Dental Medicine Collection
The Dentistry collection is housed in the School of Dental Medicine's Leon Levy Library. The collection consists of 55,000 volumes and 755 currently-received serials. It covers all aspects of dental medicine, together with related material from the biological, chemical, and physical sciences. The collection is especially strong in historical materials, and in areas of current interest such as AIDS research and plastic & reconstructive surgery. Other areas of emphasis include cellular biochemistry, bones & mineral research, tissue reactions, human genetics, pain, chemotherapy, and wound healing.
Overview
Collection Description
Penn Libraries makes available databases such as MEDLINE, BIOSIS Previews, ISI Citation Indexes, AgeLine, PsychINFO, CancerLit, and the Evidence-based Medicine Reviews Multifile. These databases greatly enhance Penn Dental Medicine's ability to access current biomedical information.
Several early deans and faculty members of the School of Dental Medicine founded the Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library through the donation of their historic personal collections. Dean Charles J. Essig, Dr. Edwin T. Darby, and Dean Edward C. Kirk contributed invaluable collections of books from the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1902, the Special Library Fund had already been created, and the purchasing & donation of dental books and journals has continued to the present day.
The historical collection covers the history of dental medicine in the United States and Western Europe. It includes most of the rare early books on dentistry; a collection of S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company catalogs; and publications by and about Thomas W. Evans, an early Penn Dental School benefactor. Some of the rarest dental books and manuscripts are now housed in the Special Collections Department of the University's Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center.
