The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM) has embarked on a project that will bring its collection of rare books, multimedia materials and artefacts to people around the world. The collection of information regarding the history of anaesthesia is stated to reside at the WLM in Park Ridge, Illinois, and its digitisation project is bringing its anaesthesia library and museum online at http://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org.
The WLM website has been redesigned to make it easier for those interested in anaesthesia history to find texts or artefacts of interest. The two-stage website project entails upgrading technology that will allow the digitised artefacts to be easily viewed as well as improving the availability of the rare books, the living history series and other important historical items from its vast collections, and building on that technology to bring the collections to life. The goal has been to provide a virtual museum and library that the world will be able to view and enjoy for years to come.
Those who are unable to visit the WLM are now able to view the various rare books, apparatus and videos through the virtual museum. Archival collections will also be included in the Artifact Digitization Project, thus allowing pieces that are not on display in the gallery to be viewed online. WLM has already captured digital images of over 100 of the rare items from its collection, with both 3-D virtual pictures and 2-D images.
The WLM is also in the process of digitising its collection of rare books and papers. Of its 2,000 plus books and papers, 250 have already been digitised with “turn-the-page” capability so online visitors can read the pages with ease. The WLM is concentrating its efforts on scanning rare books that are not already available in electronic format.
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