Reports of the Museums and Research Institutes 



63 



predators and significantly increasing their mortality. This 

 could be bad news lor insects. 



SERC scientist, Dr. Peter Marra, began a unique citizen 

 science program. "Neighborhood Nestwatch" enlists the 

 help citizens in studies of the resident and migratory birds 

 in their own backyards. Marra and his assistants capture and 

 tag birds at the homes of volunteers who record observations 

 of the birds to leatn more about their adaptations to a chang- 

 ing suburban environment. 



The launch of the ttaveling exhibition "Tales of the Blue 

 Crab" was another important milestone in SERC's educa- 

 tional outreach program this year. The exhibition made a 

 triumphant premiere at Hillsmere Elementary School in An- 

 napolis, Maryland, and will circulate among schools and 

 other public venues. Viewers of the exhibition learn about 

 SERC's research on the ecology of the Blue Crab and the 

 Chesapeake Bay. 



This year SERC achieved significant progress toward con- 

 serving rural lands within its core research site in the Rhode 

 River watershed. The Maryland Rural Legacy Program 

 awarded $2 million to the partnership of SERC and Anne 

 Arundel County to preserve rural lands. Maryland Governor 

 Parris Glendening came to SERC to announce the award and 

 affirm his support of these conservation efforts. While visit- 

 ing SERC, the governor interacted with school children 

 participating in SERC's popular hands-on learning experi- 

 ence, "Estuary Chesapeake." 



Smithsonian Institution Archives 

 Edie Hedlin, Director 



The Smithsonian Institution Archives continued to empha- 

 size improving internal systems and promoting outreach 

 in 2000. The Archives materially improved its collection 

 management functions during the year. The Records Man- 

 agement, Arrangement and Description, and Reference 

 teams set out to develop better internal control over their ac- 

 tivities and to enhance reference service. With programming 

 support from the Technical Services Division, a new collec- 

 tion management system was created. It incorporates in one 

 platform the accession system; priority controls for process- 

 ing materials based on use and preservation needs; physical 

 location control in the four locations used by the Archives; 

 links to electronic folder lists available on the Web; and 

 reports for management. The system is designed to be 

 compatible with the Smithsonian Institution Research Infor- 

 mation System (SIRIS). Along with other affected Archives 

 units the Division successfully migrated the first set of its 

 data to the new Horizon SIRIS system, including 260 

 agency histories and 788 record series. 



By hiring a Preservation Manager to coordinate both interal 

 and external preservation activities for the archival commu- 

 nity, SIA consolidated its commitment to enhancing both the 

 environmental and physical conditions of its collections. SIA 

 developed preservation policies for moving image materials 



and accessioned film and videotape from Smithsonian Produc- 

 tions. The Preservation Team improved the overall storage 

 conditions of more than 650 cubic feet of archival records by 

 rehousing this material. The focus for the Electronic Records 

 Program was offering workshops to staff on the development 

 of model guidelines for electronic record keeping systems. 



The Institutional History Division made significant 

 progress on a number of programs during FY 2000. The 

 Joseph Henry Papers Project completed the annotations for 

 volume 9 of The Papers of Joseph Henry, which will focus on 

 the years 1854-1857. A new grant for the Joseph Henry 

 Papers Project was received from an anonymous foundation. 

 The Historian's Office recorded oral history interviews with 

 several staff members and initiated a preservation program 

 for the Oral History Collection. 



A new exhibition, "The Smithsonian at the Turn of the 

 Century," located on the balcony outside the SI Archives 

 provided a glimpse of the Institution 100 years ago. A 

 virtual version of this exhibition was also created 

 (http://www.si.edu/archives/century/index.htm), one of a 

 number of digital initiatives. "This Day in Smithsonian 

 History," a Web site on both the World Wide Web and the 

 Si's intranet, Prism, taught the public and Smithsonian staff 

 about the Institution's history 



(http://www.si.edu/archives/thisday/index.htm). Additions 

 to the Joseph Henry Papers Project Web site (http://www.si. 

 edu/archives/ihd/jhp/index.htm) included a selection of 

 Henry documents, an essay on "Henry and the Telephone," 

 and a survey of Joseph Henry namesakes. The Henry Papers 

 Project participated in the Model Editions II Partnership, a 

 cooperative effort to develop standards for placing documen- 

 tary editions on the Web. Selections from Volume 7 oiTbe 

 Papers of Joseph Henry were made available on the MEP Web 

 site (http://adh.sc.edu/jh/jh-table.html). 



Pam Henson, in cooperation with Edie Hedlin, James 

 Hobbins, and John Huerta, continued a project to digitize 

 the publication, The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative 

 to Its Origin and History, by William Jones Rhees, published 

 in 1879 and 1901, and to update this compilation of legal 

 documents on the Smithsonian from 1900 to 2000. Henson 

 continued research on phase two, the legal documents from 

 1900 to 2000. A volunteer, Doris Jensen, former librarian at 

 the Supreme Court of the United States, continued to share 

 her considerable knowledge of legal history research and 

 completed a great deal of research on the project. Work on 

 published legal documents from 1826 to 2000 was near 

 completion at the end of the year. 



During 2000, The National Collections Program (NCP) 

 made major progress toward completing the revision of 

 Smithsonian Directive (SD) 600: Collections Management 

 Policy. Following the issuance by the Secretary of the 

 "Smithsonian Collections Management Guidelines" in May 

 1999, the office finalized two exposure drafts of the directive 

 for review and comment by Smithsonian museums and col- 

 lecting units. The positive responses to the exposure drafts 

 reflected the time and effort NCP, SI offices, and collecting 

 unit staff have contributed to the project. 



