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Month: July 2015

The Fix – Understanding Leather






As a book conservator for the Smithsonian Libraries I’ve been given ample opportunity to expand my knowledge through workshops, seminars and professional meetings. One of the most interesting opportunities I’ve recently had was to attend a week long workshop, “Understanding Leather: From Tannery to Collection,” in Northampton, England. The workshop was held at the Leather Conservation Centre, an international center for leather conservation and research, on the campus of the University of Northampton. The course was a mixture of theory and practice with sessions held in a classroom and in the University’s tannery. The goal of the course was to understand the process of leather production to better understand why and how leather deteriorates and therefore better care for it from a preservation angle.

The Anniversary of Museum Cats Day – Cats in Art!






Almost a year ago, the Libraries celebrated “Museum Cat Day”, a social media celebration of cat-related objects in museums which was organized by  Culture Themes.  To see the Libraries’ contributions to Museum Cat Day, check out our Storify account of the action.  On the anniversary of such a fun social media event, we take a look at more cats in art!  This post was contributed by Ria Witteman, intern at the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery (AA/PG) Library summer 2015.  Ria is a rising third year at the University of Virginia, majoring in Art History and Spanish.

Increasing accessibility with the “MARC cocktail”

This post was written by Lesley Parilla, database manager and cataloger for the Field Book Project.

What is a library to do when it has fabulous materials to share with users, but making library records for each item requires significantly more time than a typical collection? This was the challenge of the Russell E. Train Africana collection. It contained materials with both broad public appeal and significant historical value, however content and formats varied widely. The library wanted to create records in the predominant library and archival description standards to assure that materials would be discovered by as wide an audience as possible. By using the library and archive standards, records could easily be shared across online platforms. The Libraries decided to pursue a short term project to see if they could determine a solution to these challenges.

#FantasticObjects Tweet Up with National Museum of American History!

Join us for a Tweet Up with the National Museum of American History and Smithsonian Libraries!

Friday, August 7, 9:00-10:30 A.M. (EDT).

To celebrate the opening of the Innovation Wing in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, 10 lucky Twitter followers will have the opportunity to experience a special tour of two of the wing’s exhibits led by Smithsonian experts and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.

Katzenberger Internship: Art and Artist Files Research at the Hirshhorn and American Portrait Gallery Libraries

Pictured in the Belief + Doubt installation by Barbara Kruger at the Hirshhorn Museum
Pictured in the Belief + Doubt installation by Barbara Kruger at the Hirshhorn Museum

The inescapable question for any college senior is always some variation of “So, graduation is coming up soon, what you plan on doing with your future?” It seems that all other conversation topics must make way to this frightening yet incredibly relevant question.

“For the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge:” from 18th-Century France to the Libraries’ Collections

James Smithson, whose bequest led to the establishment in the mid-19th century of the American institution that now bears his name, famously stated in his will that funds should be used for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” This seemingly vague request is rooted in Enlightenment philosophy, the desire to create order and understanding in the world. As Heather Ewing wrote in The lost world of James Smithson, he was a member “of this distinct breed of English Enlightenment gentleman: citizens of a new republic of science, dedicated to the cause of ‘improvement.’”