Surgery publications from the 19th and first half of the 20th century at the Library of the Medical University of Wrocław – from project concept to implementation

Abstract

This paper comes as the final stage of the several-months long project titled “Expansion of MUW Library database to include surgery publications from the 19th and the first half of the 20th century”, implemented by the Main Library of the Medical University of Wrocław as part of the programme titled “Social Responsibility of Science – Supporting Research Libraries”. The idea originated in relation to the potential of the resources held by MUW Library, as the information about them had not been compiled and they had not been made available to the public. The task involved 300 publications from the 19th as well as the first half of the 20th century, in the area of broadly conceived surgery, most of them unique in nature; it consisted in compiling information about them in formal and substantive terms as well as including them in the collections and online catalogues. This paper provides an overview of the project, presents photographs of the most interesting items in the newly created collection, and also highlights the role of MUW Library in promoting both the history of Wrocław as a vibrant centre of medicine and the development of medicine itself by using those invaluable resources.