Public Health Commons^™

Research Methods And Primary Sources: Writing The History Of Your Public Health Laboratory, Kristin Watkins, Anthony R. Sambol, Peter C. Iwen

History of the College of Public Health: Papers and Posters

Objective: This study traced the history of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) since inception in April 1913 to the present time. The significance of knowing the laboratory’s history not only centered around legacy knowledge for the laboratory, but also provided important information on the history of how public health grew and was enforced in Nebraska, especially concerning reportable diseases and specimen collection. Study Design: The historical survey used mostly primary source documents including field notes from public health inspectors, disease reporting databases collected by the state health department and a variety of government documents pertaining to guidelines surrounding reportable …