Smithsonian Institution Archives Annual Report for FY2001

Ellen Alers attended the DC Caucus of MARAC, December 6, 2000; the SIA Finding Aids, “Tools” meeting, January 9, 2001; Preservation Handling Workshop, January 27, 2001; Audio-Visual Workshop with Smithsonian Productions and Preservation Team staff, August 1, 2001; Process Improvement Steering Committee Meeting, September 6, 2001; Managing Digital Video Content (Atlanta, GA), August 15-16, 2001; the Society of American Archivists conference (Washington, DC), August 29-30, 2001; and in September started graduate study at John Hopkins University towards a master’s degree.

Alan L. Bain attended the Tribal Archives conference sponsored by the American Association for State and Local History, NMAI, Cultural Resources Center (Suitland, MD), March 16-17, 2001; was a faculty and planning committee member of the Museum and Library Archives Institute (Wilbraham, MA), June 22-23; attended the Society of American Archivists meeting (Washington, DC), August 30-31, and coordinated a tour of the NMAI, Cultural Resources Center for SAA attendees, August 28, 2001.

Catherine A. Christen, SIA Research Associate, presented a paper, “Conservation, Protectionism and Sustainability in a Costa Rican National Park,”Symposium on Twenty-first Century Public Policy in the Americas, WWICS and LC, February 22-23, 2001; she was co-organizer, chair, and session commentator, “Communities and Conservation: Exploring Potential and Pitfalls of Participatory Approaches” panel presentation session at Latin American Studies Association International Congress (Washington, DC), September 6-8. She served on the Editorial Board of The Public Historian, National Council on Public History; Endowment Committee, National Council on Public History; and Nominating Committee, American Society for Environmental History. Other professional activities included participation in the Smithsonian/George Mason University Workshop series on teaching Conservation Biology, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park Conservation and Research Center (CRC), April 2001, and Airlie Center (Warrenton, VA), July; and workshops funded by NSF’s FIPSE program (supporting pedagogy/teacher training).

Kathleen Dorman attended the annual meeting of the Association for Documentary Editing in Oakland, California, in October 2001 where she presented the report of the Website Initiative Committee to the ADE Council.

Fynnette Eaton attended the National Historical Publications and Records Commission meeting on November 14, 2000. She became the Society of American Archivists official representative at the May 2001 meeting and was asked to serve on the Steering Committee. She served as Chair of the SIASC for calendar year 2001 and became recording secretary for the Information Technology Management Committee in February 2001. Eaton discussed SIA participation in the International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES )project at the MAC/MARAC meeting (Cleveland, OH), in October 2000, and served on a panel in December at the University of Maryland for a class on Information Access at the College of Information Studies. Eaton attended “Federal ERM: Strategizing Electronic Records Management in Today’s GPEA Environment,” April, 2001 and University of Maryland Lecture, “Critical Issues and Strategic Choices in Archives and Records Management, April; the MARAC Spring meeting (Philadelphia, PA), in May; and the Washington meeting of InterPARES, June 18-21. SIA sponsored a reception in the Castle Library on June 20^th for the meeting. She attended the Advisory Committee meeting for the Indiana University Electronic Records Project, an NHPRC-funded project in July, and participated in a SI workshop “Work Statements” to assist in the preparation of contracts, also held in July. Eaton attended the SAA annual meeting (Washington, DC), August 30-September 1.

Heather Peale Ewing, Research Associate of SIA, continued work on a biography of the Smithsonian’s founding donor, James Smithson, devoting six months to conducting research in European archives. With the support of a grant from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, Ewing spent two months in archives in Paris and one month, based at the American Academy in Rome, in various archives in Italy. A fellowship from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin enabled her to spend three months in Germany. In each of these countries she searched for previously unidentified correspondence related to Smithson, records of Smithson’s activities and movements, and biographical information on Smithson’s friends and colleagues. Within the grant period 2001/2002 Ewing will also be taking up a one-month Library Resident Fellowship at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

Jane R. Glaser, Research Associate of SIA, attended the Triennial Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) for ten days, in July (Barcelona, Spain). The theme of the meeting was: "Managing Change: The Museum Facing Economic and Social Challenges."

