NLM’s holdings catalog for records for books, audiovisuals, journals, computer files, and other materials in the collections.
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NLM Digital Collections
NLM’s free online resource of digitized biomedical books, still images, and videos available for viewing and download.
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Databases, Resources & APIs
Find, Use, and Reuse Data at NLM
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PubMed Central
Full Text Journal Literature
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Finding Aids
Archives, Manuscripts, Images, and Films
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Images from the History of Medicine
Available in NLM Digital Collections.
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NLM PROVIDES TWO CATALOG INTERFACES
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LocatorPlus Catalog
LocatorPlus Catalog is the interface provided for onsite patrons in the Library’s reading room. It contains information on NLM holdings and circulation status, and provides access to the records in MARC format. Quick limits for searching historical collections and material formats are available. For help with searching LocatorPlus Catalog see NLM LocatorPlus Catalog Help.
Go to LOCATORPLUS CATALOG
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NLM Catalog
The NLM Catalog provides access to NLM bibliographic data for over 1.4 million journals, books, audiovisuals, computer software, electronic resources, and other materials. It contains detailed MEDLINE indexing information about the journals in PubMed and other NCBI databases. Links to the library’s holdings in LocatorPlus Catalog are also provided. For help with searching the NLM Catalog see NLM Catalog Help.
Go to NLM Catalog
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JOURNAL CITATIONS
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PubMed
PubMed comprises more than 26 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. To find journal articles in the history of medicine, select “Topic Specific-Queries” from the “PubMed Tools” list on the PubMed homepage and select History of Medicine from the “Subjects” list. Full text of historically significant articles can be found in PubMed Central. For further information about PubMed, see NLM Customer Support.
Go to PUBMED
Full Text Articles
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PubMed Central® (PMC)
PubMed Central® (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM). PMC includes a growing collection of backfiles reaching back over two centuries.
Go to PMC
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AUDIOVISUAL COLLECTION GUIDES
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Guide to Tropical Disease Motion Pictures and Audiovisuals
The Tropical Disease Motion Picture and Audiovisual Collection is comprised of films, videorecordings, and digital videocasts produced from the 1920s through 2009, with the majority shot prior to the 1960s. All are devoted to health concerns and include material on medicine and public health. Materials range from ideological, documentary, educational, and training films to American war propaganda. The intended audience is diverse and includes military personnel, health professionals, and the general public. The collection will be of particular interest to scholars concerned with the social, economic, and political implications of health disparities in a world where epidemics travel with great rapidity across national and regional borders.
View GUIDE
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Guide to Mental Health Motion Pictures
references to nearly 200 films and videorecordings produced from the 1930s up to and including 1970. Most deal with mental or psychiatric disorders as defined or recognized at the time the films were produced, as well as their corresponding causes and treatments. Some films focus on improving mental attitudes and thus overall health.
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MODERN MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION GUIDES
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Guide to Library and Archival Collections of African Americans in Medicine and Biomedical Research
The collections in this Guide are to assist in identifying useful medical history collections for researchers and scholars interested in African Americans in Medicine and Biomedical Research.Read More
View Guide
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History of Health Services Research Project
The project is motivated by the desire to collect the stories and experiences of innovators and leaders in the field of health services research. Read More
View Guide
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Medical Informatics Archival Collections
Medical informatics and medical librarianship form a strong collecting focus of the National Library of Medicine. Significant archival holdings on these topics are found within NLM’s institutional archives, and especially within the records of the Office of the Director, the Bibliographic Services Division (MEDLARS), and the Lister Hill Center. Many of NLM’s manuscripts collections are concerned with medical informatics, including the papers of NLM director John Shaw Billings, select personal and organizational archives, and the records and oral histories of the Medical Library Association (MLA).
View GUIDE
ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS
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Online Oral Histories
NLM has digitized selected material from its oral history collections. Content is organized into seven collections and includes digitized transcripts plus any accompanying audio content when available. Users can browse content by title, interviewee name, and subject. Full-text searching is available across all sub-collections, within each sub-collection, and within individual transcripts.
Go to PROJECT PAGE
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History of Health Services Research Project
This project is motivated by the desire to collect the stories and experiences of innovators and leaders in the field of health services research. It is co-sponsored by the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) and the History of Medicine Division (HMD). Several initiatives are being pursued: individual oral and video interviews, a historical video for use in training health science librarians and HSR students, and solicitation and archiving of pertinent collections of papers.
