McClelland's WW1 nursing experience

OPENING OF ARMY NURSING EXHIBIT [AT THE MEDICAL MUSEUM], FEBRUARY 1972. COLIN THOMBSON, DESIGNER AND MS HELEN MCCLELLAND, WW1 REGISTERED NURSE.

For Rea P, a quick transcription from p. 4-5, discussing being assigned to a hospital in Belgium, to a British nursing team with one other American nurse:

There were seven surgical teams; five British and two American, besides the regular staff of officers and sisters. Four teams were put on day duty; three on at night until a "push" began - then the schedule was changed and the teams would work for twelve hours - go off for eight - then on again for twelve. In this way, all the teams would be working for part of the twenty-four hours.

There were five operating tables in a Nissen hut and two in a large tent (marquee). The two American teams were on duty at the same time and our tables were next to each other in the hut.

When the first big drive came - which was the heaviest that we had known, all the teams worked overtime - no one felt like going off when the men were pouring in. One day, we worked for twenty-two hours - only stopping for something to eat. After cleaning up our tables, we went to bed at 2:00 A.M., but were back on duty at 4:00 A..M, and worked for another twelve hours. At the end of that period, when the men were not coming in so fast, we were relieved for eight hours.

Knitting at the NMHM--May 16, 2009

Calling all knitters and crocheters! On Saturday, May 16, from 2-5 p.m., the NMHM will host its 3rd helmetliner knit-in. These helmetliners will be sent to servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan to offer warmth during cold nights.

During the last helmetliner knit-in, we had a very special guest, Major General Douglas Stone of the Marine Corps Reserves. (MajGen Stone is a knitter himself.) He shared stories about the value of the helmetliners--he said that a lot of the service members are stuffing their helmets with materials to provide extra warmth. This causes the helmets to sit too high on their heads, making them more vulnerable to gunshot wounds to the head. The helmet liners, made of 100% wool, offer warmth without compromising the protective design of the helmets.

If you are an experienced knitter and wish to get an early start on the project, you may download the knitting pattern at http://www.usmcmuseum.com/knitpattern.pdf. If you would like a crochet pattern, click here to download a PDF.

A Conversation on Nursing at Walter Reed

The NMHM will host the second program in our series of lectures to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Here are the details:

When: Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Where: Russell Auditorium, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Building 54

What: Kick off National Nurses Week with “A Conversation on Nursing at Walter Reed.” An informal discussion, featuring the history of nursing at Walter Reed, perspectives on current practices, and thoughts on the future of the Army Nurse Corps, will commemorate 100 years of nursing at Walter Reed.

Presenters: Debbie Cox, former Army Nurse Corps Historian; CPT Jennifer Easley, Medical/Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, WRAMC; LTC Patrick Ahearne, Staff Officer, Office of the Army Nurse Corps, Office of the Army Surgeon General

Cost: Free

World Digital Library begins

PR from the Library of Congress:

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, DC 20540

April 21, 2009

UNESCO, U.S. Library of Congress and Partners Launch World Digital Library

Paris, Washington D.C.—UNESCO and 32 partner institutions today launched the World Digital Library, a website that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world. The site―located at www.wdl.org ―includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs. It provides unrestricted public access, free of charge, to this material.

The launch took place at UNESCO Headquarters at an event co-hosted by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Directors of the partner institutions were on hand to present the project to ambassadors, ministers, delegates and special guests attending the semi-annual meeting of UNESCO’s Executive Board.

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.” Matsuura welcomed the proposal as a “great initiative that will help to bridge the knowledge divide, promote mutual understanding and foster cultural and linguistic diversity.” 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.

The World Digital Library functions in seven languages―Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish―and includes content in more than 40 languages. Browse and search features facilitate cross-cultural and cross-temporal exploration on the site. Descriptions of each item and videos, with expert curators speaking about selected items, provide context for users and are intended to spark curiosity and encourage both students and the general public to learn more about the cultural heritage of all countries.

The World Digital Library was developed by a team at the Library of Congress. Technical assistance was provided by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina of Alexandria, Egypt. Institutions contributing to the WDL include national libraries and cultural and educational institutions in Brazil, Egypt, China, France, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“UNESCO welcomes the creation of the World Digital Library which reflects the values and priorities of our organization,” Matsuura declared. “WDL offers an invaluable platform for the free flow of information, for international solidarity, for the celebration of cultural diversity and for the building of inclusive knowledge societies. With projects like the Digital Library, the cultural and societal potential of digital technologies come into their own.”