Edie Hedlin submitted a manuscript for inclusion in the forthcoming volume Thirty Years of Electronic Records: The National Archives and Electronic Records, edited by Bruce Ambacher and accepted for publication by Scarecrow Press. She continued to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Hagley Museum and Library, and on the Governing Council of Rockefeller Archives Center. In 2001, she was appointed to the Data Content Committee of the Cultural Materials Alliance, a project of the Research Libraries Group. During the year, Hedlin attended the Managing Electronic Records Conference in October, 2000, and the Getty-UCLA Institute for Knowledge Management in August 2001. Hedlin continued to represent SIA at meetings of the SIASC, and in December 2000 she resumed chairmanship of the SIRIS Management Committee.

Pamela Henson served on the Smithsonian’s Community Committee and the Smithsonian Distinguished Lecture Series Committee, which selected the second and third speakers for the Smithsonian Distinguished Research Lecture. Henson also served on the steering committee of the Material Culture Forum, an interdisciplinary group that focuses on research based on objects of material culture. Henson organized a session of the Material Culture Forum in April of 2001 on “Collections and the Curatorial Vision: Curators’ Reflections on Collections.” She presented a talk, “From Cabinet of Curiosities to a Great National Museum: Spencer Baird and Curatorial Vision,” at that meeting. Henson served as a member of the Madison and Thomson Prize Committee for the Society for History in the Federal Government. She served as co-chair of the spring 2001 annual meeting of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region (Annapolis, MD); the meeting was a festschrift for OHMAR founder Martha Ross and attracted a large audience to a very full program. Henson also served on a small committee that created an endowment in Martha Ross’ name for the Oral History Association’s Education Prize. Henson also attended the History of Science Society annual meeting (Denver, CO), November 2000; she is currently a member of the Editorial Board for Isis. She served as a judge at National History Day in June 2001.

Michael Horsley attended the RELACT (Research, Libraries, Archives, Training) conference “Bugging Out: An Introduction to Integrated Pest Management,” November 2000 and the SAA annual meeting (Washington, DC), August 2001. Horsley, Alyssa Pease and Sarah Stauderman received IPI Climate notebook training in December 2000, as part of the nationwide field testing for the Image Permanence Institute (Rochester, NY).

Deborah Jeffries represented SIA at the meetings of the Heritage Month Committee and was on the planning committee for Black History Month.

Frank Millikan served as the SIA representative to the council of the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars.

Clifford M. Nelson, Research Collaborator of the SIA and Chief, History Project, United States Geological Survey, published biographical articles on directors of the USGS and historical information regarding the Agency. During the year, Nelson worked on completing Mary C. Rabbitt's Minerals, Lands, and Geology for the Common Defense and General Welfare. Volume 4, 1939-1979.

Jennifer Nichols represented the Institutional History Division at the meetings of the SIRIS Members Group throughout the year and at meetings of the Smithsonian Institution web masters.

Tammy L. Peters attended the Cold Fusion training course at the Smithsonian, November 2-3, 2000; the Horizon User Group Meeting (Salt Lake City, UT), November 6-8; a preservation handling workshop (Smithsonian), January 27, 2001; the Midwest Archives Conference (Chicago, IL), May 3-4; an audio-visual workshop with Smithsonian Production staff and SIA Preservation Team, August 1; and a Cohasset Associates Managing Electronic Records Conference (Chicago), September 24-26, 2001.

Pedro M. Pruna-Goodgall, Research Collaborator of the SIA, helped organize and attended the Symposium on Caribbean Clades and their Distribution, held at the Smithsonian in March 2001, where he presented the paper, “Carlos de la Torre: Shells, Bones and Politics;” supported by a grant from the Social Sciences Research Council he attended the 21^st International Congress of History of Science (Mexico City), July, where he gave a paper, “The Cuban Society of Natural History: a forum for professionals and amateurs.” At the meeting, Pruna-Goodgall chaired a session on the history of biology. In July, he presented a paper, “A short history of yellow fever and its control,” at the Medical School of Quetzalcoatl University (Irapuato, Mexico).

