News from SALIS

Seeing Addiction: A Personal Memoir, by Griffith Edwards, published recently by Ubiquity Press, presents reflections by one of the most influential figures in modern addiction science. Completed shortly before Edwards’ death in 2012 and edited by longtime collaborator Thomas F. Babor, the open-access book traces Edwards’ interdisciplinary career and his international work across clinical research, epidemiology, policy, publishing, history, and law. Organized in two parts, professional reflections and travelogues, the memoir also highlights the importance of historical awareness in addiction studies. Through thoughtful editorial work, Babor preserves Edwards’ voice and makes his vision accessible and meaningful for future generations of addiction scientists.

For librarians, especially those of us engaged in preserving addiction history, Seeing Addiction offers compelling evidence of why this kind of work matters. The book demonstrates how preservation, curation, historical awareness, and respect for authors’ intent can keep a field connected to its past.

For a more in depth review, see Seeing Addiction from the Rutgers University Libraries BOOKS WE READ.

This review has been written by SALIS member:
Judit H. Ward, PhD, MLIS
Science Reference and Instruction Librarian
Rutgers University Libraries

Research has shown that using stigmatizing language and imagery related to people who use drugs perpetuates harmful stereotypes and health barriers among this already vulnerable population. Finding realistic, high-quality images to support our information dissemination work is a constant struggle, as many asset collections, including fee-based stock photo sites, largely contain dehumanizing and/or factually incorrect graphics on this topic.

Join us on December 17, 2025 from 9-10am PT to hear from Meg Brunner, MLIS, and Erinn McGraw, BFA (both of the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute), who will share research about the impact of harmful images and language on stigma and related health barriers for people who use drugs and provide guidance on where to find and how to select accurate, non-stigmatizing information and images to use in your work.

They’ll also introduce you to their new resource, Empathy Lens, funded by a grant from the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), which features hundreds of free, accurate, compassionate, and non-stigmatizing images intended for health and service organizations to use in outreach and educational efforts!

Register for this session here!

A fireside chat with Dr. Denise Hien (Rutgers Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies) took place recently via Zoom and marked the first of the SALIS Speaker Series.

Our guest speaker, DR. DENISE HIEN, discussed contemporary issues related to substance use research and more.

Also, Dr. Judit H. Ward, (Rutgers University) gave a sneak peek into the new Alcohol Studies History Exhibit at Rutgers.

Denise Hien, Ph.D., ABPP, Senior Vice Provost for Research, Chancellor’s Office, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Helen E. Chaney Endowed Chair in Alcohol Studies and Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University is recognized as a leader in the field of post-traumatic stress and addictions.

Dr. Hien is a leading voice in the national dialogue on harnessing data science to advance equity in substance use treatment and policy, with a focus on how social determinants—especially trauma—contribute to the development and persistence of alcohol and other substance use disorders.

Her new book, Treating Traumatic Stress and Substance Misuse: A Guide to Integrative Practice, co-authored with Lisa Caren Litt, reviews the landscape of evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other trauma-related problems, and substance misuse, and presents an integrative, culturally responsive framework for assessment and treatment planning.

Dr. Hien received her B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University, and her M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her postdoctoral training in substance use research at the Division on Substance Use Disorders at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she has retained a longstanding appointment, now as Adjunct Senior Research Scientist. She is board-certified in clinical psychology and has served as a standing and ad hoc member on NIDA, NIAAA and NIMH Institutional Review Groups. She has held numerous leadership roles in academic and research administration.

More about Dr. Hien at https://alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu/people/leadership/denise-hien/

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) has entered a groundbreaking collaboration with the Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS) to create The Drug Policy Archive, a collection of 2,600 books, hosted as part of the larger SALIS Collection at Internet Archive.

The SALIS Collection is a comprehensive, free, online e-library of over 8,400 resources focused on alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and addiction topics. Anyone, including you, can access these resources free of charge! 

A Legacy of Knowledge 
The origins of this archive can be traced back to the personal passion for drug policy reform and education of Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance’s first executive director. DPA’s library began as Ethan’s private collection of books, many of which had his handwritten notes in the margins. Over time, the library grew to include not only Ethan’s contributions, but also donations and carefully curated acquisitions from around the world.

Initially housed in DPA’s office in New York City, the library became a hub for researchers, activists, and academics. By the mid-1990s, under the leadership of Leigh Hallingby, SALIS Librarian, the library had established itself as one of the best resources on drug policy and prohibition, housing a vast array of materials, including some of the most comprehensive information on methadone treatment available at the time. 

Why Digitization Matters 
Digitizing the library ensures that this treasure trove of knowledge remains accessible to a broader audience. Many of the resources within the archive include rare or out-of-print books and government reports that are notoriously difficult to find elsewhere. By preserving and sharing this collection online, the archive ensures that critical information on drug policy reform, harm reduction, and addiction studies is readily available to educators, researchers, advocates, and the general public. 

How to Access and Use the Archive 
Use this step-by-step pdf guide to learn how to access and navigate the archive. You’ll find instructions on searching the collection and downloading resources. We’re so excited for you to explore this one-of-a-kind resource and use it to advance your teaching, research, and advocacy. Whether you’re teaching students, conducting your own research, or looking for resources to inform your practice, this archive is here for you!