“We are honored to be working with so many great libraries in this venture,” said Billington, “and thankful for the strong support that UNESCO has given to this project. What we launched today is a first step. We look forward to seeing this project realize its ambition to bring people together, deepen our understanding of each other, and help electronically oriented young people enjoy what is best in traditional culture, using the new media.”

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education and Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, congratulated UNESCO and the partner institutions on the launch of the WDL, and stated that “Qatar is very proud to be a founding member of this remarkable international collaboration.” Her Highness noted that “universal education is the key to international understanding,” and “this endeavour will do much to develop the appreciation of other cultures and nations.”

The National Library of China (NLC) contributed manuscripts, maps, books, and rubbings of steles and oracle bones that span the range of Chinese history from ancient to modern times. “The World Digital Library project offers a brand-new platform for showcasing the diversity of the world's civilizations,” said Dr. Furui Zhan, Chief Librarian of the NLC. “This endeavour enables cultural exchange while bringing together different countries and peoples in mutual understanding and enrichment. The spirit of equality and open understanding comes into full view with the creation of this World Digital Library. The National Library of China is ready to work in close cooperation with the World Digital Library, continuing to promote in concert the prosperity and progress of all human civilizations.”

Examples of other treasures featured include Arabic scientific manuscripts from the National Library and Archives of Egypt; early photographs of Latin America from the National Library of Brazil; the “Hyakumanto darani,” a publication from A.D. 764 from the National Diet Library of Japan; the famous 13th century “Devil’s Bible” from the National Library of Sweden; and works of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish calligraphy from the collections of the Library of Congress.

Ahead of the launch, Matsuura invited UNESCO member states to encourage their cultural institutions to participate in the development of the project. He noted that their participation would contribute to a truly universal digital library that showcases the cultural heritage and achievements of all countries. Matsuura also highlighted the synergies between this initiative and UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program, noting that the WDL should help provide public access to digital versions of collections on the Memory of the World register.

One of UNESCO’s main mandates is to promote the free flow of all forms of knowledge in education, science, culture and communication. The organization therefore promotes education, research and exchanges through the improved and increased availability of content on the Internet. To this end, it collaborates with a number of partners on the creation of digital and other repositories.

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 at www.wdl.org, while other resources can be found at the Library’s main website, www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.


# # #

PR 09-82
4/21/09
ISSN 0731-3527

National Hairball Awareness Day!!!

My favorite day of the year is coming around again! Monday, April 27 is National Hairball Awareness Day! The NMHM has 27 veterinary and 3 human bezoars in the collection. From April 27-May 3 the Museum will have several of them on display, in addition to the human trichobezoar that is out all the time. We have 3 human hairballs--from 12-year-old girls who spent at least 6 years pulling and eating their hair. My favorite is a hairball removed from the gullet of a chicken. Usually humans and ruminant animals develop hairballs. The one from the chicken is kinda special. The chicken used to hang out with a pet dog and would pick at its fur. The owner of the chicken realized it was having a "problem," so he cut out what turned out to be a hairball and gave it to us. Come on April 27 and you'll learn why bezoars develop--you'll see bezoars from a steer, a cow, a horse, a human, and a chicken!! And, we'll even let you hold one!

Visit http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/virtual/hairball.html to see our virtual exhibit about bezoars. Enjoy!

(Did you know that there have been medical reports of bezoars consisting of gummy bears, polystyrene, foam pulled from the backseat of a car.....)

WW1 speech by nurse

The blog slipped open so here's a quick post. Historical collections had a request for info on Helen McClelland, a World War I nurse. They're not finding anything, but the archives has 2 pictures of her at an opening of a 1972 exhibit on nursing and a folder of clippings. The folder of clippings at first glance was just photocopies of articles about her, but it turns out there's also a talk in there that she gave about her WW1 service. Pretty neat!

News of other medical museums

Here's one about the Southern California Medical Museum's 12th Annual Open House - "Riverside museum hosts CSI symposium," Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer, 04/19/2009.

The Rochester Medical Museum and Archives is featured in "History on Display: Local medical archives in fantastic health," April 20, 2009.