Tracy E. Robinson represented SIA at the 3rd Annual DC Metropolitan Area Archives Fair held in the Quadrangle of the Smithsonian Institution in October 2000; she attended the SAA annual meeting (Washington, DC), August 30-31, 2001.

Marc Rothenberg served as a judge at National History Day for the twenty-second consecutive year. He continued to serve as a member of the History Project Advisory Committee of the United States Geological Survey. He also continued to serve as Treasurer, chair of the Committee on Finance, and member of the Executive Committee of the History of Science Society. At the annual meeting in Denver, he was honored for his many years of service to the Society. He also co-organized the Fifth Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop, held at Notre Dame University in July 2001 and spoke on historiography. He represented SIA at the History of Science and Technology Fellowship Selection Committee for the Office of Fellowships and Grants.

Sarah Stauderman served as SIA representative on the Center for Photography committee.

James A. Steed attended "Archival Cataloging as a Component of Description" workshop on April 16-17, 2000, held in the Quadrangle of the Smithsonian Institution; and the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists (Washington, DC), August 29-31, 2001.

Lauri Swann attended the American Law Institute and American Bar Association Course of Study “Legal Problems of Museum Administration,” (Washington, DC), March 2001, and the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums (St. Louis, MO), May 2001.

Rachel C. Teuer attended "Archival Cataloging as a Component of Description" workshop on April 16-17th, 2000, held in the Quadrangle of the Smithsonian Institution.

Bill Tompkins continued to serve on the Smithsonian Collections Information System Management Committee, the Archives and Special Collections Council, and as chair of the CIS IRM Pool Allocation Subcommittee of the CISMC; continued to serve as the Smithsonian representative on the Interagency Federal Collections Working Group, hosting the Working Group’s meeting at the Smithsonian and serving on the Steering Committee for the third conference “Partnership Opportunities for Federally-Associated Collections,” (Austin, TX), November 2000; and to serve as an ad hoc lecturer for The George Washington University Museum Studies Program. Tompkins served on the Board of the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums, as well as Reprints / Publications Coordinator and Chair of the Loans Task Force of the RC-AAM. Tompkins represented the National Collections Program at the American Association of Museums annual meeting (St. Louis, MO), the American Law Institute and American Bar Association Course of Study “Legal Problems of Museum Administration” (Washington, DC), and the Heritage Preservation Health Index Institutional Advisory Committee (Washington, DC). He chaired a session titled “Auctions Online: Museum Collections and E-commerce” at the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums (St. Louis, MO), May 2001. The session panel discussed the issues and challenges facing museums in an online versus traditional marketplace.

Kathleen Williams began a Masters of Arts in Arts Administration program at Goucher College in August 2001; served on the local arrangements committee of SAA and attended the SAA annual meeting in Washington, DC in August/September 2001. Williams traveled to Japan in February 2001 to represent the Smithsonian at the opening of the exhibition, Dr. Egbert H. Walker, a Smithsonian Botanist in the Ryukyus — A Retrospect of Okinawan Scenes in 1950s. She was a guest of the committee that organized the exhibition. Williams represented the Smithsonian at the annual Horizon Users Group Meeting (HUGM) in Salt Lake City in November 2000. She participated as a session commentator at the meeting of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) held at American University in June 2001; she attended a NAGARA sponsored one-day workshop entitled, “Cost Analysis Concepts & Methods for Records Management Projects” held at the National Archives and Records Administration in May 2001; and continued to serve the Smithsonian archival community as chair of the Smithsonian Institution Research and Information Systems (SIRIS) Members group. Williams served on the SIA Mission Statement working group and attended numerous lectures during the year, including a National Gallery of Art lecture on Nazi looted art in December 2000. She was voted a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists in September 2001.

Jennifer M. Wright completed her Master of Library Science degree in Archives, Records, and Information Management, University of Maryland, May 2001; and attended the Managing Electronic Records Conference (Chicago, IL), in September.

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