addition, some Archives staff moved to a newly formed Tech- 

 nical Services Division. The results of these changes have been 

 positive, with staff productivity and accountability increased, 

 and with it a willingness to test different methods and 

 approaches to the archival mission. 



The Institution's records storage facility at National Under- 

 ground Storage (NUS) in Boyers, Pennsylvania, coordinated 

 by Smithsonian Institution Archives, became fully operational 

 during the year. SIA staff from the Technical Services and 

 Archives Divisions supported this important effort, with over 

 5,300 cubic feet of SIA records shipped during the year. In 

 addition, SIA coordinated the shipment of hundreds of feet of 

 additional records and materials from other Smithsonian 

 bureaus to NUS, often providing preservation rehousing and 

 other preparatory support to those bureaus. 



The Technical Services Division, created in October 1997, 

 brought together the preservation team, electronic records 

 program, and office-wide computer support services. The 

 electronic records program (ERP) continued to provide the SI 

 community with electronic records guidance. It initiated a 

 "test bed" project with the Office of the Director, NMAH in 

 which the offices e-mail messages are being stored in a virtual 

 records center and will be transferred in electronic form to 

 SIA at an appropriate point. The preservation team continued 

 to implement the preservation plan initially developed during 

 FY 1997. The team conducted preservation assessments of 470 

 collections, rehoused 73 archival collections into proper 

 storage supplies, treated 5 collections identified as containing 

 mold, and initiated a comptehensive pest monitoring pro- 

 gram for all SIA storage facilities. In addition, the preserva- 

 tion team provided other Smithsonian bureaus with critical 

 preservation services and technical advice. 



The Archives Division placed a renewed emphasis on 

 records appraisal and increased access to archival collections. 

 Building on the refined appraisal criteria developed last year, 

 the Division's records management team conducted impor- 

 tant records surveys and schedules during the year while con- 

 tinuing to transfer and acquire records and papers. The team 

 completed a comprehensive survey and schedule of the Na- 

 tional Museum of the American Indian, the first museum- 

 wide survey and schedule to be carried out by SIA. The team 

 also completed surveys and schedules for the Office of the 

 General Counsel; the Office of the Director, Smithsonian En- 

 vironmental Research Center; and Office of the Director and 

 Central Files of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. The 

 Archivist/Division Director surveyed approximately 1,300 

 cubic feet of the records of the Department of Anthropology 

 and the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) of NMNH 

 during a six-month detail to NAA. While records appraisal 

 dominated the year, other services continued as well. SIA ser- 

 viced a total of 2,981 reference inquiries during the year, an 11 

 percent increase over the previous year. Much of the increase 

 was due to queries received via electronic mail. Efforts to 

 make SIA holdings more accessible kept apace through addi- 

 tional work in the OPAC and WebPAC versions of SIRIS, the 



Smithsonian's online catalog. In addition, important testing 

 of new systems took place with both local and shared 

 databases. SIA added to its holdings during the year through 

 the transfer and acquisition of 837 cubic feet of official 

 Smithsonian records, personal papers, and professional 

 organization records. 



The Institutional History Division (IHD) culminated a 

 year of multiple anniversary events in celebration of the 200th 

 birthday of Joseph Henry. Media coverage of Henry's birthday 

 commemoration was extensive in the Albany, New York area, 

 and published articles about Henry appeared in such news- 

 letters and journals as American Physical Society News and Issues 

 in Science and Technology. A more permanent feature of the 

 commemoration was the Henry Papers home page. Combin- 

 ing 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. The Division's achievements, however, ex- 

 tended well beyond commemorative activity. Volume 8 of 

 The Papers of Joseph Henry, covering the years 1850— 1853, was 

 submitted to Smithsonian Institution Press. In addition, 

 the Joseph Henry Papers Project entered into the Model 

 Editions Partnership, a cooperative effort by documentary 

 editing projects and the National Historical Publications 

 and Records Commission to establish standards for 

 electronic publication. 



The IHD established a significant presence on the 

 Worldwide Web with virtual exhibitions, essays, and guides 

 to historical resources. The IHD's Web site was chosen for 

 participation in "Cybersurfari," an educational Web search 

 activity for K-12 audiences. The "Historic Pictures" site 

 proved to be of particular interest to Web users, receiving 

 over 20,000 hits duting the period May to October 1998. 

 Electronic versions of the exhibitions From Smithson to 

 Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution and Artists at Work 

 were placed on the Web during the year. In addition, the 

 Division initiated a project to digitize the publications. The 

 Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Its Origin and His- 

 tory, by William Jones Rhees, published in 1879 and 1901, and 

 to extend this compilation of legal documents on the 

 Smithsonian from 1900 to 2000. Database development in 

 several subject areas continued, special projects for senior 

 administrators were completed, and several predoctoral, 

 doctoral, and postdoctoral students and scholars were spon- 

 sored by the Division during the year. 



Finally, che National Collections Program (NCP) con- 

 tinued to produce the Institution's annual Collection Statis- 

 tics and, in addition, launched its Web site during FY 

 1998. The site features timely and informative guidelines, 

 publications, and othet resources for collections managers 

 and administrators. The NCP continued to work with the 

 Institution's large collections management community, 

 the Office of General Counsel, the Provost's Office, and 

 others in revising Smithsonian Directive (SD) 600, Collec- 

 tions Management Policy. Undergoing a metamorphosis, 



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