Army.mil

I was cruising through Flickr and came across an account called Army.mil, with just short of 4000 images. Surely they're not posting from home, not 4000 images! So I emailed them and asked. No, they have privileges because they're the "Web team" and have access to sites others might not have. I want to be a Web team. How do I go about that?

Botox moves beyond cosmetic uses

Good article in the Times today - it's in the business section, but could easily have been in Tuesday's science section -

So Botox Isn’t Just Skin Deep
By NATASHA SINGER
Published: April 12, 2009
Botox has become a wrinkle-removal gold mine for the drug maker Allergan, but some doctors are also now using it to treat ailments like migraines and oily skin.

We got yer tractors!

Amphibious and farming and train and fogging - over at Flickr.

The theme of the day is Latrines

You will not believe how hard it is to look for pictures to upload to Flickr. Today I was looking for something else when a picture of a latrine caught my eye and I had an "aha!" moment. Peruse at your leisure.

"Face cases"

I just posted some facial wound/reconstruction pictures on Flickr, a small part of a pretty extensive series. For me, this ties in very nicely with the Otken Collection that I've been working on for a while. Captain Otken, as I've written before, was a World War 1 American Expeditionary Forces surgeon in France. He wrote often to his family about his "face cases," in particular one boy who was pretty shot up but through a series of surgeries Captain Otken kept him from being too disfigured. I'm sure that he saw the kinds of wounds that I just put up.

Not for the squeamish

Today we bring you a couple of autopsy photos, so if you're a wee squeamish, skip this one. For the braver among you, this finally settles the question of where Easter eggs come from. From CraftyHedgehog at etsy. And sure, if you squint your eyes, it's somewhat medical-related.

Library of Congress to launch World Digital Library

This sounds like a worthy endeavor, doesn't it? As regular readers know, we've been digitizing a lot of photographs and a few books (available at the Internet Archive). Somehave had concernes that Google Books is too big - see "Google & the Future of Books," By Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books Volume 56, Number 2, February 12, 2009 and the Library's project seems like a good alternative. Here's the PR:

Library of Congress, UNESCO and Partners To Launch World Digital Library

The Library of Congress, UNESCO and 32 partner institutions on April 21 will launch the World Digital Library, a website that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world.

The site will include manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs – available unrestricted to the public and free of charge. The browseable, searchable site will function in seven languages and offer content in dozens of languages.

The launch will take place at a reception at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters co-hosted by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. Directors of numerous partner institutions will also be on hand to present the project to ambassadors, ministers, delegates, and special guests attending the semi-annual meeting of UNESCO’s executive board.

Dr. Billington first proposed the creation of a World Digital Library (WDL) to UNESCO in 2005, remarking that such a project could “have the salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking.” In addition to promoting international understanding, the project aims to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences, and narrow the digital divide within and between countries by building capacity in partner countries.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich international resources will be available through the World Digital Library. Other resources can be found at the Library’s main website, loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.

###
PR 09-70
4/7/09
ISSN 0731-3527

Aussie military dogs are awarded medals

Our friend Mike Lemish sent me a link to an article about a medals ceremony in Australia last month that honored six working dogs, two of them posthumously. There's a nice video that goes with it.

Backtracking in the history of medicine for old techniques to reuse

Here's the article that Alexis originally contacted me for - "Old, Brutal Surgeries Inspire Elegant Modern Devices," By Alexis Madrigal, March 31, 2009. I didn't have any good suggestions for him, but he talked to Dave Lounsbury and Dale Smith whom I suggested. This is a neat idea, but I can't imagine you can take it too far since antibiotics, x-rays and asepsis make the biggest differences in treatment.

What would it take to make a Civil War veteran happy?

Money. But also an accordion "to drive away the dark clouds from my sickroom." I had a vague memory of this letter from twenty years ago, and as she was processing our accession records for scanning, Archivist Amanda Montgomery found it for me.

Here's a post-Civil War letter from veteran Alexander Rider to Dr. Reed Bontecou talking about the difficulties of having a photograph made when he can't leave the house, and asking for an accordion. From the Museum's accession records for SS 2030. Click on the photo to see it larger for reading. Rider was a Private, Company I, 76 Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Pocotaligo, SC on October 22, 1862.

Arm and leg prosthetics in the making

A dozen photos of arm and leg prosthetics being created have just been posted to our Flickr account. These are some of those behind-the-scenes images I really like. We probably have all seen finished products, but don't usually see how they're made.

More from our MAMAS collection

The Museum and Medical Arts Service or Services or Section, we're still not quite sure, was the first collection processed when we started the digitization program in 2005. The first batch, and what we thought was the entire collection in our possession, was 13 or 14 shoebox-size boxes and an oversize box. We had been in touch with one of the MAMAS photographers while that project was going on and I was disappointed that we had just a couple of photographs attributed to him. Last year, as we were going through boxes of "unknown" photos, finally sorting through them and checking to see if they'd been scanned already, we found another treasure trove of MAMAS photos, about 1300-1500 of them, and more of them held this photographer's name. We were delighted!