The "New" Tom

As the newest member of the Museum, I am attempting to learn the ins and outs of this wonderful institution. After a week of "hazing" from the higher ups, (a.k.a. running around Walter Reed pleading for signatures and looking for offices,) I am now finally learning my duties as the Archives Technician. Thus far, my favorite thing has been admiring all of the old stuff. I realize that this seems a bit obvious, as I work in a museum, but I truly am constantly amazed by the images, documents and artifacts that I see around me. Sitting with Kathleen last week, I found myself in awe of the fact that the document in my hands had been written by someone in the late 19th century. Apologizing for feeling so giddy, Kathleen assured me that she still has similar thoughts when viewing older materials. I realize that this child-like sense of amazement is likely to fade the longer I work with the collection, but for now, my awe-inspired excitement is the driving force behind me getting in to work at 6:30am to ensure a parking space:) I feel compelled to give a shout out to all the staff members here at the Museum. I have greatly enjoyed meeting everyone and they have all been so kind and helpful. A special thanks to Brian and Jim for the "backstage" tours of the historical and anatomical collections last week; I am happy to admit that not a single nightmare came out of Brian's tour!

Feast or famine on these posts

We hit a dry spell over the weekend on posting to this blog, and if you were anywhere near the DC area you would know why - we hit that sweet, sweet spot of weather with blue skies and temps in the high 60s and had, sorry to say, better things to occupy us. Wait! Not yesterday, but Friday and Saturday - oh, yeah.

However, our faithful over at Flickr put us over 775,000 views last night, so maybe their weather wasn't nearly as nice as ours.

Many thanks to all of you who keep those numbers going.

I think I missed the ice cream

Received this email today, and I think I should have read it a little more closely:

We will be acknowledging the National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (NMLPW) here at the Armed Force Institute of Pathology. NMLPW will be April 19-25, 2009.

What is NMLPW? NMLPW is an annual celebration of the medical laboratory professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in every aspect of health care. NMLPW is a chance for medical laboratory personnel to celebrate their professionalism and be recognized for their efforts. Often, they use this time to inform and educate medical colleagues and the public about the medical laboratory. Since laboratorians often work behind the scenes, few people know much about the critical testing they perform every day.

The theme will be "Laboratory Professionals Get Results." Due to OPTEMPO we will take the special time to formally thank everyone for their contribution with getting results at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Our special thank you will commence on Monday at 1100-1300HRS with an ice-cream and cake social held in the foyers of our Main and Rockville facilities.

See? I think the ice cream was today, and I missed it.

Days of Remembrance

This Tuesday and Thursday in the museum's auditorium. Free popcorn, folks - the good stuff.

Macauley exhibit opens on Monday

Our exhibit of the original art from David Macauley's latest book on the human body opens on Monday. It was looking good on Friday as about 1/2 the art was hung.

Have we mentioned our new archives staff member?

I think not. Jasmine High has joined us in the archives, fairly freshly out of GWU's museum studies program. She'll be managing the MIS Library photo collection of 2000 boxes or so, and doing quality control on the scanning project for them. We'll try to get her to stop in and post here. So far this week she's been running the paper and electronic sign-in marathon, but we put her to work today on processing a small collection of awards and certificates from former AFIP director James Hansen.

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.

Two museum reports online now

Here's a couple of reports that are almost a decade old, but should still be of interest.

Responses to a Human Remains Collection: Findings from Interviews and Focus Groups. (July 1999).

This report presents the findings from a study conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), Washington, DC. The study was designed to investigate how visitors respond to the Museumâs human remains collection.

National Museum of Health and Medicine Visitor Survey (April 2000).

This report presents the findings from a study conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), Washington, DC. The findings were generated from a total of 1,063 surveys collected between May and November 1999.

The Library of Congress likes Flickr and YouTube and iTunes...

EWS from the Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-2905
Fax: (202) 707-9199
Email: pao@loc.gov

March 25, 2009

Library of Congress Makes More Assets and Information Available Through New-Media Initiatives
YouTube and iTunes Launches Will Follow Groundbreaking Flickr Pact to Bring More Treasures to the Public

The Library of Congress will begin sharing content from its vast video and audio collections on the YouTube and Apple iTunes web services as part of a continuing initiative to make its incomparable treasures more widely accessible to a broad audience. The new Library of Congress channels on each of the popular services will launch within the next few weeks.
New channels on the video and podcasting services will be devoted to Library content, including 100-year-old films from the Thomas Edison studio, book talks with contemporary authors, early industrial films from Westinghouse factories, first-person audio accounts of life in slavery, and inside looks into the Library's fascinating holdings, including the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence and the contents of Lincoln's pockets on the night of his assassination.

