Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics

Abstract

Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics. Harvard University Library, Open Collections Program, Cambridge, Mass 2008. Web site design: Robert Levers/Levers Advertising and Design. Funding by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Arcadia, and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/ Open access to Harvard University's digital library is of incalculable value to historians in need of access to sources concerning diseases and epidemics. On the opening page of Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics, the authors propose that the Web site . . contributes to the understanding of the global, social-history, and public-policy implications of diseases and offers important historical perspectives on the science and the public policy of epidemiology, today.1 This ambitious goal is reached on this extensive Web site, which provides a timeline, discussion of disease entities, and historical summaries of some of the major events surrounding contagious diseases that traveled around the world. The disease synopses cover a multitude of ailments that have long plagued humans including cholera, plague, smallpox, syphilis, Spanish influenza, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and tropical diseases. Eight health and science leaders and their work are also presented with links to their digitalized materials. The time frame of the Web site spans 500 years with welldocumented narrative and direct links to online sources located at Harvard University Library. A quick click on the red-lettered titles in the reference list under each summary directly opens a separate window with the complete referenced work. Additional outside sources, though footnoted in the summaries, are unfortunately not linked to a direct Web site. The Web site supplies summations of general topics and concepts connected to the public health domain providing context for the disease development and policy responses. Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics presents an array of information on designated topics and provides digitized copies of books, journals, and other documents offered in English, Spanish, French, German, and Chinese. The volumes and documents included on the Web site date from the late fifteenth century to more recent twentieth-century materials. A search of several of the catalog titles showed a variety of works related to the diseases and epidemics featured, allowing a researcher to read about the pathophysiology of the disease as well as the social, economic, and political influences surrounding the malady. This Web site provides sources to build understanding of the context surrounding epidemic diseases and the philosophy behind attempts to control illnesses that destroyed large segments of populations. …