Dear Friends, I want to let you know that I will retire at the end of 2019. When I tell this to people, they always ask what my plans will more »
Author: Nancy Gwinn
This piece was written by Nancy E. Gwinn, Director, Smithsonian Libraries, for our summer 2015 printed newsletter magazine. To obtain a copy of our printed newsletter, email obriene@si.edu.
The Smithsonian Libraries has an updated look, as you may have noticed. Recently, we simplified our name, dropping the word “Institution” for simplicity’s sake and because people always say “institute” instead. So we are now Smithsonian Libraries. And we’ve rolled out our new brand, the colored dots that will grace all of our products, fondly known as “chromazones,” a play on “chromosome,” with “chroma” meaning color in Greek and “zones” describing areas of our collections; green is Natural & Physical Sciences, purple is Special Collections (rare books & manuscripts), orange is Art & Design, and blue is History & Culture. You’ll find these on our website, our mobile apps, our brochures, our name badges, and anywhere else we can think to put them.
On March 22-29, I traveled to Panama and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) with members of the Smithsonian’s Science Executive Committee. This is the science unit directors group who meet with the interim Undersecretary for Science each month. Others on the trip were Scott Miller, the Office of the Undersecretary for Science (OUSS) staff, Cynthia Brandt Stover, Smithsonian Campaign Director and Jenny McWilliams, Science Advancement Officer. Oh yes, and Stacy Cavanaugh’s 12-year-old son.
From howler monkeys to fossil boas, from blue morpho butterflies to the top of the forest canopy, seven members of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and their spouses and guests more »
There is probably no better place to be during the holidays than the White House. I was privileged to attend the ceremony for the 2010 Winners of the IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services) National Medal. First Lady Michelle Obama elegantly presented each award in the East Room.
I was privileged recently to represent the Smithsonian Institution at an organizational meeting of the new National Digital Stewardship Alliance, which is a follow-on group to the Library of Congress’s NDIIP (National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program).
Mary Augusta Thomas and I, Nancy Gwinn, went to Panama this week to visit our library at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center. We saw the renovated library reading space, where extra more »