Over the last couple of years, though, we had lost track of the photographer, Melvin Shaffer, but this week he turned up again. He will be giving us more information on MAMAS photos as I shuttle the digital versions off to him. Already he's added some information to some charts I just posted to Flickr showing the comparison between shell shocked casualties and wounded or KIA's. All the military units were in the North Africa/ Italian/ Southern France area. He also gave us the first name of Private First Class Anderson, the illustrator or chart man: he's Pfc Dickie Anderson.

Several years ago Melvin donated his photos to Southern Methodist University and they have built an enviable website to showcase his work. Melvin captioned the photos himself and it is very much worth your time to take a look.

Cartoon postcard in new Medical Museum collection

Postcard sent by Luther B. Otken, a World War 1 surgeon in the American Expeditionary Forces, stationed in France. This collection of WW1 correspondence was donated to the National Museum of Health & Medicine last month.

Stanley Burns' new photo book

Friend of the medical museum Dr. Stanley Burns has an awesome collection of historical medical photographs, but he also collects many other types of photos. Here's a NY Times review of his and his wife's new book on historical news photos NEWS ART: Manipulated Photographs From the Burns Archive (Power­House, $45)

Flanders' Focus Knack notices Flickr

A friend of mine just noted our Flickr site is in "Focus Knack, Flanders' most prominent media magazine." which may bring another group of hits from an audience we wouldn't normally have.

On the scanning side, we just accepted about 5500 scans of 35mm slides of Walter Reed medical center from our scanning contractor and picked up another 8 boxes of prints of the base to scan.

And it looks like Kathleen's tossed up a bunch of World War 1 facial reconstruction and plastic surgery images on her day off.

Walgreens and Quest partner up

Amid the bad news we hear about corporate America daily was some good - no, excellent news from the Walgreens drugstore chain and Quest Diagnostics. They are partnering to provide free basic health care through the end of the year to laid-off workers who have also lost their health insurance. Family members will also receive care if they don't have coverage elsewhere.

"Walgreens said patients who lose their job and health insurance after March 31 will be able to get free treatment at its in-store Take Care clinics for respiratory problems, allergies, infections and skin conditions, among other ailments. Typically those treatments cost $59 or more for patients with no insurance." Quest will offer free tests for strep throat and urinary tract infections.

Pretty excellent news and real community responsibility.

Saipan and Pacific Islands fighting in WW2 on Flickr

Kathleen just loaded a bunch of pictures from the Island campaigns in the Pacific in World War 2. These photos are pretty gruesome and their caption reflect the heated attitude of the time - this is what the photographer wrote and sent back, and not what someone would use to caption a photograph today.

Malaria Moe cartoons on Flickr

Kathleen put up a bunch of scans of World War 2 Malaria Moe propaganda cartoons on Flickr today. The artist, Frank Mack, later went on to work for Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Another item on the Internet Archive

We uploaded the August 1918 edition of the Carry On, a Red Cross publication about reconstruction and rehabilitation of World War 1 soldiers and sailors to the Internet Archive. See it here.

For some weird reason it's there twice although I uploaded it only once.

National Gallery of Art puts Eakins' Brinton painting back on display

Our registrar just heard from the head of American paintings at the National Gallery of Art who says, "She tells me that it is hung next to Eakins’ portrait of Dr. Thompson, which was his last painting of a medical professional, and that is where it will stay." Our registrar also says the colors of the painting look fantastic and the details can be seen much better. I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's been on loan to the NGA since 1946.

Dr. Thomson actually worked alongside Brinton when the Museum was being established. Along with Dr. Norris, Thomson did studies for the Army's Surgeon General about the utility of microscopes in medicine:

OHA 330

* Thomson Photomicrographs, 1876
* .3 cubic foot.
* No finding aid, arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
* Two copies of an album of photomicrographs made by Dr. William Thomson in 1864 during the Civil War at Douglas Hospital in Washington, DC. The photographs were made "to demnostrate the value of photomicography and its possibility with the compound microscope then issued by the Surgen General's Office to the general hospitals." (from the introductory note.) These albums were compiled for and exhibited at the U.S Centennial International Exhibition (1876). A Union doctor during the Civil War, Thomson contributed to writing the Museum's Catalogue and pioneered in photomicrography and ophthalmic surgery. One album is the Surgeon General's Library copy (SGL #72845) and has an introductory handwritten note by Dr. J. J. Woodward; the second album (MM8615-2) was Assistant Surgeon General Crane's personal copy.