Serving by the Code

One of my absolute favourite items that I have worked with in the Medical History of British India project is Code of medical and sanitary regulations for the guidance of medical officers serving in the Madras Presidency. This two volume work, published in 1870, gives copious detail about the career and duties of medical officers. There are details of pay and leave, travelling on duty, sanitary regulations, medical stores, hospital supplies, transport of troops and dress regulations. Click on the image to view a soldier's medical history form.
If your ancestor was a medical officer in Madras around this time then these books give a full picture of their working conditions. To those interested in colonial medicine the appendices give examples of forms used by the Government to collect information and aid administration.

Still Sexy and Powerful?

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's report on women and society, "Sex and Power", makes fairly depressing reading. It reveals that the advancement of women has slowed considerably in the last few years. In fact, one of the most startling facts is that "A snail could crawl the entire length of the Great Wall of China in 212 years, just slightly longer than the 200 years it will take for women to be equally represented in Parliament."
What's stopping us? Greater recognition of the importance of flexible working (enforced by legislation) may not yet have had a chance to kick in, but there are wider issues. Maybe we just don't want to "have it all" anymore, after all it's hard work being a career woman, mum, lover, housemaid, cook, cleaner, chauffeur...

Brave New (Digital) World…

The move in publishing to digital from more traditional print methods is reflected in OPU’s growing number of electronic and other non-print resources.

These include:

• Bird sounds of Madagascar, an audio guide to the island's unique birds
  
• Interactive historical resources such as The Act of Union, 1707 and Looking for Vikings
  
• Videos about adult literacies like That first step …
  
• CDs and DVDs produced to accompany National Qualifications exam papers (for example Urdu Standard Grade: credit listening and Music Advanced Higher )
  
• Official Driving Standards Agency complete theory test and complete learner resource packs for learner drivers