Blogs

Medical Library Building Closure 11/25/20

**UPDATE: The medical library will reopen on January 11, 2021.** In response to public health conditions, Yale Library will close all library buildings and spaces to library users at the end of day Tuesday, November 24. The Medical Library’s 24/7 room will remain open to users authorized to be on the medical campus. We will monitor the public health situation closely. This decision was made to protect the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff and will enable us to reduce our onsite staff substantially, while still providing critical services. Collections Contactless pickup will be moved to outside the medical library entrance. Materials may be returned at any time through the book depository next to the library entrance. Additionally, we will continue to mail books to home addresses. Remote access to our vast electronic resources is available to the Yale and YNHH community regardless of your location. Faculty and students needing access to special collections materials should email historical.library@yale.edu. We will continue to process interlibrary loan and scanning requests for articles and chapters. Submit a request Support & Resources Please email your librarian for support or to schedule a consultation by phone or Zoom. For general questions, contact AskYaleMedicalLibrary@yale.edu. Visit this page for information about online classes, tutorials, and research guides. We are committed to doing everything we can to support you remotely during this challenging time. Please reach out with your questions.

New Books Added in February

The New Books section consists of items recently added to our collection. Our newly created Graphic Medicine collection features graphic novels about various healthcare subjects. Both collections can be found on the main floor of the library across from the circulation desk. Click the links below to access the full collection and to request items using Quicksearch: Recently Added Items Graphic Medicine Collection .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.56%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Medical Photographic History Fellowship Accepting Applications

The Medical Historical Library in the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library is welcoming applications for a fellowship for the study of medical photographic history. The Stanley B. Burns M.D. Fellowship for the Study of Medical Photographic History supports the study of the history of medical photography at Yale, maximizing the research potential of the Stanley B. Burns, MD, Historic Medical Photography Collection. We welcome applications from all interested researchers, regardless of their institutional association, race, cultural background, ability, sexual orientation, gender, or socioeconomic status. Applications from scholars utilizing traditional methods of archival and bibliographic research are encouraged as are applications from individuals who wish to pursue creative, interdisciplinary, and non-traditional approaches to conducting research using the Stanley B. Burns, MD, Historic Medical Photography Collection and related visual collections at the Medical Historical Library. In any given year the award is up to $2,000 for one week of research. Funds may be used for transportation, housing, food, and photographic reproductions. The award is currently limited to residents of the United States and Canada. A complete fellowship application includes: A research proposal (1,200 words max) that outlines: Significance of the proposed collections research to your larger project Value of your project to your field Feasibility of completing the scope of research proposed within the fellowship period Please note: If you anticipate consulting other Medical Historical Library materials beyond the Burns collection, please indicate those clearly in your application. Budget Curriculum vitae Two letters of recommendation Please apply through this link. The deadline for applications is midnight, April 27th, 2025.

Research Travel Grant Now Accepting Applications

The Medical Historical Library of the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library is pleased to announce its sixteenth annual Research Travel award for use of the Historical Library. The deadline is April 27th, 2025. The Ferenc Gyorgyey/Stanley Simbonis YSM’57 Research Travel Grant is available to historians, medical practitioners, and other researchers outside of Yale who wish to use the Historical collections of the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library. In any given year the award is up to $2,000 for one week of research. Funds may be used for transportation, housing, food, and photographic reproductions. The award is limited to residents of the United States and Canada. The award honors Ferenc A. Gyorgyey, former Historical Librarian, and Stanley Simbonis, M.D, a 1953 graduate of Yale College and a 1957 graduate of Yale School of Medicine, who graciously gifted an endowed fund in support of the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library. For application requirements and the link to submit application materials, please refer to our fellowship page. View research from past recipients: Hannah Darvin (2024) Michael Ortiz (2023) Tina Wei (2023) Jonathan Jones (2018) Jaipreet Virdi (2018) Thomas Ewing (2017) Erin Travers (2016)

Public Domain Day

As of January 1, 2025, works published in 1929 in the United States are now in the Public Domain and no longer have copyright protection. Next year, published works from 1930 will go into the Public Domain. Some examples of works entering the Public Domain include: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf Mickey Mouse feature films, including The Karnival Kid (where we hear Mickey’s voice for the first time) Hallelujah (one of the first films from a major studio with an all African-American cast) Popeye and Tintin characters Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin' Gershwin’s An American in Paris Ravel’s Bolero Singin’ in the Rain. Visit this link to see more Public Domain content: https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025/ To learn more about the Public Domain, please visit the Library of Congress, Copyright Office and Duke Law School’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Also, Cornell University Library maintains a very useful chart called Copyright Term and the Public Domain that can help in understanding copyright terms. Article prepared by Yale Library's Scholarly Communication and Collection Strategy department

New Resource: Examine

We are excited to announce that we recently added Examine.com to our collection. Examine evaluates scientific literature and provides research summaries on nutrition, supplements and other non-pharmaceutical health interventions. Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital affiliates can create Examine accounts by registering with their @yale.edu and @ynhh.org email address here https://examine.com/signup/ .

