Reports of Education, Museum, and Scholarly Services 



47 



Finally, SIA posted a 27 percent increase in reference use 

 of its holdings. There were 4,095 inquiries, which included 

 daily visits, telephone, e-mail, and mail inquiries and 

 charge-outs to Smithsonian units. 



Smithsonian Institution Libraries 



Nancy E. Gwinn, Director 



Expanding the variety and the volume of the information 

 services it offers electronically, the Smithsonian Institution 

 Libraries provided a wealth in information to Smithsonian 

 researchers at their desktops. More full-text e-journals, six 

 digital editions of rare books, and multi-subject reference- 

 desk services were brought on-line to personal computers 

 throughout the Institution and the world. Immediate benefi- 

 ciaries of this growing body of electronic information made 

 available by the Libraries were staff working in Smithsonian 

 research laboratories and in the field on their laptops, in col- 

 lection storage areas, in exhibits design studios, and in 

 education offices. Recognizing the Libraries' reliance on and 

 mastery of electronic resources and technology, Libraries' Di- 

 rector Nancy E. Gwinn established the Information Systems 

 Division this year. Headed by Tom Garnett who was named 

 Assistant Director and appointed to the Libraries' Executive 

 Committee, the division manages the Electronic Library Pro- 

 gram that includes all on-line products and initiatives, from 

 publication of original electronic works and digital editions 

 of rare books ro delivery of information for research in e-jour- 

 nals. Illustrated rare books in natural history and the history 

 of science and technology are now accessible as digital edi- 

 tions to a worldwide audience of book lovers, students, 

 scientists, and bibliographers. Each digital edition carries 

 historical background material prepared by Libraries' staff 

 and subject specialists, which is valued by the researcher and 

 book connoisseur alike. The on-line publication of digital 

 editions has brought these texts to a worldwide audience 

 while safeguarding the Smithsonian Libraries' collections for 

 future generations by reducing the amount of handling of 

 fragile materials. The Jaques Admiralty Law Firm and the 

 Atherton Seidell Endowment Fund provided funding for rhe 

 equipment. The SI Libraries' Imaging Center opened in 

 March as a producrion unit where printed materials are 

 scanned, casting images and text from paper-based materials 

 into a digital format. At the March 2 opening of the SIL 

 Imaging Center, attended by Provost Dennis O'Connor and 

 members of the Libraries' Board, Director Nancy E. Gwinn 

 said, "We cannot yet predicr how these digital editions, 

 which are destined to reach an audience worldwide, will be 

 used in research. As new technologies enable us to move our 

 collections off rhe Mall, it is clear the Libraries plays a crucial 

 role in bringing students, scholars, and members of the pub- 

 lic into the new information age with stunning works kept 

 until now within the securiry of our rare-book libraries." 



The Libraries' administrarion and its Board created the 

 Spencer Baird Society in July. Named for the Smithsonian's 



second Secretary, this annual giving and premiere donor- 

 recognition society recognizes individuals who provide 

 significant philanthropic support for rop priority projects of 

 the Libraries. Some possible uses of Baird Society funds are 

 purchase of unusual or especially important rare books for 

 the collections; acquisition of new equipment to support 

 digitizing efforts for the collections; providing stipends 

 for resident scholars, interns, or a minority postgraduate 

 residency for a new librarian; cataloging a new collection; 

 or conservation treatments of volumes at the top of the 

 Libraries' conservation priority list. 



The Smithsonian Institution Libraries opened its nine- 

 teenth branch at the National Museum of the American 

 Indian Cultural Resources Cenrer in Suitland, Maryland, 

 in February 1999. The branch began offering full-time 

 library services in June when a library technician joined the 

 Libraries. The branch has a limited collection of materials 

 from the curatorial offices and provides interlibrary loan 

 services. 



SIL now offers access to 320 e-journals to its Smithsonian 

 library users. Journal literature in electronic format, or e- 

 journals, as they are called, allows researchers to get to vast 

 amounts of information directly from their compurers. 

 E-journals are invaluable because they allow libraries to 

 make better use of their space and budgets while providing 

 information to a wider audience than could be served on 

 location in the branch libraries. (The number of e-journals 

 published has grown significantly over rhe past five years.) 

 New electronic education aids published by the Libraries 

 published on www.sil.si.edu include Anthropology on the Inter- 

 net for K-12 (1999) by Margaret R. Dittemore, Librarian of 

 the Anthropology Branch. The American Anthropology As- 

 sociation linked this useful K-12 guide to its home page. 

 Offered as part of the larger Smithsonian effort to support 

 education for diverse audiences, each section is illustrated 

 with photographs of Smithsonian anthropologists working 

 in the field or in their laborarories. Modern African Art 

 (1998), an annotated bibliography of more than 350 pub- 

 lished articles, reviews, catalogs, and books prepared by 

 Janet L. Stanley, Librarian of the National Museum of 

 African Art Branch, was published in 1998. Both the 

 African art and the anthropology published guides are up- 

 dated regularly. The Libraries' Web page is also home to 

 "Library and Archival Exhibitions on the World Wide 

 Web," a site with links to approximately 600 on-line exhibi- 

 tions created by or related to libraries, archives, and 

 historical societies. The site, which is maintained by Diane 

 Shaw of SIL staff, received four narional awards and was 

 named the USA Today Hot Site in June. The Libraries' home 

 page has Quick Reference links, and the 19 branch libraries 

 each have home pages with subject-specialty information. 

 The SIL User Guide and its newsletter, "Information," are 

 available on-line along with application forms for its Resi- 

 dent Scholar Programs. 



In 1999 the Libraries completed a multiyear project 

 funded by the Getty Grant Program, creating approximately 

 25,000 on-line bibliographic records relating to the litera- 

 ture of African art and culture. Museum of African Art 



