The Opioid Industry Documents Archive (OIDA) is hosting a national symposium, Monday, May 13 through Thursday, May 16, noon-2:30 PM (ET) / 9:00 AM-11:30 AM (PT). This unique symposium offers a series of complementary panels that will demonstrate OIDA’s value in addressing fundamental questions of importance to health policy experts, archivists and historians.   

Of greatest interest to this group will be Day 2's Information Science program, but the other days also have excellent speakers who will show the power of archives in affecting policy and understanding history. Registration is required.

Dates: Monday, May 13 through Thursday, May 16 – each day noon to 2:30 PM ET 

Day 1: Health Policy and Law (Monday, May 13) 
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General’s Office
Aaron Kesselheim, Harvard University
Regina LaBelle, Georgetown University 

 This group of experts will explore how laws and policies are being developed to prevent further harms from the opioid crisis, and the critical role of document disclosure as a means to improve public health.  

Day 2: Information Science (Tuesday, May 14)
Laurie Allen, Library of Congress
Rob Sanderson, Yale University
Ben Lee, University of Washington 

In the digital age, organizational records are being produced on a scale that dwarfs physical archives and even digital archives based only on electronic documents. Speakers will talk about the challenges and opportunities of managing and providing access to massive digital collections like OIDA. 

Day 3: History and Science of Medicine (Thursday, May 16) 
David Courtwright, University of North Florida
Antoine Lentacker, University of California, Riverside
Liz Chiarello, Saint Louis University 

This interdisciplinary panel will discuss the ways in which OIDA collections are an important gateway into telling new stories and developing new analyses about one of the most impactful drug epidemics in U.S. history.   

For more details on speakers and how to register, please visit https://oida-resources.jhu.edu/oida-national-symposium-2024/.