Smithsonian Institution Archives, Overview FY98

The Administrative Division serves and supports the Director, and managers and staffs of all divisions in the full range of administrative and technical services required to implement and facilitate the office's work and to meet laws and regulations governing the Institution and its policies and procedures. Throughout its work, the Division advises on the most appropriate courses of financial and administrative actions to meet office and Institutional program objectives. The Division assists with planning and budget formulation, the execution and monitoring of approved budgets and the maintenance of accounts. It handles personnel, procurement, property management, travel, transportation, facilities management (including leases), security, reports management, and telephone and reception services for SIA staff and researchers. The Division staff serve as the principal liaison with the Institution's financial management, human resources, procurement, facilities and other administrative and support offices.

During FY 1998, the Administrative team provided responsive support to the Office, Institutional staff, and the public. The team was able to meet the goals and objectives of the Office which enabled the staff to accomplish many projects using the least cost method of procurement. The team's efforts resulted in the smooth, efficient, and effective operation of SIA throughout the year.

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NATIONAL COLLECTIONS PROGRAM

The National Collections Program (NCP) promotes Institutional accountability for the national collections through the development of collections management standards in policy and procedures, and through information exchange. The office maintains oversight of and administrative responsibility for the principal directive guiding Smithsonian collections management, SD 600: Collections Management Policy.

During FY 1998, the National Collections Program continued the revision of SD 600. We worked with over eighty collections management and office staff, comprising thirteen sub-committees and an editing team. Staff focused on enhancing the current policy document and developing an implementation manual that will accompany the revised directive.

NCP staff compiled and published the Institution's annual collection statistical report, which provides information on collection size, growth, and activity for Smithsonian museums, archives, and libraries. Working with the Archives and Special Collections Council, NCP staff revised the format for reporting archival reference transactions for the 1998 statistical compilation. In addition, the office presented the annual report on deaccessioning to the Smithsonian Secretary and the Board of Regents as well as compiling FY 1998 collection disclosure information for the external audit of the Smithsonian financial statement.

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INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY DIVISION

The Institutional History Division's high point of the year was the celebration on December 17, 1997, of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The events were coordinated by the staff of the Joseph Henry Papers Project and are listed in detail below. Despite the demands of the Henry Bicentennial, Volume 8 of The Papers of Joseph Henry covering the years 1850-1853 was submitted to SI Press on schedule and will appear in late fall 1998.

Historian Pamela M. Henson was detailed part-time for six months to assist the Archives Division with its transition to a team-based organizational structure, deferring work on Institutional History programs.

The IHD established a significant presence on the World Wide Web with virtual exhibitions, essays and guides to historical resources. The "Historic Pictures" site proved to be of particular interest to web users. The Joseph Henry Papers Project moved into the digital era by entering into the Model Editions Partnership, a cooperative effort by documentary editing projects and the National Historic Publications and Records Commission to establish standards for electronic publication.

Program Assistant Jennifer Nichols completed a research project on the history of the National Museum of the American Indian to assist its staff in planning for the opening of their museum after the turn of the century. She produced a bibliography, chronology and a biographical file. Nichols also produced a bibliography on and a database finding aid to collections relating to the Enola Gay controversy at the National Air and Space Museum. Henson and Nichols completed work on a history of the Smithsonian Institution budget, securing additional information for the Office of Membership and Development.

Henson completed research projects on the history of the Arts and Industries Building and on the challenges to women scientists at the Smithsonian when they began to pursue fieldwork in the tropics at the turn of the century. Henson, in cooperation with Edie Hedlin, James Hobbins and John Huerta, initiated a project to digitize the publications, The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and History, by William Jones Rhees, published in 1879 and 1901, and to extend this compilation of legal documents on the Smithsonian from 1900 to 2000.

Volunteer Caroline Farquhar completed transcription of the 1996 Smithsonian Institution History Lecture Series, a series of talks on the history of the National Collections and Smithsonian staff. Volunteer Martha Rosen of Smithsonian Institution Libraries continued her research on the history of radio production at the Institution. Contractor Layla Wuthrick made a significant contribution to the operation of the Historian's Office during the summer of 1998 by reorganizing its files.

