New donations for Cardiff’s Cochrane Archive
12 December 2011
Dr Thomas (left) and Mr Sweetnam with Rosemary Soper, displaying some of their donations.
Cardiff's Cochrane Archive, a comprehensive record of the life, work and achievements of Archie Cochrane, a British medical researcher who contributed greatly to the development of the science of epidemiology, has received new donations of material.
The Archive, which is housed in the Archie Cochrane Library at University Hospital Llandough, welcomed visitors Dr Hugh Thomas and Mr Peter Sweetnam who both donated new materials to the archive.
Dr Thomas, who originally established the Cochrane Archive at Llandough with a grant from the Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust and is now a Clinical Teaching Fellow at St George's University of London, passed 14 books that he was given by Archie Cochrane to the Archive. These include a signed copy of Julian Tudor Hart's textbook on Hypertension, a signed copy of Charles Fletcher's book on Communication in Medicine, an original copy of the Black Report on Inequalities in Health and other influential texts.
Mr Sweetnam, Senior Statistician at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit for over 30 years until his retirement, donated a framed photograph of Archie Cochrane that had been in the original Medical Research Council Unit.
Both visitors were impressed to see the new library in the Education Centre at Llandough Hospital and the improved archive storage facilities. They were also pleased to learn about the new Cochrane Building at Heath Park, which brings together Healthcare learning and teaching resources in a new building at University Hospital of Wales.
Librarian Rosemary Soper said: "We are delighted with these donations to the Archive, particularly with the books signed by Archie Cochrane himself. We are very grateful to Dr Thomas and Mr Sweetnam for their generosity. The development and growth of the Archive really does depend on donations such as these from individuals who knew and worked with Archie Cochrane."
The Archive is open to researchers by appointment by emailing cochraneliby@cardiff.ac.uk.