“The Library of Congress launched the first U.S. agency-wide blog two years ago and continued its pioneering social-media role with initiatives such as the immensely successful Flickr pilot project,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “We have long seen the value of such interaction with the public to help achieve our missions, and these agreements remove many of the impediments to making our unparalleled content more useful to many more people.”

The General Services Administration today also announced agreements with Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv that will allow other federal agencies to participate in new media while meeting legal requirements and the unique needs of government. GSA plans to negotiate agreements with other providers, and the Library will explore these new media services when they are appropriate to its mission and as resources permit.

The Library began a groundbreaking pilot project with the popular Flickr photo-sharing service last year, loading 3,100 historic photos to start and an additional 50 photos each week. The overwhelmingly positive response from the Flickr user community not only brought broad public awareness to the Library's existing online collection of more than 1 million prints and photos at www.loc.gov, but also sparked creative interaction with them, as users helped provide Library curators with new information on photos with limited descriptions through public review and tagging. Library of Congress photos on Flickr currently have received more than 15 million views.

A Flickr initiative called The Commons was introduced with the Library’s project launch and a growing number of libraries, museums and archives have since started their own accounts within the Commons framework. The Library has been followed by 22 additional institutions from the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands that are sharing selections from their photo archives and inviting the public to contribute information.

The Flickr pilot placed the Library in a leadership role for other cultural and government communities exploring Web 2.0 possibilities. Information on Library news and events is now available through Twitter, more than 30 RSS and e-mail news alert services, and one of the first blogs from a federal agency.
Library staff worked with service providers to adjust technological and legal standards to permit participation in social-networking services by other federal agencies and non-profit organizations. All content made available on third-party sites will also be available on the Library’s own website at www.loc.gov.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library 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 resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized Web site at myLOC.gov.

# # #

PR 09-055
03-24-09
ISSN 0731-3527

Light 'em up

Thanks to our friends at Boing Boing, a pair of lungs that will light your cigarette, and they got it from Street Anatomy.

Prof. Jas. Mundie's photos of Museum on Flickr

Prof. James G Mundie left a comment on a different post, along with a link to his Cabinet of Curiosities Flickr set of pictures of exhibits in the Museum. Cool, hey?

1917 Clinico Motion Pictures catalogue online

Kathleen scanned a 1917 (we think) Clinico Motion Pictures catalogue for Medical, Surgical and Dental films today and put a pdf online.

1876 Human Anatomy checklist online

Brian of Anatomical Collections told me that the catalogue, Check List of Preparations and Objects in the Section of Human Anatomy of the Army Medical Museum, prepared for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia for the Anatomical Section has been scanned and is online. Note that another book or two is squished in with it and our catalogue ends around page 137. I'm not sure if Harvard bound their copy with other things or if something went wrong in the scanning and saving process.

Museum catalogue getting closer to fruition

We've got 5 collecting departments in the Museum. Archives and Anatomical's data conversion is finished and Historical is just about done. Currently if you stick in a keyword like "malaria," at least for the Archives data you get over 200 hits of photographs, books and letters. This is how it's supposed to work for the whole museum and we're getting closer. It'll be months before we clean the data and get it online, but the goal is in site. Just in time for BRAC to throw us off Walter Reed and close us for a while, but still...

Anatomical Collections adds photos to Flickr

Brian of our Anatomical Collections department is putting some cool photos up on Flickr too.

Since we passed 500,000 viewers late last night, we've gone up to 628,026 now. You like us, you really like us (that's a quote of sorts). If you've found us from somewhere besides Wired, Boing Boing, NPR or Austria's public television, chime in and let us know, please.

Symposium on Lincoln's Health

Just a reminder--on April 18-19, the Museum will host a 2-day lecture series about Lincoln's health. The event is free to the public, but reservations are required due to limited seating. Topics will include discussions about Lincoln's mental health and his medical care during his last hours, amongst other many topics. For an agenda, visit this link on the Museum's website: http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/events/lincoln_2009.html

Call 202-782-2673 to make a reservation or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil. There's limited seating left, so contact the Museum soon!

We're stunningly popular?