Fellows and Interns

Pamela Henson and Marc Rothenberg served as advisors to numerous students and scholars. Henson served as an advisor to one postdoctoral fellow, three predoctoral fellows, one graduate student, one Museum Practice fellow, one Latino Programs fellow and one short-term visiting fellow. She served as consultant on several other fellowship committees. Jennifer Anderson Lawrence of Philipsburg Manor completed her Museum Practice Fellowship, which focused on the history of educational programs at the Smithsonian. Catherine A. Christen continued her postdoctoral fellowship research on the history of tropical biology field stations. Dr. Pedro M. Pruna-Goodgall of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and a Research Collaborator of IHD, returned on a Latino Programs Fellowship to conduct research on the history of Smithsonian-Cuban scientific relations in the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Yolanda Texera-Arnal of the Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo, Caracas, Venezuela, returned on a short term visitor fellowship to conduct research on the history of Venezuelan natural history. Melody Rosa Herr of Johns Hopkins University completed her predoctoral fellowship research project on the popularization of anthropology in the 1940s. Patrick H. Wirtz of the University of Southern California began his predoctoral fellowship on the history of the National Zoological Park as an urban landscape. Michelle Gates-Moresi, a predoctoral fellow from The George Washington University, focused her research on portrayals of African Americans in exhibitions at the Smithsonian. John F. Fiege of Pennsylvania State University completed research for his graduate student project on an environmental history of the National Zoological Park.

Henson supervised The George Washington University Master's thesis of Carol Maryan George on the history of film and television production at the Smithsonian. She also supervised a readings course on the history of natural history exhibitions for Pamela Hudson, a master's candidate with The George Washington University Museum Studies Program.

The Historian's Office sponsored four interns during FY 1998. Charlotte Sturm of Smith College spent the Fall 1997 semester at the Institutional History Division and completed preliminary processing of the "Smithsonian Memories" oral history collection from the 1996 Festival of American Folklife. Intern Laura Garrett of the University of California at Santa Barbara conducted research for the History of Smithsonian-Latin America Relations database. Intern Hannah Rose Shell of Massachusetts Institute of Technology completed a summer research project on the history of the National Zoological Park, especially William Temple Hornaday. Intern Meghan Gutierrez of the University of California at Santa Cruz during the Fall 1998 semester conducted research on the history of women at the Smithsonian for that IHD database project. Tina Wong, a summer intern from Swarthmore College, compiled a bibliography and chronology for the Joseph Henry Papers Project on the topic of Smithsonian connections with Japan during Joseph Henry's term as Secretary.

Oral History and Videohistory Programs

Pamela Henson began a series of interviews with David Challinor, former Assistant Secretary for Science/Research to document his role in Smithsonian research programs during the Ripley and Adams eras. Pedro Pruna-Goodgall, Latino Programs Fellow, conducted interviews of David Challinor, Ross Simons and Michael Smith for his research on Smithsonian - Cuban scientific relations in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Paul E. Garber interviews, conducted in 1973 to document his founding role at the National Air and Space Museum, were donated to the Oral History Collection by his son. Nichols scanned the draft transcripts to produce word-processing files. Contractor Pilar Somma and intern Charlotte Sturm completed preliminary processing on the "Smithsonian Memories" oral history collection from the 1996 Festival of American Folklife. Sturm audited and summarized each of the 160 interviews, evaluated them for sound and content quality, and prepared an analysis of the range of topics and types of interviewees. Somma prepared ten interviews for transcription.

The collection now consists of 849 hours of audio and videotaped interviews of 581 individuals, of which 706 hours have been transcribed and 462.5 hours have been made available for research use. The Processing Procedures Manual was distributed to numerous individuals interested in learning about oral history from such diverse places as Australia, Canada, China, and Sweden. The Smithsonian Videohistory Collection Catalog was distributed to a wide range of scholars, producers, and others interested in the collection.

Joseph Henry Papers Project

December 17, 1997, was the occasion of the bicentennial of the birth of Joseph Henry. The months of November and December 1997 were filled with activities commemorating Henry's birth, life, and accomplishments. Staff of the Joseph Henry Papers Project were involved in all these events as speakers, organizers, or resource people, frequently working with the "Joseph Henry Coalition," an informal group of citizens from a variety of educational and research organizations in the Albany, New York, metropolitan area — where Henry had been born and raised — who have dedicated themselves to increasing public awareness of Henry and his pivotal role in American history.