Resource Trial - Web of Science Research Assistant (Generative AI)

The library has coordinated trial access to the Web of Science Research Assistant, which will run through December 20, 2024. The Research Assistant is a generative AI tool that helps locate key papers, manage research tasks, and visualize connections from the Web of Science Core Collection. Web of Science is a citation database that indexes leading scholarly articles in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. This resource is accessible from the Web of Science platform and a video introduction can be found here. Your feedback on this resource would be greatly appreciated.

Three Medical Librarians Honored with the Linda K. Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service to Yale

Data Librarian for the Health Sciences Kaitlin Throgmorton, Research & Education Librarian for Bioinformatics Rolando Garcia-Milian, and Research & Education Librarian for Bioinformatics Sofia Fertuzinhos were awarded the 2024 Linda K. Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service. This prestigious award celebrates staff members who embody Yale’s spirit of leadership, innovation, collaboration, and excellence. Their work has strengthened Yale’s connection with the local community, promoted critical research, enhanced care quality and accessibility, established best practices, and created innovative pathways for learning and career development. The impact of their efforts can be felt across our campus and community, and in many cases, far beyond. This team’s pioneering role in providing equitable bioinformatics and data support has been transformative, delivering successful training workshops, offering tailored consultations, fostering collaboration, and providing practical tools to researchers at all levels. The service model they created has made them indispensable partners in research, and their leadership in this area has garnered recognition beyond Yale. Kaitlin, Rolando, and Sofia were nominated by Lucila Ohno-Machado, chair of the Biomedical Informatics and Data Science department, for providing training, consultation, collaboration, and tools that have bridged crucial gaps in bioinformatics and data support for researchers at Yale.

New Journals Now Available

We are excited to announce the addition of several new electronic journals to the library’s collection! The Lancet Journals We now have access to all journals published by the Lancet. New titles include The Lancet Neurology, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and The Lancet Rheumatology. Mary Ann Liebert We also added two titles from Mary Ann Liebert: Journal of Correctional Health Care and Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. NEJM Group From the NEJM group, we are happy to provide access to NEJM AI , a journal exploring the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in clinical medicine.

Burns Fellow Reflections

By Stéphan Ballard As I journeyed back through the mountains of the Adirondacks, it offered a moment to reflect on my path to Yale, the Cushing Library, and the fortunate opportunity granted by Stanley B. Burns M.D. Fellowship for the Study of Medical Photographic History. My project, Operating Theater, is a photographic tribute to the intimate, transformative space of surgical practice, where I witnessed surgeons' precise, life-changing work. With its rare documentation of medical history, the Burns photographic collection became a portal into the dawn of modern medicine, particularly the era of the operating theater. The collection allowed me to observe the evolution of the operating theater and its progressive closure through time. As I witness today's modern operating room the human presence within it has changed. The space between the audience and the surgeon has been removed, as we transitioned from amphitheater to video feed. The shift of focus away from human performance is apparent. Through my choice of images, I aim to weave a photographic narrative that binds my experience with the journeys of other photographers from the collection. As an artist, I endeavored in creating a visual essay to fill the void caused by the loss of this mythical space. Capturing the act of surgery allows the surgeons to experience their empowering act of redemption in our modern day. My journey was further enriched by an earlier experience at McGill’s Osler Library, where I encountered Sir William Osler’s legacy through his rare medical books and anatomical illustrations. This experience formed a bridge between McGill and Yale, tracing the intellectual and personal bond between Osler and Dr. Harvey Cushing. Their lifelong friendship intertwined their respective libraries into a unified legacy, dedicated to advancing medicine. In Cushing's library, I was introduced to his Wanderjahr notebooks—collages, illustrations, and writings that reflected not only his scientific growth but also his intellectual and emotional journey. Discovering Cushing’s talent as a draftsman evoked a deeper connection between art and medicine, revealing a shared visual language. As I reflect on my medical pilgrimage. I felt a deep gratitude towards the Burns fellowship and the two giants' friendship which opened the path to many fellows to access a combined wealth of knowledge opening the door to solve humanity’s wonderful puzzle. First two images courtesy of Stéphan Ballard Bottom image from the Stanley B. Burns M.D. Historic Medical Photography collection