Interactive Exhibits and Annual Lecture by the Librarian of Congress at the Yale School of Medicine

A 3p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the interactive “Medical Inventions and Innovations” exhibit is the first in a series of events on Wednesday, April 16 that coincide with the 60th annual lecture sponsored by the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Associates.

James H. Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, will present the keynote address at 4 p.m. in Harkness Auditorium, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St. Billington’s lecture “Freedom as Strategy: the Importance of an Ideal” will be followed by a reception in the Medical Historical Library. The lecture, which honors the late Evelyn E. Gordon, is free and open to the public.

Interactive stations will display Dr. Billington’s personal tour of the nation’s Library of Congress and a special 3D video compilation of animations depicting groundbreaking medical teaching aids will also be on display.

Martin E. Gordon, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Associates, is curator of the Medical Innovations exhibit. A film produced by Gordon will be incorporated into the exhibit and highlights many medical innovations and inventions, some of which are still in use today. Film clips will demonstrate the use of the Da Vinci robotic surgical instrument—similar to one used at Yale-New Haven Hospital — that allows surgeons to manipulate robotic instruments at a distance from the patient.

A concurrent exhibit “Preservation in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library” will be on display in the rotunda of the library from March 24 to June 15.

An author and historian, as well as educator, Dr. Billington began his career as a history instructor at Harvard University and subsequently at Princeton University.  He served as the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. from 1973 to 1987.  He was sworn in as Librarian of Congress on September 14, 1987.

Dr. Billington is the author of the “Icon and the Axe” (1966), “Fire in the Minds of Men” (1980), and most recently “Russia Transformed: Breakthrough to Hope” (1992). He has received numerous honorary degrees, is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France and a recipient of the Gwanghwa Medal of the Republic of Korea. In 1992, he received Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Award.

Established in 1948, the Medical Library Associates assist the Yale Medical Library in its mission of serving the information needs of Yale faculty, students and staff. The Associates have funded many projects including the digitization of the entire Fry Print Collection and the creation of a digital imaging center.

For more information on the lecture and the exhibits, please contact Geoffrey Little, 203-432-8061 or visit www.library.yale.edu.