Some exciting news!  The SALIS COLLECTION has taken a BIG step forward:

• All 2,264 titles from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) library are now digitized, and available within the SALIS COLLECTION.
• This brings the total number of SALIS COLLECTION records to 8,426! 
• To browse just the DPA titles, click on collection………..3 at the left side of the screen (https://archive.org/details/salis), to bring up the collection and click on the DPA titles.

This important and unique collection of drug policy resources is a wonderful addition to the SALIS COLLECTION.

Our many sincere thanks to DPA Managing Director of Research and Academic Engagement Jules Netherland, and various Internet Archive staff.

Many specialist addiction libraries have been downsized or closed since the 2000’s; a trend that has been happening in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. However, some still exist and many belong to SALIS, a valuable network that continues to be strong and is coordinating building The SALIS Collection to preserve and make available core literature in the field.

The ALA has published: “Libraries and the Substance Abuse Crisis: Supporting Your Community” by Cindy Grove which highlights how Public Libraries have an increasing role as important community centers for people struggling with addiction and how librarians working in these libraries can often feel overwhelmed serving these patrons. Cindy Grove’s book shows librarians can assist people with substance use disorders, and their loved ones, in an effective and empathetic way. The book can be downloaded in PDF from the ALA’s website.

Below is a list of libraries and collections that still exist. May they continue to thrive!

• ADAI Clearing House at the University of Washington
• Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation Library
• Alcohol Research Group Library  California
• Belgium Vereniging voor Alcohol en andere Drug problemen (VAD)
• The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Library, Toronto
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA)
• Dublin’s HRB National Drugs Library 
• DrugScope’s old library– searchable online and you can visit with appointment
• French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
• Greater Manchester Mental Health Library and Knowledge Services (NHS)
• Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Addiction Research Library
• Rover – California’s Tobacco Control Library
• The Partnership to End Addiction
• The SALIS collection

Recently published: “The Modern History of Alcohol Research: Introducing the Rutgers Digital Alcohol Studies Archives” in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The article also mentions the alarmingly decreasing number of addiction libraries, citing the article written by SALIS members for Addiction in 2012.

The Rutgers Digital Alcohol Studies Archive can be searched and browsed. Formerly held by the Rutgers Center of Alcohol (CAS) Library and Archives, the collection is presented by RUcore, the Rutgers University Community Repository.

SALIS member Judit Ward’s blog with lots of background on the digitization process can be found HERE.

by Barbara Weiner, Past Chair, SALIS

Even with COVID closures the last year and a half – including Internet Archive digitization stations – the SALIS Collection continued to grow!  I had the opportunity to digitally copy many documents from the Hazelden Betty Ford online addictions library catalog, into our SALIS Collection—SALIS’ freely online, full-text, e-lendng library of alcohol and drug documents.  This comprehensive literature resource collects alcohol and drug topics into one location, and preserves them for education, research, and the public good.

As organizational budgets and U.S. federal print budgets declined in the last 20-30 years, technology for digital documents advanced.  The Hazelden Betty Ford Library maximized its collection by adding full-text non-copyrighted or permission-given documents to its catalog.  This month, I completed the 2½ year-long task of adding those PDF documents to the Internet Archive (IA) SALIS Collection.

Documents uploaded into the SALIS Collection include self-help brochures and fact sheets, as well as the important TIP and TAP Series, NIDA and NIAAA Research Monographs, various newsletters, and Reports of the Surgeon General.

Hazelden Library joined SALIS in the early 1980s.   SALIS thanks Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation – and its current Librarian and SALIS member Ann Geht – for continuing to make its ever growing library catalog freely available. This sharing of full-text PDFs is a good example of the partnership of SALIS with Hazelden, and just one example of the many partnerships SALIS maintains with organizations and individuals. 

The SALIS Collection is a free, digital collection of full-text alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) books and documents being created/built by SALIS in partnership with the Internet Archive through its Digitization Project. Currently there are over 5,000 books and reports in this online, e-lending library and it continues to grow. Recently added is a donation of the collection of the ADAI Library (Addictions, Drugs and Alcohol Institute, University of Washington) and coming soon, the Drug Policy Alliance has offered its entire library.

Updates: IA Lending Library
Take note of these updates affecting the IA Lending Library. The majority of The SALIS Collection is in the IA Lending Library as most books are still in copyright.

Loan Period. Registered borrowers can borrow books for one hour. If there are two copies, one can be borrowed for up to two weeks. There is no waitlist for one hour loans. Why? Trends showed that most borrowers only borrow books for a short period of time. This enables greater use of the collection.

Option to Buy. IA has partnered with Better World Books (BWB), a socially responsible bookstore that sells used and new books. For some books, when you click on a title for more information, you will see an option to purchase if BWB has copies available for sale.

Recent Books. IA only loans books published before 2015, except for users with print disabilities. This will change to 2016 in 2021. SALIS has not sent many books published this recently to the IA for digitization but be aware of this if you are searching for current books.

Did you know? The IA Lending Library is based on the concept of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL). There are challenges as CDL is relatively new territory for librarians, publishers and creators. SALIS is committed to ensuring that ATOD books published over the decades not be lost due to library closures and will continue to build the Collection. CDL, as offered by the IA, is the ideal solution for SALIS to preserve and make accessible the ATOD literature.