Biographical Works

This category includes biographies, autobiographies, personal narratives, memoirs, and published oral history transcripts.

Biographical works generally are written for a broad audience and are important chronicles of the course of biomedicine. Firsthand accounts, such as autobiographies and personal narratives, may be especially valuable as primary source materials.

NLM collects medical histories of famous persons and biographical works about individuals who have contributed significantly to biomedicine.

NLM selects other biographical works about prominent or lesser known individuals if they characterize the health care environment, practice or attitudes of a given time or place; influence public perceptions about health; document medical innovations; or contain significant biomedical information.

Personal narratives (such as an account of an illness written by a patient or family member) are very selectively collected for historical interest.