With a Little Help from My Friends: Engaging Diverse Stakeholders to Create an Archival Nursing Exhibit

Abstract

Presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association. OBJECTIVE: Librarians and archivists at a large public research university created a nursing history exhibit documenting their nursing program through all its iterations dating back to its founding in 1890. Exhibit stakeholders collaborated to create this exhibit, which was delayed but not abandoned due to the pandemic.

METHODS: An initial meeting was held among library staff that discussed the involvement of future external stakeholders, including nursing faculty and staff, a public library, and a county archive. After this, the involved collaborators identified archival materials for reproduction and inclusion in the exhibit, sorted them by priority, and then digitized them for display in the exhibit. In addition to archival materials, historical medical and nursing-related artifacts were loaned for inclusion in the exhibit. After all materials for display were selected and secured, the stakeholders planned the physical layout of the exhibit, which included sizing images and creating captions and context panels.

RESULTS: A key result has been enhanced knowledge of the collective history of nursing practice within the community. The creation of the exhibit was a significant time investment, including over 65 hours in meetings alone. Public reaction to the completed exhibit is pending.

CONCLUSIONS: Among the conclusions discovered during the creation of this exhibit are the value of considering what resources are available, building in extra time while planning, involving all stakeholders early in the process, and emphasizing the importance of a backup plan.