Guide to the Rhode Island Department of Health Library records , 1850-2006

Rhode Island State Archives
Rhode Island State Archives
337 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-222-2353
Fax: 401-222-3199
email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Rhode Island Department of Health Library records
Date range:	1850-2006
Creator:	Rhode Island. Dept. of Health
Extent:	51.6 cubic feet (42 boxes) other
Abstract:	The Rhode Island Department of Health Library records consist primarily of annual reports and other reports of the Department of Health and its offices and divisions as well as the Providence Health Department.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Rhode Island State Archives
Collection number:	2006-27

Scope & content

The Rhode Island Department of Health Library records consist primarily of annual reports and other reports of the Department of Health and its offices and divisions as well as the Providence Health Department. The holdings also include publications of the various offices and divisions of the Department. Included are records of the Rhode Island Health Care Reform Commission. The collection also includes information on the history of the Health Department Library (See Box 9, f.11 and Boxes 40 and 41), the library’s history /vertical files (see Boxes 9-12), accession registers (1940-1991, Box 40), library statistics, annual reports, a policy manual and newsletters (Box 40). The collection also includes 4 photographs: RIDOH Free Chest X-Ray Bus, 1955 and 3 photographs of aerial views of the Rhode Island Department of Health Cannon building c. 1970.

Access Points

Subject Topics

• Rhode Island. Dept. of Health
• Rhode Island. Dept. of Public Health
• Rhode Island. Public Health Commission
• Rhode Island. State Board of Health
• Health services administration.
• Public health administration.
• Health Services--History.
• Health services management
• Health services--Organization and administration--United States.
• Health Services Research--United States.
• Health Services--Statistics.
• Health status indicators--Rhode Island--Statistics.
• Medical literature.

Subject Topics

• Health and Medicine
• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Document Types

• annual reports
• videocassettes
• news bulletins
• official reports
• scrapbooks
• newsletters
• publications
• technical reports
• vital statistics records
• monographs
• clippings (information artifacts)
• statistics
• manuals (instructional materials)

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Annual Reports and Special Reports
• Series 2. Library History
• Series 3. Publications
• Series 4. VHS Tapes

Historical note

The Health Library was organized in 1939 with funds that became available under the Social Security Act. Initially, it was located in rooms 364 and 143-A of the State Office Building located across the street from the State House. The library was subsequently moved to Room 407 in the new Health Department Building (Cannon Building) in August 1971. The library was primarily a reference and specialized library in public health and preventive medicine and served the staff of the Department of Health. The library also provided services to state government, health workers, students and the general public. In the 1970’s the library was named after Dr. Gertrude E. Sturges, a noted public health figure in Rhode Island. The library was closed in September 2006 with the intent to consolidate library services across other health services departments and to provide a virtual library in its place. Its holdings were dispersed to appropriate repositories, a portion of which was transferred to the State Archives Division of the Office of the Secretary of State. The Department of Health Library was the only public health library in the state of Rhode Island.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	No special restrictions unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials:	Copyright is in the public domain unless otherwise specified. We reserve the right to restrict reproduction of materials due to preservation concerns.
Preferred citation:	Rhode Island Department of Health Library records, 2006-27, Rhode Island State Archives.
Contact information:	Rhode Island State Archives Rhode Island State Archives 337 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903 Tel: 401-222-2353 Fax: 401-222-3199 email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Transferred from Deborah Porazzo, Librarian at the Department of Health Library in 2006.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Kate Telford.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Kate Telford 2009 April 09
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:

Providence Health Department photographs, 1857-1977. Collection number: 00294

Inventory

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