Browsing by Author "Randall, Katherine"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    From postcard to book cover: illustrating connections between medical history and digital humanities
    Ewing, E. Thomas; Randall, Katherine; Reznick, Jeffrey S. (2019-10)
    This article illustrates the value and impact of collaboration among scholars, archivists, and librarians working across universities and government institutions, and how changes in medium-from a born-physical photograph and printed postcard to a digital reproduction to a simultaneously born-digital and printed book- create new possibilities for scholarly analysis, interpretation, and dissemination, which in turn suggest future directions for research and engagement across fields of inquiry. In doing so, this article argues that history matters by illuminating past networks that, through humanistic inquiry, continue to connect people, ideas, and institutions in the present and into the future.
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    How did we get here: what are droplets and aerosols and how far do they go? A historical perspective on the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases
    Randall, Katherine; Ewing, E. Thomas; Marr, Linsey C.; Jiminez, J. L.; Bourouiba, Lydia (Royal Society, 2021-10-12)
    The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed major gaps in our understanding of the transmission of viruses through the air. These gaps slowed recognition of airborne transmission of the disease, contributed to muddled public health policies and impeded clear messaging on how best to slow transmission of COVID-19. In particular, current recommendations have been based on four tenets: (i) respiratory disease transmission routes can be viewed mostly in a binary manner of ‘droplets’ versus ‘aerosols’; (ii) this dichotomy depends on droplet size alone; (iii) the cut-off size between these routes of transmission is 5 µm; and (iv) there is a dichotomy in the distance at which transmission by each route is relevant. Yet, a relationship between these assertions is not supported by current scientific knowledge. Here, we revisit the historical foundation of these notions, and how they became entangled from the 1800s to today, with a complex interplay among various fields of science and medicine. This journey into the past highlights potential solutions for better collaboration and integration of scientific results into practice for building a more resilient society with more sound, far-sighted and effective public health policies.
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    Inez Holmes, Nurse and Veteran
    Wilkerson, Kiana; Randall, Katherine; Ewing, E. Thomas (National Library of Medicine, 2021-11-11)
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    Resisting the Trauma Story: Ethical Concerns in the Oral History Archive
    Randall, Katherine; Powell, Katrina M.; Shadle, Brett M. (Living Refugee Archive, University of East London, 2020)
    This short article presents an oral history project undertaken with refugees resettled in Southwest Virginia. From this project has emerged an understanding of refugees as curators of a personal archive of stories. A birth-to-present oral history approach can resist the reductive trauma narratives refugees are often expected to tell, yet oral historians and archivists must also be aware of the story told by the archive framework itself. The authors explore the ethical challenges of amplifying oral histories from refugees in a way that inspires action without centering the trauma story, and leave readers with questions for reflection.
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    Viral Networks: Connecting Digital Humanities and Medical History
    (VT Publishing, 2018-12-11)
    This volume of original essays explores the power of network thinking and analysis for humanities research. Contributing authors are all scholars whose research focuses on a medical history topic—from the Black Death in fourteenth-century Provence to psychiatric hospitals in twentieth-century Alabama. The chapters take readers through a variety of situations in which scholars must determine if network analysis is right for their research; and, if the answer is yes, what the possibilities are for implementation. Along the way, readers will find practical tips on identifying an appropriate network to analyze, finding the best way to apply network analysis, and choosing the right tools for data visualization. All the chapters in this volume grew out of the 2018 Viral Networks workshop, hosted by the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine (NIH), funded by the Office of Digital Humanities of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and organized by Virginia Tech.