Research Resources

Special Collections > Research Resources

A Guide to Selected Research Resources in the History of the Health Sciences

Daniel Smith, Special Collections Librarian, UNC Health Sciences Library

Professional & Scholarly Associations

• American Association for the History of Medicine
• American Historical Association
• Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP)

Libraries

• National Library of Medicine (NLM)
  • History of Medicine
  • History of Medicine Fact Sheet
  • Directory of History of Medicine Collections: US & International
• Library of Congress
  • Reference Tools & Services
  • Rare Books & Special Collections
  • Catalogue of Thomas Jefferson's Library
  • John Meredith Toner Collection
• Countway Library of Medicine: Center for the History of Medicine [Harvard University]
• Lane Library History Portal [Stanford University]
• New York Academy of Medicine: Historical Collections
• Duke University Medical Center Library: History of Medicine
• State Library of North Carolina
• American Antiquarian Society
• Wellcome Library [London]
• Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire de Medécine et d'Odontologie (BIUM): Histoire de la Medécine et de l'Art Dentaire [Paris]

Online Library Catalogs

• National Library of Medicine: Catalog & Services
• Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office [1880-1961]
• WorldCat
  • UNC E-Resource
  • public access version
• Library of Congress Online Catalog
• Library of Congress: Gateway to Library Catalogs [National & International]
• The National union catalog, pre-1956 imprints; a cumulative author list representing Library of Congress printed cards and titles reported by other American libraries.
  • UNC Davis Library Reference - 754 volumes; not online

Classification Schemes & Catalog Searching

• National Library of Medicine: Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
• Library of Congress: Classification & Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

Digital Collections

• National Library of Medicine: Images in the History of Medicine
• Library of Congress: Digital Collections
  • American Memory
  • Prints & Photographs
• State Library of North Carolina Digital Collections
• American Antiquarian Society: Digital Collections
• Warnock Digital Library
• American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement

Online Exhibitions

• Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web [searchable database of several thousand listings]
• National Library of Medicine Exhibitions [by subject]
• Cholera Online: A Modern Pandemic in Words and Images
• Artificial Anatomy: Papier-Mâché Anatomical Models [Smithsonian]
• New York Academy of Medicine [e.g., The Resurrectionists]

Aggregator Sites

• Medical Library Association: History of Medicine Links
• The Scout Report (searchable & browsable archives)
• Librarian's Internet Index (searchable & browseable archives)

Listservs & Blogs

• National Library of Medicine: Email Lists
• H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online
  • History of Science, Medicine and Technology
  • Academic Announcements: papers, conferences, funding, new web sites, etc.
  • Oral History
• The Scout Report
• BlogLines

Online Bookdealers & Antiquarians

• Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA)
• AbeBooks.com (online database of secondhand general, out-of-print, and scholarly books)

Dissertations

• Dissertations in the History of Medicine
• Dissertation Abstracts [UNC E-Resource]
• Directory of History Dissertations [American Historical Association]
• Dissertations & Theses at UNC

Oral Histories

• National Library of Medicine: Guide to Oral Histories in Medicine and the Health Sciences
• Oral History Association
  • Oral History Association Wiki

Archives & Manuscripts

• U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
• Library of Congress: Archival Finding Aids
• Library of Congress: American Women: Health & Medicine
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
• Repositories of Primary Materials
• North Carolina State Archives
• Duke University Medical Center Archives

UNC Special Collections

• Health Sciences Library: Special Collections
• Wilson Library: Digital Collections
• Wilson Library: Manuscripts: Archival Finding Aids
• Wilson Library: Manuscripts: University Archives & Records Service
• Wilson Library: Manuscripts: Southern Historical Collections
• Wilson Library: Manuscripts: Southern Oral History Program
• Wilson Library: Rare Book Collection
• Wilson Library: North Carolina Collection
• Wilson Library: Gottschalk Collection of the Human Kidney
• Ackland Museum: The Healing Arts: Sickness and Social Impact

UNC Online Resources & Guides

• E-Research Tools at UNC
• Selected Resources in History: Databases, Journals, Guides
• Selected Resources in Medicine: Databases, Journals, Guides
• Selected Resources in Health Sciences: Databases, Journals, Guides
• Finding Primary Source Documents
• Manuscripts Research Tutorial
• United States History Research Guide
• Newspapers for Research
• America's Historical Newspapers: 1690-1800

Selected Journals

• Journal of the Medical Library Association [current & archived issues]
• Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences [UNC e-resource - online from 1946; in print from 1946-2003]
• Bulletin of the History of Medicine [UNC e-resource - online from 1996; in print from 1939-2003]
• Early Science and Medicine [UNC e-resource - online from 1996; in print from 1996]
• Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part C. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Science [UNC e-resource - online from 1998; in print from 1998]
• Social History of Medicine [UNC e-resource - online from 1996; in print from 1988]
• Journal of Medical Biography [UNC in print from 1993]
• Medical History. Supplement. [UNC in print from 1981]

Selected Books

• De humani corporis fabrica [On the Fabric of the Human Body] [Basel, 1543] / by Andreas Vesalius [UNC]
  • online edition
• Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus [On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals] [Frankfurt, 1628] / by William Harvey. [UNC]
  • online Latin edition
  • English translation
• Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching [1910] / by Abraham Flexner [online edition]
• Medical Education in Europe: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching [1912] / by Abraham Flexner [online edition]

Useful References & Reading

• Morton's Medical Bibliography: An Annotated Check-list of Texts Illustrating the History of Medicine (Garrison and Morton) / edited by Jeremy M. Norman. [UNC]
• An Introduction to the History of Medicine: With Medical Chronology, Suggestions for Study and Bibliographic Data / by Fielding H. Garrison. [UNC]
• Clio in the Clinic: History in Medical Practice / edited by Jacalyn Duffin. [UNC]
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions / by Thomas S. Kuhn [1st ed. 1962; 2nd 1970; 3rd 1996] [UNC]
• Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web / by Daniel J. Cohen & Roy Rosenzweig [Center for History and New Media]
• Edward Tufte and Graphics Press
  • online essays

Other Resources

• Library of Congress: Caring for Your Collections
• National Library of Medicine: Syllabus Archive in the History of Medicine