Among the highlights of the commemoration: Union College created an exhibition entitled Joseph Henry: An Enduring Legacy; a commemorative session at the annual meeting of the History of Science Society and an all-day conference on December 2 at the University at Albany both provided scholarly discussions of Henry's significance in the history of science and technology; birthday parties on December 17 at the Joseph Henry Elementary School in Galway, New York, and at the Joseph Henry Memorial Building in Albany, which celebrated Henry as a role model for young people; also on December 17, the Great Hall of the Smithsonian Institution Building was designated as the "Joseph Henry Station" of the United States Postal Service for a philatelic cancellation.

Media (newspaper and local television) coverage of Henry's birthday commemoration was extensive in the Albany metropolitan area, ranging from newspaper articles to Editor Marc Rothenberg's presence on "Q & A," an interview program on WMHQ-TV, Schenectady. In addition, the Wall Street Journal, the NBC "Today Show," and the Washington Times recognized Henry. Newsletters and journals also published articles about Henry. Among these were Weatherwise, Annotation: The Newsletter of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, American Physical Society News, and Issues in Science and Technology (published by the National Academy of Sciences). In all these cases, the staff members of the Henry Papers Project were involved as authors, facilitators, or interviewees.

The "Joseph Henry Coalition" was particularly interested in using the commemoration to target the K-12 community. With the assistance of the Henry Papers Project, they developed a short video of Henry's life suitable for middle school and high school classroom use, a coloring book biography of Henry directed at elementary school students, an original play based on Henry's life, also directed at elementary school students, and a high school physics project in which students built reconstructions of Henry's apparatus, then recreated his crucial experiments.

Another, more permanent product of the commemoration was the Henry Papers Home Page. Combining information about the Project with information about Henry, the Home Page has served as a conduit for queries about Henry, Smithsonian history, the internship program, and the volumes.

While busy with the bicentennial, the staff of the Henry Papers Project continued to make progress in other areas. The staff read proof and prepared the index for Volume 8 of The Papers of Joseph Henry (scheduled to be published in November 1998). Editorial work continued on Volume 9, which covers the years 1854 through 1857. Text editing has been completed on over half the documents in the volume. This volume highlights Henry's political skills as he preserved his vision of the Smithsonian against assault by his assistant librarian, Charles Jewett, and a Congressional investigation. The number of documents in the Henry Papers document index rose to over 80,000.

The Editor of the Henry Papers Project would like to acknowledge support from the members of the Joint Committee: Herbert Friedman, Charles C. Gillispie, Janice Goldblum, I. Michael Heyman, J. Dennis O'Connor, and Frederick Seitz, Chair. He would also like to thank the members of the Editorial Advisory Board: James R. Fleming, Curtis M. Hinsley, Jr., and Michael J. Lacey.

Development

The History Division received a grant from the Smithsonian Women's Committee to assist in the creation of an electronic version of the Eyes on Science: Illustrating Natural History received in August 1997 from the Latino Funding Pool, with work to be initiated in FY 1998. "The Smithsonian Institution and Latin America: Partners in Research," supported work on a database, web page, and brochure on Smithsonian-Latin American resources in SI Archives. Over 160 collections were surveyed for the database and the brochure and booklet were drafted. The project will be completed in FY 1999. Dr. Pedro M. Pruna-Goodgall of the Cuban Academy of Sciences was awarded a visiting fellowship to continue work in 1998 on his study of SI-Cuban scientific collaborations. He presented several papers and also assisted with a survey of Cuban natural history collections in the United States during his tenure here.

A fund-raising campaign for the Joseph Henry Papers Project was conducted in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Joseph Henry's birth in 1797. A campaign strategy was developed and letters of inquiry were sent out, but little support was forthcoming in the competitive development arena of today. However, a grant of $119,235 was received from the Lounsbery Foundation in continued support of the Project.

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TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION

The Technical Services Division, created in October 1997, brought together the newly-created Preservation Team, the Electronic Records Program and the computer support staff in order to offer support to offices both within the Smithsonian Institution Archives and to other Smithsonian units. The contract with National Underground Storage (NUS) in Boyers, Pennsylvania to provide storage for archives and special collections of the Smithsonian Institution is one example of this effort. The Preservation Team devoted a major proportion of its time during FY 1998 performing basic preservation work on those records destined for shipment to NUS. The Electronic Records Program efforts to provide Institution-wide guidance for the proper management of electronic records also reflect this pan-Institutional view.

