UOMS/OHSU Library records
Scope and Contents
This collection spans the library’s history, with materials produced largely by library employees and committee members. There are records, blueprints, reports, floor plans, staff files, publicity materials, press clippings, exhibit materials, newsletters, memoranda, and surveys, as well as some more off-beat items, such a cane and a four-leaf clover. There is a good deal of material related to the creation of the BICC and the foundation of the Orbis Cascade Alliance. Researchers interested in Bertha Hallam and early Oregon librarianship will find her personal records of great interest. Some aspects of the collection, including surveys about Y2K, may be interesting to historians of the early Internet.
The collection series are broad and varied and consist of: I. Administrative records, II. Committee records, III. Correspondence, IV. Financial records, V. Historical Collections & Archives/History of Medicine records, VI. Interlibrary Loan forms, VII. Diversified displays, VIII. Photographs and audiovisual materials, IX. Artifacts, X. Related group records (such as those relating to the Medical Library Association, the Oregon Library Association, and the Oregon State Library), and five sub-collections: records from XIa.Bertha Hallam, XIb.Jean Hoar, XIc.Dolores Judkins, XId.Sara Piasecki, and XIe.Carrie Willman.
Dates
- 1871-2016
- Majority of material found within 1920 - 2013
Creator
- Oregon Health & Science University (Creator, Organization)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on access. This collection is open to the public.
Conditions Governing Use
OHSU Historical Collections & Archives (HC&A) is the owner of the original materials and digitized images in our collections, however, the collection may contain materials for which copyright is not held. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials. Consult with HC&A to determine if we can provide permission for use.
Historical note
The OHSU library was founded in 1893 as part of the University of Oregon Medical Department in Portland. Its first collection was a pair of personal libraries, donated by the estates of Drs. Rodney Glisan and R. B. Wilson; it was originally named for the latter.
In 1919, Bertha Hallam became the first librarian, and the library’s 4,000 books moved up the hill to what is now Mackenzie Hall. By 1939, thanks to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and private funding, the library was able to move again into a new building next door.
In the 1970s and 1980s, as OHSU consolidated its various schools and took on its modern form, the library acquired a more modern identity too. In 1988, electronic services arrived, allowing users to use email and search Medline. The following year, the catalog became electronic too, and in 1996 the library website made its debut.
By 1991, the Depression-era building by Mackenzie Hall had become inadequate, and so OHSU secured federal money to build its present home: the Biomedical Information Communication Center, or BICC. The older building still houses some of the library’s collections and archives. OHSU now boasts the largest medical library in Oregon.
Extent
100 Linear Feet
Abstract
The OHSU library was founded in 1893 as part of the University of Oregon Medical Department. In 1919, the library’s 4,000 books moved up the hill to what is now Mackenzie Hall. In 1939, the library moved into a new building next door and then relocated again in 1991 with the opening of the Biomedical Information Communication Center (BICC). This collection spans the library’s history, with materials produced largely by library employees and committee members.
- Title
- Guide to the UOMS/OHSU Library records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Karen Lea Anderson Peterson, Archivist, and Jeff Colby, Assistant Archivist
- Date
- 1998
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Health & Science University, Historical Collections & Archives Repository