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Countway Library windows and skylights viewed from inside the building

Week 9: Fighting Back on Misinformation

May 10, 2020

As we enter week 9 of working from home, the topic of misinformation and the role libraries play in fighting back is on my mind...

close-up of the text Countway Library engraved on the outside of the building

Week 8: Walking the Appalachian Trail (Virtually)

May 3, 2020

A small group of us started a team to walk the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Connecticut (virtually). We record and track our miles/steps we walked, ran, or biked each day. By the end of the first week, our team was hovering in 24th place out of 89 teams. Not too shabby!

the main stairwell inside Countway Library

Week 7: The Hammer and the Dance

April 26, 2020

In his March 19th online post, Thomas Pueyo coined the response to the coronavirus as hammer and a dance (see “Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance”). We are in the middle of the hammer phase and planning for the slow dance phase at HMS Countway.

Countway Library entrance with greenery.

Week 6: The Great Pause

April 19, 2020

You might have seen Billy Baker’s article in the March 13, 2020 Boston Globe where he describes the quiet of Boston. The “worst rush hour traffic in America” became nothing. The author called this the “Great Pause.” Our entire campus is at a standstill.

Countway Library building below a cloudy sky

Week 5: The Long Goodbye

April 12, 2020

We can be sure of the following based on last Friday’s HMS Town Hall meeting...

Countway Library entrance photographed from above

Week 4: Staff Rising To The Challenge

April 5, 2020

The library staff are working remotely. We are caught in the middle of this thing. We are in the in-between. Normal isn’t normal anymore, whether we are on the front lines or waiting in our houses for the virus to peak and then flatten the curve. 

Countway Library building photographed from outside

Week 3: Thank You, Staff

March 29, 2020

I am writing to my staff today to provide a message of thanks in a period of unprecedented uncertainty and trepidation. The coronavirus is profoundly impacting all of our lives, changing how we live, work, and interact with each other.

A long metal medical instrument invented by Dr. J. W. Farlow for removing tonsils in the early 20th century

The BackBlog: J. W. Farlow’s Tools for Tonsillectomy

April 16, 2020

As I sorted through boxes of ear, nose, and throat instruments, I was excited to discover a clear collection forming. There were numerous instruments that had been carefully tagged with a description of the instrument and the name “Dr. J. W. Farlow."

Doctors at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts wearing personal protective equipment

How One Hospital Handled the 1918 Influenza Epidemic

April 16, 2020

In 1918, no hospital was spared the responsibility of caring for those afflicted by the worldwide influenza epidemic...

Ornate stemless silver cup with engravings reading: Oliver Wendell Holmes; The pledge of friendship may flow

Oliver Wendell Holmes’ Friendship Cup

April 13, 2020

On August 29, 1889, former dean of Harvard Medical School Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) turned 80 years old...

Floor plan of Webster’s laboratory

Nathan Cooley Keep and the Parkman-Webster Murder Trial

March 31, 2020

In 1846, Nathan Cooley Keep, a dentist, fashioned a set of false teeth for his patient George Parkman...

a Donders’ test for color blindness

The BackBlog: Cards of Wool and Color Perception

March 24, 2020

While we were trying to figure out what our sorting process was going to be like, we found numerous yarn–covered cards. This looked more like a crafting set than a medical device.

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