A Disaster Planning Task Force, representing all of the divisions within SIA, was formed to implement the recommendations made the previous year by preservation consultant Tara Fraser in her disaster planning, prevention and recovery plan. Actions completed during FY 1998 included updating the office manual to reflect current staffing and needs; developing safety training for all staff; redesigning the office's sign-in sheets to record the daily presence or absence of all staff, interns, fellows, volunteers and visitors; updating the office's list of emergency telephone numbers; and developing performance elements for the members of the disaster team.

Electronic Records Program

Recognizing the need to educate SI staff about the issues associated with record keeping in electronic format, the Electronic Records Program (ERP) developed a presentation describing the electronic records issues that are of greatest concern for the Smithsonian. The Electronic Records Advisory Committee, which represents the various communities within SI, urged the ERP to provide additional guidance to staff for handling e-mail. In response, SIA and the Archives Center, NMAH, proposed an Electronic Records Project for the Office of the Director, NMAH, in which the office's e-mail messages would be stored in a virtual records center and transferred in electronic form at an appropriate point to SIA.

The Electronic Records Program worked with the Archives Division's RM Team in several areas, including providing advice on electronic records issues as it conducted records surveys; appraising records stored on computer diskettes from the Office of the Director, SIA, and the Office of America's Smithsonian; and defining the criteria for the types of electronic files that should be transferred to SIA.

Preservation and Conservation

In SIA's Institutional History Division, Deborah Jeffries completed a shelf survey of the publications maintained by the Joseph Henry Papers Project. She rehoused the publications in the Bell-Henry Library, improving both the physical condition of and intellectual control over this valuable historical resource.

The major activity of the Preservation Team was the implementation of the Preservation Plan developed during FY 1997. The team conducted preservation condition assessments of 470 high value/high use collections, newly accessioned records, records selected for shipment to NUS, and others brought to the attention of the team by researchers or SIA staff. Based on the preservation assessments, team members were able to ensure that all incoming records conformed to a high standard of holdings maintenance while at the same time targeting their rehousing efforts to those collections with the greatest need. A major component of the assessment process is to detect records which may contain pests or mold. The team treated five collections identified as containing moldy materials, and the team initiated a comprehensive Integrated Pest Monitoring program for all SIA records storage facilities. Environmental monitoring of the A&I and Fullerton spaces was improved by the use of more accurate digital temperature and relative humidity monitors.

In addition, the team provided preservation services and technical advice to other SI bureaus including the National Anthropological Archives, Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, NMAH's Department of Transportation, National Air and Space Archives, Freer/Sackler Gallery Archives, Archives of American Art, American Art & Portrait Gallery Library, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library, NMAfA's Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, and the Department of Paleobiology, Department of Botany and Global Volcanism Project at NMNH.

The Preservation Team received funding for continued rehousing of high value collections under the Research Resources Grant (RRG) program. The team will be participating in other projects for which SIA received RRG funding for next fiscal year. These include the appraisal and preservation of a large collection of film and video materials produced by the Smithsonian, and a nitrate negative conversion project directed by the National Anthropological Archives. In anticipation of these grant-funded projects, team members undertook preliminary preparation work during FY 1998.

Work continued on rehousing high value/high use materials which had been identified through the assessment process, or through the use of preservation "flags" created by staff and researchers. Seventy-three collections were rehoused, including RU 70, Exposition Records of the Smithsonian Institution and United States National Museum, 1867-1940, and RU 7250, the Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Papers, 1815-1834 and undated. The latter were photographed by the Smithsonian Magazine for an upcoming article. All collections selected for transfer to NUS underwent condition inspections and were rehoused if necessary before shipment. Volunteers Patricia Breen and Heather Cohen continued their rehousing efforts under team supervision, and intern Sasha Lourie contributed to the rehousing effort as a part of a preservation management internship. In addition, the team prepared selected items chosen from among the treasures of the Archives to be displayed during the July visit to the archives by the Provost.

As part of its technical services function, the Preservation Team is responsible for the management of the Institution's nitrate-based photographic collections in Library of Congress (LC) film vaults. In anticipation of the closure of that facility, the team rehoused 187 cubic feet of negatives and 20,000 feet of motion picture film from seven SI repositories that will be transferred to another LC facility.