Go to PROJECT PAGE
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Conversations with Medical Informatics Pioneers
Beginning in 2004, Drs. Joan S. Ash and Dean F. Sittig chose and interviewed seventeen medical informatics pioneers to capture their memories. In 2013, NLM acquired the transcripts from the first 15 interviews and began work to make them publicly available, including recruiting and placing photographs to enliven the written words.
Go to PROJECT PAGE
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Oral Histories in Directory of History of Medicine Collections
Oral histories are an important resource for historians and other scholars seeking to understand individual careers, the development of institutions and disciplines, and the process of biomedical research. You can find oral history collections around the world through the NLM Directory of History of Medicine Collections. Get Instructions for Searching.
Go To Directory
RARE BOOKS AND JOURNALS
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A Shelflist of Islamic Medical Manuscripts (pdf)
In 1994, to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the oldest Arabic medical manuscript in its collection, the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine mounted an exhibition entitled Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts. Showcasing the library’s rich holdings in this area, the exhibit was very well received -so much so that there has been a scholarly demand for the library to issue a cataloge of its holdings. This shelflist serves as an interim guide to the collection.
VIEW EXHIBITION BROCHURE
VIEW EXHBITION POSTER
View PDF
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Islamic Medical Manuscripts
Here you can learn about Islamic medicine and science during the Middle Ages and the important role it played in the history of Europe. This site, with its biographies, colorful images, and extensive historical accounts of medieval medicine and science is designed for students and everyone interested in the history of Islamic and European culture. The site provides a comprehensive, annotated listing (including images) of the 300 or so Persian and Arabic manuscripts in the National Library of Medicine.
View Guide
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Early Western Manuscripts at NLM
The National Library of Medicine has in its collection 90 Western manuscripts written before 1601. Cataloging information for these manuscripts is fragmented and in some cases unavailable to the scholarly community. The following digitized pamphlet is available in the NLM’s Digital Collection.
View GUIDE
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Medieval Manuscripts
An interpretive overview of medieval manuscript holdings of the National Library of Medicine focused on medicine and medical literature in medieval England, on the sources and transmission of the manuscript texts, and on their later manifestations.
View GUIDE
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Time, Tide, and Tonics: The Patent Medicine In America
Almanacs, first produced in the middle ages for their astrological information, were, in the nineteenth century, adopted by patent medicine manufacturers to advertise their wares. By the end of the century they had evolved into colorful and heavily illustrated works, displaying catchy and clever cover art.
View GUIDE
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GENERAL REFERENCES
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Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office
The Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office (Index-Catalogue) is a multi-part printed bibliography or list of items in the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office, U.S. Army, the National Library of Medicine’s earliest incarnation founded in 1865. It contains material dated from the 1400s through 1950 and is an important resource for researchers in the history of medicine, history of science, and for clinical research. NLM has scanned all 61 volumes of the printed Index-Catalogue and made them available in NLM Digital Collections grouped by series: Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, Series 4, and Series 5. The originals may be consulted in the NLM Reading Room and at many large research and medical school libraries. This resource is also available as an online, searchable database: see IndexCat™. Read more about Index-Catalogue on our blog Circulating Now.
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Bibliography of the History of Medicine
Journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers and proceedings that were published from 1965–1993 are indexed in the Bibliography of the History of Medicine. The Bibliography, a printed version of the discontinued HISTLINE database, was published in six cumulative volumes (1965–1993), and is useful for pre-1993 material. The Bibliography can be consulted in the Reading Room and at many large research and medical school libraries.
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Index Medicus
Index to journal articles in biomedical journals worldwide published from 1879–1927. For detailed information about Index Medicus please see Index Medicus Chronology (archived).
PRINTED GUIDES TO NLM HOLDINGS
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- Dorothy M. Schullian, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts in the Army Medical Library, 1950
- Richard J. Durling, A Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, 1967
- Peter A. Krivatsy, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, First Supplement, 1971
- Peter A. Krivatsy, A Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine. First Supplement, 1971
- Peter A. Krivatsy, A Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, 1989
- John B. Blake, Eighteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine (1979)
- Stephen J. Greenberg, A Shelflist of Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine, 1996 (Download PDF)
- Sarah L. Richards, Motion Pictures and Videocassettes about the Public Health Service and its Agencies, 1998 (Download PDF)
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NEW ACCESSIONS IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE
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Recent Acquisitions
The National Library of Medicine is constantly developing its historical collections through generous donations, transfers from government entities, and purchases, which adhere to the Library’s Collection Development Policy and support its mission.
