Medical history for tomorrow--preserving the record of today.
This paper addresses the need to recognize the importance, and the challenges, of preserving the hugely expanding record of medicine today for historians of the future. We are faced not only with an increase in traditional publishing formats, but also with the rapid growth in electronic communications. Two celebrated medical cases, one from the late seventeenth century and one from the late twentieth, are used to illustrate the differences and the difficulties. The need for active and effective professional collaboration is stressed; libraries should work together to address these issues.
Pearson
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Wellcome Library for the History & Understanding of Medicine, The Wellcome Trust, London, UK. d.pearson@wellcome.ac.uk
D001109:Archives; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000266:history; D016243:Library Collection Development / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D008499:Medical Records; D011643:Publishing / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom