Dear All,

The Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics and the Faculty of History and at Oxford University are engaged in a Wellcome Trust-funded project to digitize, and make available online, the microscope slide collections of historically important scientists – see below for further information. We have begun with Charles Sherrington and Wilfred Le Gros Clark, but have also included contributions from Angelo Ruffini, Gustav Fritsch and others. This is part of a wider history of medical sciences initiative that includes 3D photography, a seminar series and art/science outreach - see the temporary site at https://history.medsci.ox.ac.uk/

There is also funding available to scan in and host pilot collections (20 or so slides) from other institutions that hold historically important slides. I am writing to ask whether any list members are aware of any such collections that we could investigate for their scanning potential, or if anyone has any suggestions of those we might contact regarding slide collections? We would of course scan the slides for free, their home institution and source would be properly acknowledged, and the images of them could carry the home institution's branding.

Further information on CSlide:

Slides are scanned at 20x or 40x magnification and are viewable, through virtual microscopy, on any internet browser. Slides can easily be annotated and embedded in online learning materials and quizzes/assessments.

It is important to us that the slides can be understood in as full a scientific/historical context as possible. We will therefore be hosting them using an online system that will enable users to create and describe linkages between slides, as well as map their relation to historical documents, artifacts and figures.

You can see the slides in action on our temporary website here: https://history.medsci.ox.ac.uk/cslide/slides/view/collection/88?p=5 
 
And see here for a screenshot of how the site will look on completion: https://history.medsci.ox.ac.uk/cslide-v2/