The team provided technical advice and support for the establishment of SIA's disaster preparedness task force, which is responsible for the implementation of the SIA disaster preparedness plan. Other support activities included preparing materials to be sent on exhibition loan. The team reviewed facilities reports, wrote condition reports and prepared archival objects for two outgoing exhibition loans. Team members also reviewed the condition of objects being returned from seven exhibitions during the year.

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ARCHIVES DIVISION

At the beginning of October several staff members were moved from the Archives Division to the Technical Services Division to provide the basis for a preservation team and SIA-wide computer services support. The remaining staff were formed into three teams — records management, arrangement and description, and reference. For the first six months of the year, the teams reported to different managers within SIA. In April, they began reporting to Kathleen Williams, Supervisory Associate Archivist.

During the year, the teams had to adjust to a new concept and merge personalities into the team framework. This transition resulted in outstanding results in one instance, but was more difficult in varying degrees for two of the three teams. The teams had to focus on specific core archival functions, but also keep in mind the total Division picture, which was not easy. Nonetheless, there were important accomplishments. A survey of all paper and photographic records in the National Museum of American Indian was completed and disposition schedules were written and approved, a finding aid to the records of the Office of Exhibitions, National Portrait Gallery was completed, and a brochure entitled, Research Resources at the Smithsonian Institution Archives was written. For the first time since 1970, the Archives Division took a close look at the use of the record unit as an intellectual means for controlling its holdings and decided to move to the record series. And, as it seems to occur with each new generation of Division staff, the Archives began a reconciliation project of holdings to physical location for both archives and records center materials.

The Smithsonian Institution facility at National Underground Storage (supported by the SI Archives) became fully operational during the year. Shipments of records and special collections from the Archives Division opened space on-site so that the Division could rescind its moratorium on the transfer of Smithsonian records. A nitrate vault sub-leased by the Smithsonian from the Library of Congress (LC) was scheduled to be destroyed during the year. While that had not occurred by the end of the fiscal year, the Archives Division, with major support from the Technical Services Division, managed to find new locations with LC and a private vendor to relocate 300 cubic feet of nitrate flat and motion picture film. The Smithsonian will be able to maintain its flat nitrate film in the LC vault for two years after it is transferred from the site in Suitland, MD. Now would be the time to start finding resources to build a Smithsonian nitrate vault, before the next crisis develops.

For the first six months of the year, the Archivist and Director of the Division, Alan L. Bain, was assigned to work with the National Anthropological Archives (NAA). While intellectual and philosophical discussions may provide some idea as to the importance of collections and staffing needs, nothing can match hands-on work at a repository to fully understand the wealth of holdings and dedication of the staff of a sister archives. While well-known for its manuscripts and photographs documenting Native American Indians, NAA contains a rich source of documentation on subjects, world-wide. Special collections found during the six-month detail include photographs of the Phillipines during the Insurrection in 1899; diaries of United States teachers working in Latin America during the early 1900s; records of Nazi Germany's Section on Race and Ethnicity Research, Institut dur Deutsche Ostarbeit, 1941-44; and the papers of Eugene I. Knez, with research material and photographs documenting Korea from the early 1900s. A records survey, to be completed in FY 1999, was started in the Department of Anthropology. By the end of the fiscal year survey work was completed in the administrative offices, the Office of Repatriation, the Arctic Studies Program, most of the Asian Studies Program, and most of the Handbook of North American Indians office.

Upon returning to the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Bain began developing space and facility planning for moving the Archives, and started reviewing and revising the collections policy for personal papers, non-Smithsonian records, and special collections.

Services to Bureaus: Highlights

This year the Archives Division increased its focus and attention on serving Smithsonian offices, museums, and bureaus. The Archives' Records Management (RM) Team conducted several records surveys and created records disposition schedules for a number of museums and offices. The acquisition of space at National Underground Storage also allowed the Archives to lift an eight-month-long moratorium on the transfer of records in December 1997.

For a complete list of transferring offices, see Appendix D: Sources of Holdings. The following is a list of records management and acquisition highlights during FY 1998:

America's Smithsonian Exhibition: The Archives received records of the America's Smithsonian traveling exhibition, documenting curatorial issues, exhibition design and production, and the exhibition administration. The Archives also transferred visitor comment cards from many of the venues at which the exhibition appeared.

