$30K grant expands historic collection online
Posted: January 27, 2010KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Still National Osteopathic Museum and the A.T. Still Memorial Library received its second Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant in two years. The $30,577 grant will primarily be used to provide digitalized historic materials online that follow the growth of the founding institution of osteopathic medicine and additional papers of Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O., the founder of osteopathy.
These handwritten papers document the early development of the osteopathic medical profession in rural northeast Missouri. Dr. Still (1828-1917) founded the American School of Osteopathy in 1892 in Kirksville (now A.T. Still University, a health sciences university comprised of five schools), significantly advancing healthcare beyond the standard American medical practice of his day. The digitalization project expands access to this historic collection by significantly increasing the services provided to academic scholars, physicians, researchers, students, the public, and libraries throughout Missouri and the far reaches of the Internet.
In January 2009, the museum and library received its first $38,761 LSTA grant to begin the transcription and digitalization process of Dr. Still’s personal and professional writings, many of which were unpublished at the time. According to Debra Loguda-Summers, museum curator and project director, more than 700 pages of Dr. Still’s documents were made available online at the Missouri Digital Heritage website, sponsored by Missouri State Archives and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.
The museum’s most recent grant begins February 1. “The next stage of our work on this grant will cover the early growth and administration of the founding school in Kirksville,” said Museum Director Jason Haxton. “We will use the earliest board minutes, legal documents, and letters surrounding our university’s growth from a two-room school house into a national academic institution.”
This phase of the project is expected to take a year to complete and is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
The Still National Osteopathic Museum collects, preserves, and makes available artifacts and related materials to communicate the history and philosophy of osteopathic medicine to a global audience. The museum is headquartered on A.T. Still University’s Missouri Campus in Kirksville and is the only museum dedicated to the national history of osteopathic medicine.
The A.T. Still Memorial Library includes more than 80,000 volumes and more than 4,500 audiovisual items supporting education in the clinical and basic sciences at A.T. Still University. The library also serves the general public.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.