What role does your department play in supporting the library’s mission, and how does your team bring that mission to life for patrons?
Medical Center Archives actively collects the official records of the School of Medicine, Nursing, and all of Duke Health. This includes a variety of materials that tell the story of our institution’s activities, business, and interests through the years. Centralizing materials and relieving individual offices of the burden of storing and servicing records also promotes greater and more efficient use of records, saves time, and protects the institution.
Through actively collecting materials that document the day-to-day activities of Duke Health, the Archives brings this mission to life for our patrons by providing a historical record for future research use.
What services, programs, or behind the scenes work does your department provide that patrons might not realize, but benefit from every day?
Whenever there is an anniversary celebration, reunion event, or retirement, we are often one of the first offices to be called. For example, we work with Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs (DHDAA) to share class photographs, display materials at reunions, and provide reference support to keep alumni engaged with Duke Health. We partner with Duke communicators to share the history of Duke Health through news stories, websites, and other opportunities.
The importance of actively collecting records from Duke Health was underscored when we provided research and materials for Duke University’s Centennial celebration.
Having these materials ready for use requires significant behind-the-scenes technical work. We maintain MEDSpace, a digital repository of images, publications, and scholarly works. For everything in MEDSpace, there are also thousands of items in our physical archives. We have to collect it, organize it, and describe it, so that it can be found when needed.
What impact does your department have on teaching, learning, or research across the institution, and how does your whole team contribute to that impact?
The Archives reach goes beyond vintage photographs and Duke history. Our efforts in preserving the research records ensure that current and future generations have access to groundbreaking research, including the records of two Nobel Laureates, from which they can learn and expand.
The Archives also captures student work to support teaching and learning. The MEDSpace repository has posters from students, residents, and staff from many departments, including the full poster collections of the School of Medicine Student Research Symposia from 2020 to present. Archival materials and processes have also been built into teaching and learning at Duke, including Bass Connections projects that both leveraged and added to our archival collections.
This work relies on each member of the team – from collection building and management, technology, and research services.
What’s one current project, initiative, or improvement your department is excited about, and why does it matter to the campus community?
Duke Hospital, School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing all opened their doors in 1930, so we are excited about the Duke Health Centennial in 2030! We are always actively collecting departmental records, so please reach out to the Medical Center Archives about your departmental records in preparation for the upcoming Centennial. We will add those records to our holdings to make them available for future use, including Centennial celebrations and other events.
What’s a common misconception about your department—and what’s the truth?
We get a fair amount of calls about medical records (from both current and former patients)—we are not the official repository for medical records. All inquiries about these types of records should go to Health Information Management.
Another big misconception is that everything in our collections is digitized, or everything we collect will be digitized. Analog or physical materials are often digitized for a specific research project, but with 14,250 linear feet of materials, we could never adequately digitize every physical item in our holdings.
What is something that you are each currently reading, watching or listening to?
- Lucy: I am currently reading Hostage by Eli Sharabi.
- Rusty: I’m currently reading books about ruby on rails and AI. Also the Slough House series (Mick Herron), Thursday Murder Club series (Richard Osman), anything by Carl Hiaasen, and anything by Fredrik Backman.
- Rebecca: I'm always reading a wide variety of different things, but I’ll mention two books that have a strong archives connection! I just finished reading and recommend the narrative nonfiction book A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland and I’m currently reading the novel Possession by A.S. Byatt.
- Kayla: I’m currently reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel, A Pale View of Hills.
- Iris: currently reading The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalam
