreach and public programming activities, including lectures, tours, classes, exhibits, and special events. Collaborates with library faculty, staff, student workers, and volunteers. Assists with developing departmental services, procedures, and workflows. Uses advanced searching and research skills to identify and locate materials in collections. Directs the work of student workers and volunteers. Responds to and resolves customer service issues.

Key Responsibilities

Public services: Prioritize, assign, and respond to reference questions and patron requests; schedule use of public service areas; identify, locate, and coordinate access to materials requested by researchers; coordinate requests for copies and scans; maintain security and preservation standards in public service areas; compile and report reference and instruction statistics. 

Outreach and public programs: In collaboration with library faculty and staff, support lectures, tours, classes, exhibits, and special events; update Website, online exhibits, blog, and social media content. Direct student workers and volunteers in paging and shelving materials and processing patron requests.

Coordinate custodial and facilities appointments; maintain clean and orderly public service areas.

Monitor departmental expenses; process billing for fee-based services.

Job Requirements

Required: Three years of library experience; OR A bachelor’s degree with 2 years of library experience; OR An associate’s degree and certification as a Library Assistant and 2 year of library experience; OR An equivalent combination of training and experience. Experience providing public services in special collections or archives. Experience with exhibits in a library, archives, or museum setting. Familiarity with organization and functions of special collections or archives. Experience searching bibliographic databases, online catalogs, and the internet. Excellent organizational skills; attention to detail is essential. Excellent communication and customer support skills. Ability to work in a team environment. Ability to work independently, with minimal direct supervision. Proficiency with Windows platforms, MS Office, Web page development skills.

Preferred: Experience with outreach and event planning. Knowledge of library and archives metadata standards.                           

Additional Details

OHSU is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability or protected veteran status. Applicants with disabilities can request reasonable accommodation by contacting the Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Department at 503-494-5148.

How To Apply: Complete an online application at http://www.ohsu.edu/hr/application_process.html . Click “Search for Jobs” then search for IRC45012

                 

P.S. We are also hiring for two student assistant positions in our archives program! These are great opportunities for current students - for more information, go to http://www.ohsu.edu/hr/application_process.html and search for IRC 44970 and IRC 44971, or search "archives" to see all our current postings.

New Accrual for the Kenneth C. Swan Papers

HC&A recently acquired an accrual transfer of materials from the Casey Eye Institute which was added to the Kenneth C. Swan Papers, Accession Number 2007-011.  This latest transfer included a wide variety of glasses from the early 20^th-century.  For example, the Annual Illustrated Catalog of Spectacles and Eye Glasses (which we luckily received as part of the accrual) was published in 1903 and contains information on the materials, designs and uses for many of the glasses in the collection.  In addition we received two Schiotz tonometers, one of which came complete with all of the components and the instructions, inspection certificate, and calibration chart.  All pictured below:

Next up is an artifact from the accrual that I think is just plain excellent.  Listed in the above-mentioned catalog, this is the “Side Light Spectacle,” according to the catalog they are the “glasses your grandfather wore.”  The description reads as such “Containing four horse shoe shaped lenses, blue or smoke—close joints.”  They come in Steel of Fine Steel.  I especially like the swinging side lenses, the wire thin bows and metal carrying case.

Special thanks goes out to Nancy Gregor who ensured that HC&A received these materials prior to her retirement.