Anacostia Museum: Archives staff advised Museum representatives on establishing a special collection archives at the Museum.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: Records Management staff visited the Museum to appraise records created and maintained by several Museum divisions, and to develop a records survey project to be conducted during FY 1999. The Archives also received records from the Office of the Director, documenting museum exhibitions, collection acquisitions, and budgetary matters.

National Museum of American History: Records Management and Electronic Records Program staff met with Archives Center personnel to discuss electronic records issues and SIA records transfer guidelines. Significant transfers from the Museum included records documenting the Castle bell from the Division of Cultural History, and records from the Archives Center documenting the work of Fitzroy Thomas, a contract historian involved with the Duke Ellington Collection.

National Museum of Natural History: Alan Bain surveyed approximately 1300 cubic feet of records in the Department of Anthropology and the National Anthropological Archives. The survey included administrative, special project, research records, personal papers, and special collections located in the following units: the Office of the Chairman, Deputy Chair, and Administrative Officer of the Anthropology Department; Center for Arctic Study; Asian Cultural History Program; Office of Repatriation; and Handbook of North American Indians. Bain supervised intern Ginger Hargett, Oberlin College, who helped carry out the survey work. Disposition schedules for these records will be created in FY 1999.

The Department of Entomology transferred a significant amount of curatorial records, including materials from Raymond J. Gagne, Paul M. Marsh, Carl Frederick William Muesebeck, Ronald William Hodges, Carl Heinrich, William Schaus, Marion R. Smith, Arnold S. Menke, Paul J. Spangler, and William D. Field. The Archives received additional transfers from the Division of Birds, the Department of Botany, and the Department of Mineral Sciences.

National Museum of the American Indian: The Archives' Records Management Team completed a four-month project to survey, identify, and appraise records created and maintained by the Museum at its Washington, DC, offices, and a consulting archivist, Deborah Wythe, was hired by NMAI to conduct a parallel survey of the records of the Museum's New York offices. A total of 1200 cubic feet of records were surveyed. As a result of the records survey project, the RM Team created comprehensive records disposition schedules for general records, and for records created and maintained by NMAI's 33 individual offices. RM staff also developed files management guidelines and file plans for certain NMAI units, and gave an informational training presentation to New York-based museum staff regarding the use and implementation of the records disposition schedules.

National Portrait Gallery: The Archives received Editor's records from the Charles Willson Peale Family Papers documenting the tenure of Lillian B. Miller.

National Zoological Park: Archives staff met with the Department of Animal Health, and assisted with the transfer of the first of numerous accretions of animal medical records to be sent to the Archives over the next year.

Office of Membership and Development: RM staff attended and participated in an OMD staff luncheon discussion concerning the creation and maintenance of OMD central files.

Office of Physical Plant: The Archives received a large transfer of OPP project files and drawings, as well as several transfers from the Office of the Director.

Office of Public Affairs: The Archives received materials relating to the America's Smithsonian traveling exhibition, documenting the Smithsonian's advertising, marketing, and press strategies for promoting the exhibition, including press releases, newspaper clippings, and ephemera. The Archives also received records of the new Smithsonian logo.

Office of the General Counsel: The Archives' Records Management Team completed a four-month survey project of the office's legal and administrative records, met with several OGC staff members to discuss the types of records they create and maintain, and spent time researching and developing schedules to guide OGC in the disposition of its official records. The scope of the project also included electronic records. The RM Team submitted draft disposition schedules for OGC administrative and legal records in September.

Office of the Secretary: Archives Division staff and the Electronic Records Archivist met with Secretariat staff and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to discuss the construction and implementation of Quorum Power, a document tracking software used to manage Secretarial correspondence. With input from Archives Division staff, OIT developed a research interface for the system, available to researchers in SIA by year's end. The Archives also received thirty-three cubic feet of Secretary's files from 1995.

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory: The Archives received 86.5 cubic feet of records from the Office of the Director, consisting of program and project files, correspondence, grant records, and other administrative materials.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: In December 1997, the RM Team completed a survey of the SERC administrative records at the request of the center's Acting Director, Ross Simons. The team inventoried and appraised approximately 100 cubic feet of records created by the Office of the Director and its administrative staff to determine their value. As a result of the records survey project, the RM Team created two schedules to guide SERC in the retention and disposal of its official records. The RM Team also provided the Director's office with a file plan and files management advice.

