Project Proposal
Title: An Electronic Finding Aid to the published and unpublished material which relates to the History of the Health Sciences in Nova Scotia.
Prepared by: Dr. Allan E. Marble, Association of Health Sciences Archives and Museums of Nova Scotia
Proposal: Nova Scotia has a very rich history of health care which reaches back over 400 years. Although health care during the first two or three centuries of settlement in the province was dominated by medicine, the last century has seen dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy, become equally important partners in the delivery of health care. Several books and articles have been written which focus on the history of each of the four disciplines in Nova Scotia. In addition there are many unpublished collections of records kept by hospitals, archives, museums, professional societies, and universities, which provide an account of the illnesses and diseases which the Nova Scotia public were afflicted with, and how the professionals in medicine, nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy, responded to provide a successful outcome for the patient.
To my knowledge there has never been a finding aid prepared which lists the books and articles which have been published on the history of the health sciences in Nova Scotia. Likewise, there has never been a finding aid prepared to describe the unpublished collections which describe the history of the delivery of health care within the hospitals, the clinics, or the pharmacies.
The purpose of this project, therefore, is to create an electronic finding aid which: (1) identifies the published material related to the history of the health sciences of Nova Scotia and, (2) describes the unpublished collections of manuscripts and records related to the delivery of health care in the province during the last four centuries.
Books and journal articles on the history of the four disciplines can be identified by contacting the following people who will be pleased to provide support for the project. These individuals include:
- Medicine (Drs Jock Murray, Peter Twohig, and Allan Marble)
- Nursing (Gloria Stephens, Dr. Peter Twohig, and Dr. Barbara Keddy)
- Dentistry (Drs Tom Boran and Oscar Sykora)
- Pharmacy (Drs Mary MacCara and Gordon Duff)
The Annual Reports of the Victoria General Hospital and the Nova Scotia Hospital were published annually in the Journal of the House of Assembly, however, the existence of Annual Reports published by privately operated hospitals such as the Halifax Infirmary, the Grace Maternity Hospital, and the several rural hospitals, are unknown. The Medical History Society of Nova Scotia has recently embarked on a project to contact all of the hospitals in Nova Scotia to determine whether these institutions have published Annual Reports since their establishment. The answer to this question should be available during the new year.
Some of the Annual Reports submitted by government health care officials have been published in the Journal of the House of Assembly. Other Annual Reports such as from the Provincial Board of Health can be found in Archives throughout the province including the files of the Nova Scotia Archives on University Avenue.
Unpublished Material: There are approximately 50 hospitals in Nova Scotia which may have records describing the delivery of patient care and treatment in their institution during the last 100 or so years. Once again, the Medical History Society of Nova Scotia is in the process of contacting all of these hospitals to find out if they are retaining their records longer than the seven or so years required by the Provincial Government. The Medical History Society of Nova Scotia has requested that each hospital send to the Society an inventory of their hospital records. These inventories will hopefully be available in the new year.
Other unpublished collections related to the delivery of health care exist at Archives and Museums throughout the province. Using Archway, a finding aid established by the Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA), one can locate some of the larger collections on health care, however, some of the smaller collections would have to be identified through contact with individual archives using the CNSA web site and their newsletter.
Duration of the Project: It is very difficult to judge the number of hours which would be required to complete this project, especially the second part dealing with unpublished material. My suggestion is that the student should first focus on the published material which I believe could be identified and described in an electronic finding aid in approximately 25 or 30 hours. If the student completes the foregoing earlier than expected, it would be very much appreciated if he/she would take an initial look at the unpublished material. It may be that this project could be continued by a second MLIS student who could focus on the unpublished material related to the history of the health sciences in Nova Scotia.
The Association of Health Sciences Archives and Museums of Nova Scotia is very grateful to you and the School of Information Management for the opportunity to have our project considered by your students.
Contact Person: Dr. Allen E. Marble, Chair of the Medical History Society of Nova Scotia. Telephone: 423-5359 (home), 494-3995 (office)