In April, Bain met with a visiting delegation from Kazakhstan that included Bakhit U. Tokbergenova, Teacher of History, University of World Languages, Almaty; Nickolay Osipov Ivanovitch, Professor of History, West Kazakhstan Humanities University, Uralsk; Yuri Pikunov, Associate Professor of American Studies, East-Kazakhstan University, Ust-Kamenogorsk; and Valeri Bushlanov, Senior Teacher of U. S. History and Literature, North Kazakhstan University, Petropavlovsk. The group discussed resources on American culture and history and the role of the Smithsonian as a museum and research institution.

La Nina Clayton was active in the SI Women's History Month Planning Committee. In May 1998 she attended a symposium of the National Association for Multi-Cultural Education, and the Second Biennial Smithsonian-Westminster Symposium on Access and Cultural Identity in Public Institutions.

William E. Cox served as a consultant for the New Zealand Department of Conservation at Mt. Cook National Park, South Canterbury, New Zealand while on leave of absence from the Archives Division. His work included surveying photograph collections documenting the history of Mt. Cook National Park and the history of alpine climbing in New Zealand.

Kathleen Dorman served on the Education and Information Committee of the Association for Documentary Editing and attended the Association's annual meeting.

Fynnette L. Eaton served on a National Endowment for the Humanities panel to review grant proposals associated with preservation and access of documentary materials; served as Treasurer for the Local Arrangements Committee for the fall 1998 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference held in Washington, DC in November 1998; continued to serve as a member of Society of American Archivists (SAA) Council and was a member of the SAA Annual Meeting Task Force; was a member of the Program Committee and attended the Sixth NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies held in March 1998; and participated in the first meeting of the International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems team that met at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, MD in June 1998.

Within the Smithsonian Institution, Eaton participated in "Archives and Artifacts That Are not ‘Objects'" in the Conversations in Public History Lecture on June 15, 1998 at NMAH; gave two briefings on electronic records to the Smithsonian Institution Archives and Special Collections Council (SIASC) and served as co-secretary for SIASC.

Eaton attended a three day conference sponsored by Cohassett Associates, Inc., Managing Electronic Records in Chicago, IL in November 1997; an SAA workshop on Digital Imaging Technology in Washington, DC in March 1998; and the RIM Symposium ‘98 entitled "Electronic Information Management in the Millennium: Are We Ready?"

Edie Hedlin spoke at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History, presenting findings on the Smithsonian's experiments with an emerging standard, the Dublin Core. She joined two Smithsonian managers for a presentation in April of 1998 to the Council on Excellence in Government. The presentation, offered to 200 Council fellows, focused on "Partnering Across Boundaries to Get Results." In July 1998, Hedlin spoke on electronic records program development at the annual meeting of the National Association of Government Archives & Records Administrators. She was invited to join a study tour, sponsored jointly by the University of Maryland and the State Archives Bureau of China, entitled "Fourth International Symposium on Chinese Local Archives: Archives and Urban Construction, " held May 24-June 3, 1998 in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Huangshan, People's Republic of China. She also participated in World Bank/Organization of American States working meetings on improving archival programs in Latin America. Dr. Hedlin continues to serve as a member of the boards of the Hagley Museum and Library and the Rockefeller Archives Center.

Pamela Henson served as chair of the Publications Committee of the Oral History Association and on a task force to revise its Principles and Standards and Evaluation Guidelines. She attended the annual meeting of the History of Science Society in San Diego in November 1997 and the Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Biology at The Johns Hopkins University in April 1998 and discussed potential research projects with several graduate students. In May she attended the Second Biennial Smithsonian-Westminster Symposium on Access and Cultural Identity in Public Institutions. Henson was elected to the Society for History in the Federal Government Nominating Committee.

Henson served as delegate to the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars. Henson served as vice-chair and assisted with organization of SCOS meetings. Henson served on the Smithsonian's Community Committee, prepared its constitution and bylaws, and was given responsibility for organizing support for a "Smithsonian Workers" component of the Year 2000 Folklife Festival. For related professional activities, see the "Outreach and Public Programs" section of the report.

Lauri A. Hinksman attended the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums in Los Angeles, California. She continued to serve as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Data Content Committee.

Michael Horsley attended the November 1997 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in Wilmington, DE. He attended the workshop "Preservation Fundamentals II: Mold and Mildew," sponsored by the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education (SCMRE). He also attended the workshop "Just in Time: Disaster Preparedness for Document Collections," sponsored by SCMRE and the Research, Libraries and Archives Conservation Task Force (RELACT).

Robert Shawn Johnstone attended the workshop "Advanced Records Operations," sponsored by the National Archives in January 1998.

Bruce R. Kirby coordinated SIA's participation in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) "Archives Fair" at NARA on October 17, 1997. He submitted his master's thesis in November 1997 and was awarded an MA in History by George Mason University in January 1998. Kirby took the examination for the Academy of Certified Archivists in September 1998 and was certified by the Academy in November. Kirby also participated in a Smithsonian committee established by the National Collections Program to find ways to consistently measure the use of archival collections at SI.

