Kate Tasker
UCSF Industry Documents Library Managing Archivist
University of California, San Francisco
Anne Seymour
Director, Johns Hopkins University Welch Medical Library
Johns Hopkins University
The U.S. opioid epidemic is a public health catastrophe that has resulted in the deaths of more than 450,000 people since 1999. Ongoing lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and related companies are releasing millions of documents containing evidence of the profit-driven actions which contributed to this crisis. Colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU), including librarians, digital archivists, technologists, scientists, historians, and community members, are building the Opioid Industry Documents Archive to preserve and provide public access to these documents. This digital archive will promote accountability and transparency about the causes of the opioid epidemic and can be used to take action to protect public health. In addition to its value for public health research, the archive also provides a rich dataset for historical studies, digital health humanities, and computational analysis. This project briefing will describe the goals of the Opioid Industry Documents Archive and its potential impact, invite community collaboration, and engage participants in a discussion of digital preservation, metadata, privacy, and sustainability.
https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/drug/collections/opioids/