Introducing the new Media Reviews section...

We are pleased to introduce the media review section of Medical History. As new technologies and a growing desire to engage with global audiences have led many historians to change and adapt their scholarship in a variety of novel ways, we believe that it is of great value to look critically at, and to engage with, the wide variety of media that illuminate the history of medicine. The internet, of course, has created innumerable innovative opportunities for sharing information. Electronic archives and databases make original documents vastly more available to scholars and students. Online distribution also ensures that films and documentaries are more easily accessible. However, the sheer volume of material that the internet has brought within our reach has made it all the more difficult to identify valuable resources amidst the dross. Moreover, there are reasons for concern that even the valuable resources being brought to light are not being represented in ways that are wholly adequate to their original material context. At the same time, traditional forms of public outreach, such as displays and exhibits, too frequently serve only a local audience. Long distances and short exhibition runs prevent many who would be interested from viewing these efforts first-hand. As a result, the spotlight they bring to rare documents and artefacts as well as to innovative techniques for contextualising historical objects often shines unnoticed by the broader profession. It is our aim to provide within these pages a remedy for both of these issues, helping the journal’s readers to evaluate the virtual materials that may be most useful to their research and teaching, and to learn more of those physical presentations that may have the most potential to inspire new efforts. At the same time, we seek to provide comment from experts familiar with the resources we review that commend scholarly effort, rigour and professional sophistication while also constructively expressing the limitations presented by such works. We encourage submissions and inquiries from institutions, film and documentary directors, curators and creators of media of all types.