Duke Medical Center Library & Archives News

Graduation is an important and exciting time of change for many students. Sadly, one of these changes may involve losing access to many Duke resources such as library subscriptions to journals and databases.

Before You Lose Access

• Go through your saved citations and PDFs and decide which ones you want to keep. If there are any articles that you would like to get PDFs for, do this before you leave while you still have access to free full text.
• Evaluate your citation manager needs before you leave. If you are using Endnote, double-check that you have the most current version on a personal device. This access will last you for a couple years, but you will have to repurchase it at some…

Categories: Databases

Tags: citation management, reference management, open access

A lactation room is now available in the Medical Center Library! This dedicated space provides a clean, secure, and user-friendly environment for nursing parents who need to pump or nurse during their time on campus. The room is equipped with comfortable seating, electrical outlets, and privacy features; users must bring their own pumps. This initiative aligns with the library’s commitment to supporting the health and well-being of the Duke community.

The lactation room is 104B Seeley Mudd building. This is Level 1 of the library, located near the computer classroom. 

To register for lactation room use, follow these steps:

1. Set up your DukeCard ID for access: Submit the access form at least 10 days in advance to have your DukeCard ID programmed…

Categories: Alerts

Tags: space

“There are now, people of color all over Duke Hospital and no one thinks anything of it. That would be his legacy... He said to me that when the Black medical students began to come to do, and no longer sought him out, he understood that the institution had changed. For a very long time, they always would look around the faculty and probably take a wild guess that the one African-American physician or one of a couple, probably had some say in their being there. Right, so they will go and introduce themselves. But there came a time where that changed. And that was not probably not as early as you would think. I'm sure that was well into the 80s. And, you know, a few more of them, and fewer will come by to, you know, to get advice or counsel, and that kind of thing. But to me, his legacy…

Tags: black history month

Museum of Durham History Presents E is for ESP   
On Display  
February 18th- March 18th   
Duke University Medical Center Library, Level 3

The Medical Center Library & Archives is happy to host another traveling exhibit from the Museum of Durham History (MoDH). As part of continuing programming for their current exhibit, 100 Year of Duke: Names to Remember, the MoDH developed a traveling version of E is for ESP. Originally part of the Durham A-Z series, this exhibit explores the legacy of JB and Louisa Rhine, and the Duke Parapsychology Department in the 20th century. Keep an eye out for the next location! 

Categories: Exhibits

Tags: space

“It was interesting. It was 1969 when I first got here, and the hospital had sort of desegregated. And I say “sort of.” It's not a very exact term. On paper, it was, but in point of fact, it was not because there were private diagnostic clinic patients, and there were “staff patients.” In order to be a private patient, you would have to have money or insurance. Most of the African Americans and some poor whites did not have [those things]. So, they were in staff clinics, and you’ve probably seen some pictures of the clinics. They typically had two appointment times: 8 and 1. People would come very early hoping to get in line first. Some people would obviously sit there for hours waiting to be seen. There was a way of getting care and specialty care, but it was also really, really…

Tags: black history month

Happy Valentine's Day from the Medical Center Library and Archives! Check out these heart related resources available through the library.

Print books available for checkout: 

The curious history of the heart : a cultural and scientific journey   
Vincent M. Figueredo   
For much of recorded history, people considered the heart to be the most important organ in the body. In cultures around the world, the heart-not the brain-was believed to be the location of intelligence, memory, emotion, and the soul. Over time, views on the purpose of the heart have transformed as people sought to understand the life forces it contains. 

…

BRIDGING THE GAP:  Advancing Health equity together

Join the Duke Fuqua School of Business Health Care Club for their annual Duke MBA Health Care Conference featuring industry-leading speakers on improving equitable access to health care. This full-day, in-person conference will take place on March 26th, 2025, and welcomes attendees from Fuqua, Duke University, nearby academic and healthcare institutions, as well as health care minded individuals nationwide. Registration is limited, so register early to secure your place!