VIEW RECENT ACQUISITION NEWS ON OUR BLOG
UNPROCESSED ARCHIVES & PAPERS COLLECTIONS
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These lists represent brief descriptions of unprocessed collections, or unprocessed additions to collections, and is primarily for informational purposes only. There may be donor imposed restrictions, HMD imposed restrictions, or no descriptions of collection contents. Please contact the HMD Reference Staff regarding access to these collections.
Note on Access: The majority of these collections are stored offsite and require 30 days prior notice for service. Please contact the Associate Curator of Archives and Modern Manuscripts for access information.
View 1997–2015
View Pre-1997
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ARCHIVE FINDING AID
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NLM Institutional Archives Collection
A descriptive online guide to the archival collections of the National Library of Medicine.
View GUIDE
WEB ARCHIVES
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Web Archives of NLM Websites
The National Library of Medicine’s websites represent a significant aspect of its institutional records and are being archived through the Library’s Web Archiving efforts.
View NLM INSTITUTIONAL WEB ARCHIVES
DIGITIZED NLM PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS
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NLM Digital Collections
Selected digitized publications and productions of the National Library of Medicine including bibliographies, catalogs, posters, brochures, programs and audiovisuals relating to its collections, activities, and resources.
Go to NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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Archives and Personal Papers Collections
Digitized archival collections, often en masse, from the holdings of the Archives and Modern Manuscripts collctions.
GO TO NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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Student Lecture Notes
Digitized lecture notes from our bound manuscripts holdings. Largely dating from the 18th-19th centuries, these handwritten lecture notes are the recordings of in-class lectures as transcribed by students from some of the world's major medical schools of the time such as the University of Edinburgh, the University of Pennsylvania, and many others. Often produced as a graduation requirement, these volumes document the thoughts and teachings of American and European medical educators such as Benjamin Rush, Alexander Munro, and Philip Physick.
GO TO NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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Recipe Books
Digitized recipe and cookery books from our bound manuscripts holdings. Often kept and maintained by female heads of households, these largely 18th century European handwritten works document both well-known and family recipies for medicinal compounds, remedies, and treatments for all types of ailments and bodily well-being, but also record general household needs such as food preparation and storage, plantings, herbals, and production of ink and paper.
GO TO NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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NLM Publications and Productions
Publications and videos produced by NLM from NLM's institutional archives
GO TO NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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Profiles in Science
Profiles in Science presents the lives and work of innovators in science, medicine, and public health through in-depth research, curation, and digitization of archival collection materials. NLM historians and archivists review and select documents from the Library's collections, and collaborating institutions, to bring the public biographical stories and direct access to supporting primary sources. Profiles in Science includes digitized letters, draft manuscripts, photographs, diaries, and more that provide insight into the challenges and successes of scientific discovery and the diversity of paths and perspectives involved.
View Collection
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In His Own Words: Martin Cummings and the NLM
A searchable, online edition of annual Congressional appropriations testimonies and selected speeches and articles by former NLM director Dr. Martin M. Cummings, based on the collection of his papers (MS C 554; 116.0 linear feet) in the Library’s Modern Manuscripts collection. This project represents theNLM’s ongoing commitment to collecting materials related to its own institutional history—as part of the NLM Archives—as well as to digitizing these collections and making them widely available for the benefit of researchers, educators, and students.
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FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1908–1966
The FDA Notices of Judgment Collection is a digital archive of the published notices judgment for products seized under authority of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. This digital library, created using the SPER system, allows for browsing the collection as well as searching the collection’s metadata and full-text.
View Collection
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Physicians' Lives in the Shenandoah Valley: Henkel Family Letters, 1786–1907
The Henkel Family Correspondence collection consists of 828 letters and is largely the product of Caspar C. Henkel’s life. This digital edition is divided into 3 blog posts for ease of navigation and contextual narrative.
View Blog Posts on Circulating Now
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WEB COLLECTIONS
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Recognizing that web sites, blogs, social media, and other web content plays an increasingly important role in documenting the scholarly biomedical record and illustrating a diversity of philosophical and cultural perspectives in health and medicine, Archives and Modern Manuscripts has begun selectively collecting representative web content to augment our physical personal papers and organizational archives. NLM also periodically captures and archives large portions of its own web domain, including NLM blogs and social media. In addition to directly accessing archived web content through our Internet Archive Archive It service, archived websites are described in the pertinent collection finding aids.
