All library catalog entries with the location "Rare Book Rooms" are located on the 8th floor. 

South Rare Book Room

The south rare book room is the rare book reading room.  It contains printed works from the late 15th century through the 18th century, as well as the first half of the Orr Collection (see below).

North Rare Book Room

The north rare book room is a closed stacks area, which contains primarily 19th century books, as well as the second half of the Orr Collection (see below).

Orr Collection

This is the private collection of H. Winnett Orr, M.D., which was given to the library on permanent loan from the American College of Surgeons in 1977. The collection consists primarily of surgery, military medicine, and wound and injury materials, most of which were published prior to 1900. The collection spans to 1956, the year of Dr. Orr’s death, including 468 items Dr. Orr considered classics. All items in the collection are arranged according to the

Catalogue of the H. Winnett Orr Historical Collection.  These items are searchable in the library catalog, with call numbers such as “ORR COLL no. 1” (through no. 2289).  

The following are all located in room 8000 (northeast corner of the 8th floor).  Staff assistance is necessary to access all of these materials:

History of Medicine

The History of Medicine area contains items which are old and historically valuable, but are not necessarily considered rare, including books from the early to mid 20th century. 

History of Medicine Journals

Includes serials such as the Bulletin of the History of Medicine and the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.

Early American Medical Imprints (1668-1820)

These materials are on microfilm, with all items searchable in the library catalog with a call number such as M209. There is also a printed subject catalog accompanying the microfilm set.

Preservation

This area contains serial materials which are too old and/or fragile for shelving with the journals on the 6th and 7th floors of the library.  These volumes appear in the library catalog with the location “preservation.”

The following are all located in room 8000 (northeast corner of the 8th floor).  Staff assistance is necessary to access all of these materials:

UNMC Archives:

Commencement Programs

Every year of UNMC commencement program booklets.

M.S. theses, Ph.D. dissertations, M.D. senior theses, Nursing research papers/theses

Arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by author within the graduation year (includes M.D. senior theses, from 1931-1969).  These are searchable by author's name in the library catalog.

Campus yearbooks

Including the University of Nebraska Cornhusker yearbook, 1907-1968 (not complete—sections on the College of Medicine and School of Nursing), and two years (1929-1930) of the College of Medicine yearbook Caduceus.   

Serial Type Materials

Various office, departmental, divisional, college, and alumni newsletters (not complete).

Department Annual Reports

Various departmental and college annual reports (not complete). 

University of Nebraska Board of Regents' minutes

From 1869 to 1986 on microfilm, also paper copies of minutes from 1973 to the present.

Campus/institutional photographs

Various historical photographs of buildings, campus activities, individuals, etc.

History of Medicine in Nebraska Archives:

Individual and/or family collections

Papers, manuscripts, correspondence, vitae, scholarly article reprints, photographs, and other archival material from UNMC alumni, faculty, administrators, and various Nebraska health professionals and medical families in the state.

Organizational archives

Papers, manuscripts, reports, correspondence, newspaper article clippings on various health and medical related organizations in Nebraska, including the Nebraska State Medical Association, and others.

Nebraska Collection

Includes books and journals specifically related to the history of the health professions in Nebraska, including the complete 80-year run of the Nebraska State Medical Journal, 1916-1996.