The Waring Historical Library
Digital Collections

The digital collections include artifacts, oral histories, photographs, rare materials, manuscripts, and print materials relating to the history of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the health sciences in the state of South Carolina, the Southeast, and the 18 and 19th century Atlantic World.

WHL Digital Archives is a partner of the South Carolina Digital Library (SCDL), which provides free online access to historical material, from over 40 South Carolina cultural heritage institutions, documenting the history and cultures of South Carolina, and adheres to digitization and metadata guidelines established by the consortium. The historical collections are also accessible through the online repository of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), which has a mission to expand the “crucial realm of openly available materials, and make those riches more easily discovered and more widely usable and used,” through scholarly discovery, transformative uses of digitized cultural heritage, and by being an advocate for a strong public opinion in the 21st century.

Waring Historical Library Digital Archives Program

The Waring Historical Library Digital Archives is responsible for digitizing the rare, historical, and archival materials within the holdings of the Waring and MUSC University Archives through digitization. The Digital Archives also provides online access to the institutional repository, which is comprised of the scholarship contributions of former and current MUSC faculty and students.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MEDICA?

The collections of MEDICA have consisted of the historical collections of the Waring Historical Library, including the MUSC University Archives, and the MUSC institutional repository, which is comprised of the contemporary scholarship output of MUSC. To enhance the usability of the institutional repository and to provide MUSC faculty, staff, and students with features to track statistics and downloads of their contributions, the collections of the institutional repository are moving over to MEDICA@MUSC, powered by Digital Commons. The look and feel of the historical collections of the Waring has been refreshed and remains powered by CONTENTdm.

MEDICA@MUSC

MEDICA@MUSC provides access to MUSC's growing body of scholarly work, which includes articles, posters, theses, and dissertations produced by faculty and students of MUSC. Not only does MUSC’s institutional repository help to promote open scholarly communication and preserve enduring access to MUSC's scholarly work, it improves the visibility of MUSC’s body of research to its local community and the broader academic enterprise through open access. New additions to MUSC's institutional repository can be found in MEDICA@MUSC, which is powered by Digital Commons while some of the existing content, currently moving over to MEDICA@MUSC, still lives in CONTENTdm. For more information about the institutional repository and contributing your work, please visit MEDICA@MUSC.

Statement of Harmful Content

The Waring Historical Library’s holdings may contain resources that could be offensive and/or harmful. Historical records can, and often do, contain content that illustrates a harmful, stereotyped, and/or offensive outlook, particularly when the collection focuses on often uncomfortable topics related to medical care, medical educational practices, and medical experimentation. While the Library does not condone any harmful and offensive content that may be found in our collections, we have a strong belief in and commitment to furthering and expanding knowledge about the history of health sciences in South Carolina.

Part of this commitment includes stewarding our resources in a way that will be as respectful to our community, especially those who have experienced acts of violence, hate, and aggression. We respect those who were depicted then and who are affected now by these hurtful and harmful representations. For without proper acknowledgement and discourse, the harmful imagery and language used can be problematic in overcoming systemic racism, prejudice, and oppression even as it appears in archival institutions and collections. We, therefore, affirm our belief in and commitment to providing a comprehensive view of our community and history, and in facilitating access to resources in our holdings as equally, equitably, and respectfully as possible.

In preserving historical documentation and ensuring access, we support the research fundamental to furthering important national conversations about history and historical interpretation, social justice, and equity.

Doing so means that there is ready access to materials that you might find disturbing to view and read.

Contact

If you have questions about the collections or encounter issues with the website, contact the Waring's Digital Archivist, Tabitha Y. Samuel or email medica@musc.edu.