Michele Lee participated in the MARAC "Archives Fair" at NARA on October 17, 1997. She attended the workshop "Advanced Records Operations," sponsored by the National Archives in January 1998.

Clifford M. Nelson, SIA Research Collaborator and Staff Geologist and Chief, History Project, United States Geological Survey (USGS) continued his investigation on the relationship and cooperative work between the Smithsonian and federal agencies in the earth and biological sciences and between the USGS and its immediate predecessor organizations; prepared a narrative on the impact of the decline and death of Secretary Joseph Henry on the reform of the federal science and mapping agencies; advised film editor Mark Davis, and author Donald Worster about their biographies of John W. Powell; and began planning with Pamela Henson on a conference and exhibition about the life and contributions of William H. Holmes, planned to be held at the Smithsonian in 2002, the centennial of Holmes succession of John Wesley Powell as Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

Jennifer Nichols attended an SAA workshop on Digital Imaging Technology in Washington, DC in March 1998. She prepared the "Artists at Work" virtual exhibit, based on the 1996 SI Community Committee exhibit, for the Committee's website.

Alyssa Pease attended the November 1997 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in Wilmington, DE. She also attended the workshop "Just in Time: Disaster Preparedness for Document Collections," sponsored by SCMRE and the Research, Libraries and Archives Conservation Task Force (RELACT).

Tammy L. Peters attended the workshop "Advanced Records Operations," sponsored by the National Archives in January 1998.

Marc Rothenberg served as the commentator for the Joseph Henry Bicentennial Commemoration Session at the annual meeting of the History of Science Society; represented the Smithsonian Institution at Joseph Henry Day Activities, Joseph Henry Elementary School, Galway, New York; provided newspaper interviews for articles published in the Saratogian , the Wall Street Journal , and the Albany Daily Gazette ; and was a guest on "Q & A," an interview program on WMHQ-TV, Schenectady, New York. Rothenberg also served as a member of the panel, "Possibilities and Pitfalls of Historical Commemoration," Society for History in the Federal Government annual meeting; and a member of the panel, "Joys and Horrors of Editing Scientists and Scientific Philosophers," Association for Documentary Editing annual meeting.

Among his other professional activities, Rothenberg served as the Treasurer, member of the Executive Committee, and Chair of the Committee on Finances for the History of Science Society; Editor of the newsletter News and Views for the Forum for the History of Science in America; a member of the History Project Advisory Committee, United States Geological Survey; and a judge for National History Day. He also served as a referee for Isis. For related professional activities, see the "Outreach and Public Programs" section of the report.

James A. Steed attended an SAA workshop on Digital Imaging Technology in Washington, DC in March 1998. He served as SIA's SIRIS coordinator throughout the year, attending the SIRIS Member's group monthly meetings.

Paul H. Theerman attended the annual meeting of the History of Science Society in San Diego in November 1997. He attended an SAA workshop on Digital Imaging Technology in Washington, DC in March 1998. He served as SIA's alternate delegate to the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars.

William G. Tompkins continued to serve as the Smithsonian representative on the Interagency Federal Collections Working Group, and served on the Steering Committee which is planning the second conference "Partnership Opportunities for Federally-Associated Collections" for November 1998 in San Diego, California. He also participated in the American Str@tegy Project, a national initiative to facilitate an electronic gateway to cultural heritage information. Tompkins continued to serve as an advisor and faculty member for the annual workshop on the management of museum collections, sponsored by the Center for Museum Studies, presenting a session on collections management policies.

Tompkins continued to serve on the Smithsonian Registrars' Council, the Archives and Special Collections Council, and the Collections Information System Management Committee. He served on the NMAH Process Reengineering Team regarding the development of a new process for outgoing loans. Tompkins served on the Board of the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums and as Reprints/Publications Coordinator of the RC-AAM. Tompkins represented the NCP at the American Association of Museums annual meeting in Los Angeles, California, and the American Law Institute and American Bar Association Course of Study "Legal Problems of Museum Administration," in Chicago, Illinois.

Michael E. Willens attended the workshop "Just in Time: Disaster Preparedness for Document Collections," sponsored by SCMRE and the Research, Libraries and Archives Conservation Task Force (RELACT).

Kathleen M. Williams attended the spring 1998 meeting of MARAC held in Saratoga Springs, NY in May 1998. She was a member of Local Arrangements Committee of MARAC for its November 1998 meeting held in Washington, DC, and she began service on the Conference's Publications Committee. Williams wrote the curriculum for a seminar on the appraisal of exhibition records for SAA's Museum Archives Section, held at the 1998 annual meeting of the Society. She attended the Second Biennial Smithsonian-Westminster Symposium on Access and Cultural Identity in Public Institutions in May 1998.