Access

The History of Medicine Collections are located on the third floor of the Eskind Biomedical Library, adjacent to Vanderbilt Hospital on the university campus. We’re open by appointment only, 8am-5pm Monday through Friday. Please see What to Know Before You Visit for more about our access policies, user registration, and reservations. Thanks!

Collections

The History of Medicine Collections at EBL curates, preserves, and provides access to rare books, manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, and other materials covering the history of medicine since 1500. The collection's strengths include the history of nutrition, surgery, anatomy, and pediatrics, as well as the history of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Choose any of the links below to browse archival collections, or search the Library Catalog to find our rare books.

• EBL Manuscripts Collection
• Registers, Bulletins, and Catalogs of Vanderbilt Medical School
• Special Collections Biographical Files
• University of Nashville Medical Student Dissertations (1851-1859)
• VUMC Archives at Eskind Biomedical Library

Publication Policy for Library Materials

In most cases, the History of Medicine Collections owns only the physical materials and therefore does not assume any responsibility for literary property, copyright, or any other legal issues involved in the use of items in its collections. It is the responsibility of the user to secure permission from the appropriate copyright holder or to research the applicability of fair use rights. Any copyright infringement which may occur through the use of these materials is the responsibility of the user. Please contact the curator of History of Medicine Collections and Archives for additional questions about publishing or reproducing materials in our collections.

Rights and Permissions

The History of Medicine Collections provides access to rare and distinctive books, manuscripts, photographs, audio-visual materials, and archival collections that enrich scholarship, education, and discovery. In doing so, we comply with United States copyright law and its applicable exceptions. Due to the nature of our collections, many of the copyrights to these materials are in the public domain, but others belong to the creators or their estates. While users are free to copy reasonable amounts from these collections for their educational, scholarly, and private use, they must receive written permission from the rights holders before publishing from our collections. Questions about rights holders may be directed to History of Medicine Collections staff, but we are unable to arrange permission unless all rights are held by Vanderbilt.

Material found on our web pages is shared on the condition of fair use. Copyright approval for this material must be granted before publication. While the University does not provide legal advice to users, Cornell University’s Copyright Information Center provides a useful copyright and public domain chart for guidance.