Mapping of the Collections of History of Medicinein Estonian MuseumsLeili Kriis, Sirje SisaskUniversity of Tartu MuseumThe work plan of the University of Tartu Museum for the followingyears includes creating a new exposition for the university’s Old AnatomicalTheatre. This made us wonder, what kinds of collections ofhistory of medicine are there in other Estonian museums. A greatopportunity to obtain information opened up with the Ministry ofCulture’s support programme for developing museums that we participatedin with our project “Mapping of the Collections of History ofMedicine in Estonian Museums” from 17 April to 31 December 2013.To obtain data, we designed a questionnaire for the chief treasurersof the museums. Based on the answers we received, the followingoverview was compiled.At the time we conducted the survey, more than half of the materialsof history of medicine in the museum collections had beenentered also into the Estonian Museum Information System MuIS.Keywords related to the topic of medicine have been used. Most ofthe corresponding materials in Estonian museums are connected topharmacies (material objects as well as photographs and archive materials),and furnishings of dental practices (Pärnu Museum, VõruCounty Museum, etc.). Regional museums also contain objects of veterinarymedicine. There are rare items of history of medicine suchas an inoculation knife, cupping lancets, bloodletting devices, a bonesaw, an irritation instrument, healing stones, a homoeopathic pharmacy,and many more. The most noteworthy archive materials areprobably the inoculation materials, mud treatment materials (materialsand manuscripts of Dr Hunnius from Haapsalu, mud treatmenthistory of Saaremaa), and manuscripts by medics (historical overviews).Topics like doping (the Estonian Sports Museum), designingmedical institutions (hospitals, sanatoriums, etc.) (Museum of EstonianArchitecture, Museum of Viljandi), diseases and stress, and howthese are reflected in a person’s creative work (Estonian Theatre andMusic Museum) have also been documented. Most valuable are thestories found in the collections of county museums that tell of medicalinstitutions (hospitals, pharmacies, sanatoriums, leprosariums, etc.)that have operated or are operating in the region and reflect the specificcharacter of the region, as well as the materials of well-known localmedics. Also materials related to alternative and folk medicine. Allthis enriches the general picture of the Estonian history of medicine.Our working group reached the conclusion that the contents ofthe MuIS dictionary should be structured in a better manner andsupplemented with topics that are reflected in specific museum collections(alternative medicine, nutrition, environment, etc.). Imagesof museum objects are also important data carriers in the database.Rare historical documents deserve to be digitised as soon as possiblesince they tend to become fragile with time. Regional museumsshould also find room for materials related to the history and doctorsof local medical institutions