Browse:
Archives and Modern Manuscripts collections
NLM Institutional Archives
Web archives for NLM content captured between 2004-2015 are findable by searching NLM's main website and exploring the Web Archives subset
MORE ABOUT WEB COLLECTING AND ARCHIVING AT NLM
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Web collecting and archiving is the process of collecting web sites, social media, and other web content to ensure the information is preserved in an archive for future researchers, historians, and the public. NLM librarians and archivists use Archive-It web crawlers to collect web content guided by the Library’s collection development policies... Read More
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Featured Collections
Explore a variety of curated history of medicine collections featuring supporting information and narratives.
GO TO Collections List
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Historical Projects on MedlinePlus Topics
Explore intersections in historical and modern medicine through curated digital projects and MedlinePlus, a health information resource that provides extensive up-to-date information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues.
GO TO Topics List
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Browse NLM Exhibitions
Learn more about the National Library of Medicine’s exhibitions about the social and cultural history of medicine. Exhibitions include online education resources and in some cases Digital Galleries of materials from the NLM’s collection.
VIEW EXHIBITIONS
TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS
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Host NLM Traveling Exhibitions
Each year, hundreds of libraries and cultural institutions across the U.S. and around the world host NLM traveling exhibitions.
GO TO HOST NLM EXHIBITIONS
EXHIBITION PROGRAM
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About the Exhibition Program
By creating exhibitions and educational resources about the social and cultural history of medicine, we encourage visitors of all ages to learn more about themselves and their communities. We seek to stimulate people’s enthusiasm for history and to nurture young professionals in history, education, museum studies, and the health professions.
GO TO EXHIBITION PROGRAM
DIGITIZED MATERIALS PRE-2000
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NLM Digital Collections
Brochures, catalogs, and other materials from exhibits at the National Library of Medicine held prior to 2000.
GO TO NLM DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
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PUBLIC DOMAIN HISTORICAL IMAGES FROM NLM
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Images from the History of Medicine
Public domain images from the historical collections of the National Library of Medicine are accessible through The Commons on Flickr via a photostream. Among the hundreds of images available are book illustrations, photographs, fine art work, ephemera, and posters, including the 1918 World War I Red Cross nurse recruitment poster featured above. Visitors will also find albums (collections of images) including selections from the book Hidden Treasure, patent medicine trade cards, and AIDS posters. Visitors are encouraged to contribute information about images by adding comments and tags.
GO TO THE COMMONS ON FLICKR
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Explore Options for Genealogical Research at NLM
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the largest medical library in the United States and is charged with preserving America’s medical heritage. The Library’s History of Medicine Division holds numerous genealogical and biographical resources, including manuscipt and archival collections, Medical School Bulletins and Catalogs, Printed Resources and the unique American Medical Association Deceased Physicians Master Card File.
GO TO GENEALOGY WEBSITE
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EXPLORE THE PAPERS OF SCIENTIFIC LEADERS
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Profiles in Science
Profiles in Science presents the lives and work of innovators in science, medicine, and public health through in-depth research, curation, and digitization of archival collection materials. NLM historians and archivists review and select documents from the Library's collections, and collaborating institutions, to bring the public biographical stories and direct access to supporting primary sources. Profiles in Science includes digitized letters, draft manuscripts, photographs, diaries, and more that provide insight into the challenges and successes of scientific discovery and the diversity of paths and perspectives involved.
VIEW THE COLLECTION
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EXPLORE HISTORICAL ANATOMICAL ATLASES
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Historical Anatomies
Historical Anatomies on the Web is a digital project designed to give Internet users access to high quality images from important anatomical atlases in the Library’s collection. The project offers selected images from NLM’s atlas collection, not the entire books, with an emphasis on images and not texts. However, links are provided to the full digitized book on NLM Digital Collections when available. Atlases and images are selected primarily for their historical and artistic significance, with priority placed upon the earliest and/or the best edition of a work in NLM’s possession.
VIEW THE COLLECTION
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LEARN MORE ABOUT USING HISTORICAL MATERIALS
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NLM Historical Collections Copyright Information
Information about the copyright law of the United States as it applies to making reproductions of material found in the historical collections of the National Library of Medicine, with particular information about different formats including exhibitions, audiovisuals, images and other materials. If using any material from Historical collections for publication or production, please include the phrase: “Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.”
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Patron Guide to Copyright and Historical Materials
Patrons must make their own rights assessment in light of the intended use. The nature of historical archival collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or impossible to determine. The Library provides some information as a service to aid patrons in determining the appropriate use of an item, but that determination ultimately rests with the patron.
VIEW GUIDE
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