Smithsonian Institution Archives: The RM Team completed a records survey to identify and appraise the records created and maintained by the SIA Director, the Administrative Division, and certain central files created by all SIA staff. Archivists met with the Director and her administrative staff, and identified approximately 120 cubic feet of central files and records created by the Director, the Administrative Division, and other SIA Divisions. In September, the RM Team submitted draft disposition schedules for these records and created file guidelines for the maintenance of these records.

Smithsonian's America/Japan Project: The Archives received records documenting the Project, which was part of The Smithsonian's America: An Exhibition on American History and Culture at the American Festival Japan 1994.

Special Collections: Acquisition Highlights

The RM Team consulted with several professional organizations to appraise and identify records to be transferred to the Archives. RM staff met with representatives from the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM), the Association of Systematics Collections (ASC), the Washington Conservation Guild, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS). The Archives also received transfers from SMM, ASC, and several accessions from WWICS, including records from the Office of the Director, the Office of Special Events, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, the "Radio Dialogue" Program, and the Office of Development/External Affairs.

This year the Archives acquired the papers of Judith K. Zilczer, Curator of Painting at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the papers of Suzanne Ripley, including records of the Smithsonian Primate Survey; and the papers of Robert McCormick Adams, ninth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The Archives also received additions to the papers of Alexander Wetmore, ornithologist and sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; the papers of Roy S. Clarke, Jr., Curator in the NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences; and the papers of two prominent entomologists, Charles P. Alexander and Curtis W. Sabrosky.

A complete list of acquisitions appears in Appendix D: Sources of Holdings.

Arrangement and Description

During FY 1998 Archives Division staff, interns and volunteers processed records and completed finding aids to several collections. Michele Lee reprocessed and wrote the finding aid for RU 361, National Portrait Gallery, Office of Exhibitions, Records, circa 1966-1976 (14.5 cubic feet). Although originally authored by retired Associate Archivist Susan W. Glenn, current staff member Michael E. Willens completed the finding aid to RU 330, National Air and Space Museum, Department of Aeronautics, Records, circa 1965-1986 (36.5 cubic feet). This finding aid is number 15 in the SIA occasional series of published guides to collections. It is also available on SIA's website. Summer intern Michael Rhodes, State University of New York, arranged and described RU 7338, Oscar L. Cartwright Papers, 1929-1979 (8.0 cubic feet). Veteran volunteer Jane Livermore continued to process RU 7091, Science Service, Records (20.0 cubic feet in FY 1998).

While detailed to the National Anthropological Archives, Alan Bain completed preliminary processing and box and folder lists to the Timothy Asch Papers, 1930s-1996, (56 cubic feet) and the Corps of Engineers (Larry D. Banks), Records, 1971-1996 (21 cubic feet). Bain also began to write an in-depth descriptive finding aid to the Eugene I. Knez Papers, 1930s-1990s, with related photographs from the early 1900s.

Records Management/Records Center Operations

The Archives staff reviews high volumes of inactive institutional records each year to determine their permanent and temporary value. Records that have historical and research value are accessioned into the Archives' permanent collections. Those that have transitory value are transferred to the Archives' records center facility for eventual disposal after all legal, fiscal, and administrative requirements for their retention have been met. This records center operation is an invaluable service for all Smithsonian bureaus which need to free up valuable office space for records that document more current business and administrative activities.

During the year, 384.25 cubic feet (768,500 pages) of records scheduled for eventual disposal were deposited in the Center. In addition, 35 cubic feet of records from the Architectural History and Historic Preservation Office were transferred to the center for courtesy storage. The Archives staff disposed of approximately 421.50 cubic feet (843,000 pages) of records in accordance with established disposition schedules and procedures. Some records were also returned to the originating offices per prior agreements. A list of records that were transferred or destroyed during the FY 1998 appears in Appendix E: Records Center Services.

Under the reorganization of the Division, the Records Management (RM) team assumed the activities of the records center operation. As part of its strategic plan, the team worked diligently to develop appraisal criteria for the retention of archival and non-archival records. Some record transfers were reevaluated for their enduring and transitory value. In addition, RM team members drafted disposition schedules for the retention of permanent and temporary records for several Smithsonian bureaus (see the "Bureau Highlights" section of the report). The team also modified the location scheme at the records center to reflect the existing systems used at the Archives' other storage facilities and for easier retrieval of records.

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