Ok, people are suddenly reading this blog from all over the world. Can you tell us in the comments how you found us and why you're checking it out? We went from about 100 views a day to 290 views an hour today.

Thanks!

Mike the archivist

500 Big Ones

We hit the 500,000 mark sometime early this morning. Oh, I'm talking about our Flickr account that Wired.com wrote about last week. As of 5 seconds ago, 503,160 views on 872 photos. We couldn't be happier. Thanks, everyone!

Civil War opthalmology

Michael Hughes called in the other day and mentioned an article he wrote on Civil War ophthalmology that he used some of the museum's pictures in - Eye Injuries and Prosthetic Restoration in the American Civil War Years
Michael O. Hughes
Journal of Ophthalmic Prosthetics
Fall 2008; pg 18-28

Brain Awareness Week podcast

Pentagon Web Radio interviewed Tim and did a podcast. The site is, of course, blocked at work because it's both a blog and streaming media, so I haven't listened to it yet.

Original Air Date: 3/18/2009 2:00 PM
Episode #7: National Brain Awareness Week

Tim Clarke, Jr., deputy director of communications for the National Museum of Health and Medicine, will discuss the 10th anniversary of National Brain Awareness Week, which was established by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives in 1996, linking scientists, clinicians, journalists, and other educators in an effort to raise awareness about the brain and brain science. Brain Awareness Week promotes an understanding of current research and its translation into clinical practice for a younger audience. More than 1000 middle-school students from across the entire Washington, D.C., area are expected to attend the 10th anniversary activities at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. The appearance of advertising on this Web site does not constitute endorsement by the DOD, of the products or services advertised on this site.

Brain Awareness Week Launched at Museum of Health and Medicine

Brain Awareness Week Launched at Museum of Health and Medicine
By John Ohab
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – Hundreds of middle school students have passed through the halls of the National Museum of Health and Medicine here this week to learn about brain anatomy and pathology, as well as military medical history, as part of National Brain Awareness Week.

The students got to hold a human brain, view the bullet that killed President Abraham Lincoln, and learn about the role the museum has had in military and civilian medicine since its Civil War beginnings, Tim Clarke Jr., the museum’s director of communications, said during a March 18 “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military” audio Webcast on Pentagon Web Radio. The museum is an element of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and is located on the campus at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.

“The idea is … to have young people really inspired about neuroscience and to understand a little more about the brain in a context that they might not be able to get in the classroom today,” Clarke said.

Established in 1996 by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a private philanthropic foundation, Brain Awareness Week connects government agencies, universities, scientific societies and other partners to bring neuroscience-based education to young audiences. This year’s Brain Awareness Week is March 16 to 22.

Since 1999, the Dana Alliance has worked with the museum and other partners including the National Institutes of Health, George Washington University, Howard University, the Society for Neuroscience, the Tug McGraw Foundation, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, and the Army Audiology and Speech Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“We want to find a way through Brain Awareness Week to connect many of the various disciplines that are involved in neurosciences,” Clarke said. “And work with those groups to put together very compelling, persuasive, hands-on demonstrations for young people.”

The museum maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive neuroanatomical collection, which offers Brain Awareness Week participants a unique, first-hand opportunity to learn about brain anatomy and pathology. Students, chaperones and parents all have a chance to handle actual human brains.

“The look of awe and wonder on a young person’s face when they are holding an actual human brain is something you really have to see to believe,” Clarke said. “Nothing they had ever done compares to being able to hold a brain with the spinal cord still attached.”

This year’s Brain Awareness Week includes a new partnership with The Tug McGraw Foundation, which was created by professional baseball player Tug McGraw in 2003 to facilitate research that will improve the lives of those suffering from brain tumors. The foundation taught kids how to start their mornings with brain exercises designed to increase blood flow.

Clarke noted that Brain Awareness Week also highlights the variety of federal agencies conducting important basic and clinical neuroscience research. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism stages an obstacle course that students traverse while wearing “fatal vision goggles,” which distort eye-muscle coordination and simulate the loss of balance induced by alcohol intoxication. In addition, the Army Audiology and Speech Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center informs students about how the center works with soldiers, veterans and their families to treat communication disorders.

“We try to find ways to engage the students on their level,” Clarke said. “They are starting and ending the day with a lot of very interesting and compelling scientific information.”

