The Center for the History of Medicine responds to requests for information ("reference requests") via mail, email, and telephone:

  • Mail questions to: 
    Manager, Research & Instruction, Special Collections and Archives
    Center for the History of Medicine, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine 
    10 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115 
  • Email the Center
  • Call us at 617-432-2170 

According to the Reference and User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association), reference transactions are "information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs." Research and Instruction staff are unable to conduct research on behalf of patrons.

Reference services are available to everyone: 

  • Faculty, students, and staff of Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Faculty, students, and staff of Harvard College and all Harvard University schools
  • Harvard's affiliated hospitals and the Longwood Area community
  • The general public

Depending on the volume of inquiries received, it may take between three and five business days for staff to respond to questions.