Health equity is one of the most pressing challenges in the healthcare industry, requiring innovative frameworks, inclusive approaches, and bold strategies to address systemic disparities. Whether enhancing healthcare delivery through DEI…

Categories: Events

“As I said before, we only had maybe three or four faculty at Duke at the time, who were black. Dr. Moore was the only black attending an OB-GYN. There was Dr. Johnson who was in internal medicine, Dr. Jacquelyne Jackson, who was there in sociology, and one other black physician in psychiatry. So once he saw me and some of the other black medical students, he invited us over to his home to meet his family. And just to kind of give us some semblance of being with someone that we could understand where we were, and kind of what we're trying to do. And he certainly gave us a lot of encouragement, in terms of being able to survive in any kind of environment. And, you know, he would constantly tell us that excellence will always prevail. So it didn't matter whether you're black, white,…

Tags: black history month

It's that time of year again—hearts, valentines, and... data! 📊💖 Yes, International Love Data Week is February 10-14, and this year's theme is “Whose Data Is It, Anyway?”  Many institutions, including Johns Hopkins, are hosting free virtual data events through the week. Check out their online talks, panels, and webinars here.  View all 2025 Love Data Week events and activities happening locally and virtually around the world.  To celebrate, the Medical Center Library is excited to share some great data resources to help you become better stewards of the data you work with.

Duke’s Research Data Policy
In May 2023, Duke released its revised research data policies,…

Categories: Alerts

Tags: data

This month we are featuring "Black History Month: A Medical Perspective," our online exhibit containing a chronology of medical achievements of African Americans, a section on folk medicine, and a selective bibliography.

Categories: Exhibits, Resource Updates

Tags: black history month

This month we are featuring "Black History Month: A Medical Perspective," our online exhibit containing a chronology of medical achievements of African Americans, a section on folk medicine, and a selective bibliography.

Categories: Exhibits, Resource Updates

Tags: black history month

“Every year we had registration, she would have a team of med students and doctors to give these kids physicals. [There] might be about 10 in the room, giving these kids physicals. She would ask for volunteers, but almost demand volunteers. They would be out there giving these kids free physicals, and that was done by her. And she kept a record on each kid, the whole thing. She kept and monitored that stuff, and tracked it all the way through the season, [making sure] that everything got better, even though they didn’t have real, real high blood pressure. But all that stuff got better as the season went along, and she kept a record of this. And then, if the kids had any kind of illness, or asthma, anything, she knew about it. [If] they needed medication, she would have medication.”   …

Tags: black history month

The Medical Center Library & Archives offers just-in-time tips, training, and videos on how to use and search databases. These databases serve as portals to locate journal articles as well as clinically relevant topics on diseases and conditions. If you are in need of some guidance or want to ensure that you are following best search practices, we welcome you to explore this guide. Several database tips pages include helpful videos, including PubMed, CINAHL, Embase,…

Categories: Databases

Who is working at the desk this semester?? 

If you visit the library, you are likely to be greeted by one of our amazing student assistants. Each semester, we hire Duke students to work at our service desk, and we are so grateful for their hard work! 

Meet Millie, one of our incredible student assistants who has been working at the Med Library since May 2023.

Tell us about your academic and extracurricular life at Duke: 

I am currently a senior at Duke University, where I am pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry, with the goal of building a career in the medical field. Beyond academics, I stay actively involved on campus as a Resident Assistant in my dorm, a member of Duke EMS, and…

Mark your calendars for the next Trent History of Medicine Event, a symposium celebrating Remarkable Stories of American Black Surgeons in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. 

When: Thursday, February 13, 2025 
Where: Rubenstein Library Room 153, Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room, Duke University West Campus 
Time: 5:00 P.M. 

Speakers include: 

• Jill L. Newmark, "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: Black Civil War Surgeons" 
• Margaret Humphreys, “Searching for Dr. Harris” 
• Todd L. Savitt, “Entering a ‘White’ Profession: African American Physicians in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries” 

Jill L. Newmark is an independent historian…

Categories: Events