Wellcome Trust Walks The Walk On Open Access With Images Release

Paul St. John Mackintosh | TeleRead | January 23, 2014

Already a poster child for open access in the UK scientific and medical communities, the Wellcome Trust has made another public commitment to free access to information with its announcement that: “Over 100 000 images, including manuscripts, paintings, etchings, early photography and advertisements, are being made freely available through Wellcome Images.”

Given the source of the materials, of course, it’s not surprise that most of these images have some connection to medicine or the sciences – but often only the most tenuous connection. As the announcement says, “The unique and diverse holdings of the Wellcome Library, one of the world’s leading libraries on medical history and the human condition, offer a rich body of historical images, ranging from ancient medical manuscripts to etchings by artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Francisco Goya.” [...]