Preserving Your History
2009 marks 100 years the ALA has been located in Chicago. I was reading in the American Library Association’s American Libraries Direct today about this in a blog post called 100 Years of ALA in Chicago. Even though ALA takes place in Chicago on a regularly rotating basis, it’s particularly nice to have it be here on this auspicious anniversary. After 2009, it returns in 2013. You can see all upcoming conferences here.
For library history buffs, check out the Amerca’s Library Association library history page. How do you preserve the history of your organization? There are online galleries recording the past. Some examples include:
- History of the University of Wisconsin Medical School, http://www.med.wisc.edu/about/history/index.php
- Galter Health Sciences Library, http://www.galter.northwestern.edu/Using-the-Library/History-of-the-Library/
- Fordham Health Sciences Library, http://www.libraries.wright.edu/about/fhsl_history/
Many health sciences libraries have a special collections department, which include history of medicine archives. But what about the institutional history? How long has your library been around? Is there anything unique about its beginnings?