Students who participated in Brain Awareness Week also had the opportunity to view the museum’s newest exhibition, “Abraham Lincoln: The Final Casualty of War,” which features several of its most popular artifacts. The exhibit honors the nation’s 16th president with various items associated with his last hours and the Army doctors who cared for him. On display is the actual bullet that took Lincoln’s life and fragments of hair and skull that were gathered during his autopsy in the White House.

“We are able to tell a really interesting story that people know about, but we tell a different side of the story than you might get in the history textbooks,” Clarke said.

The museum was founded in 1862 during the Civil War to collect anatomical specimens that could be used to develop new treatments for injuries sustained during battle. The museum, once led by Walter Reed, also played a role in shaping modern germ theory and an understanding of infections, as well as helping to found the Army Medical School and various clinical libraries focused on treating soldiers.

“It was Army Medical Museum staff, curators and scientists over the latter half of the 19th century that worked with partners all over the world to indoctrinate those types of practices into Army medicine,” Clarke said.

(John Ohab holds a doctorate in neuroscience and works for the Defense Media Activity’s New Media directorate.)

46,000 views for one picture?!

It's here if you'd like to add your clicks to it.

Plastic surgery exhibit in NYC

This rolled in over the e-transom today. I'm not sure yet how I feel about it the idea, but I think it would be an interesting show. - Mike

EXHIBITION OPENING

I am Art - An Expression of the Visual & Artistic Process of Plastic Surgery
Curated by Dr. Anthony Berlet

March 28 - May 9, 2009

Opening reception:
Saturday, March 28, 6-8pm

Presenting work by Anthony Berlet, M.D., Antonino Cassisi, M.D., Michael Cohen, M.D., Scott Spiro, M.D.

Leon Dufourmentel, a pioneer in plastic surgery, said in 1948, “...If I went to Picasso for my portrait, he would probably make me a monster and I should be pleased because it would be worth a million francs. But if Picasso came to me with a facial injury and I made him into a monster, aha, he might not be so pleased.”

This quotation expresses our view, which we hope to share with you in this exhibition, that plastic surgery is a most challenging art form—perhaps the most challenging art form, for our materials are not canvas or clay. Yes, we embrace the great obsession of artists throughout the ages: the human body. But our material is the human body.

We are asked, on a daily basis, to do the impossible, to make the real ideal, to bridge the gap between reality and fantasy. Plastic surgery is the constant struggle between beauty and blood supply

There is art in everything we do. The initial evaluation requires a keen eye. The surgery plan requires artful preparation. The execution can best be described as a well-choreographed ballet of many different steps. Through this dance of medicine and art, science and aspiration, we seek an outcome as beautiful as any painting or sculpture. Every day, we strive to outdo Pygmalion.

Is perfection possible? We know it is not, and yet, that is our calling. We work with terrible constraints, not the least of which is the subjective nature of art itself. Nowhere are human feelings more various and more complex than in perceptions of the body and of the self. We are, all of us, acutely aware of how others see us.

Our field is sometimes associated with excess. We hope to convince you otherwise. For each individual committed to our charge, the stakes could not be higher. In this exhibition, we intend to convey the great care with which we diagnose, counsel, prepare, execute and maintain our artistic creation, with vision, clarity, passion, ingenuity, compassion and, yes, art.

This exhibition will show the many ways in which we express ourselves as artists, borrowing and shaping perceptions. Take a moment to step into the experience of others, whose lives have been transformed at our hands, we trust for the better.

We hope you will come away from our exhibition with a fuller sense of our aesthetic, reconstructive and post-traumatic disciplines. In the gallery space, we want to give you a glimpse into our world, which is never our world alone. Ours is truly the most intimate, the most personal of arts. When we are finished, the product of our labors can turn to us and say, "I am art." That, at least, is what we strive for.

Please join us.
All events are free and open to the public.

apexart
291 Church Street, NYC, 10013
t. 212 431 5270
www.apexart.org

Directions: A, C, E, N, R, W, Q, J, M, Z, 6 to Canal or 1 to Franklin.

apexart's exhibitions and public programs are supported in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Edith C. Blum Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, The Greenwich Collection Ltd., The William Talbott Hillman Foundation, and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Patten Collection of embryology

In one of the more un-glamerous jobs in a museum, just boxed 1000 histo slides yesterday.  Only ~10,000 more to go.  The goal  is to ge the collection in better shape to use and ultimately ship, if/when the museum moves.