Smithsonian 2.0

Washington Post Discovers Smithsonian 2.0

The Washington Post did a story on the Smithsonian 2.0 event.

Condensing the two plus days of activity into a traditional print journalism article with limitations of space, coming out two days after the event, etc., was a difficult task. Already, readers have been providing some feedback on the WPost website, so that will help expand the coverage. So, for those of you who were at the event, particularly our invited guests, please do take a look at the piece and add some first hand impressions to supplement the story!

Behind the Scenes Smithsonian Site Visits: Smithsonian Libraries

Smithsonian staff and guests gather at the Easter Island statue in the National Museum of Natural History before heading off for a tour of Smithsonian Libraries' Cullman Library and Biodiversity Heritage Library Mass Digitization Scanning Center.

Smithsonian Libraries, situated at the center of the world's largest museum complex, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL) forms a vital part of the research, exhibition, and educational enterprise of the Institution.

The group were able to visit the Smithsonian’s world-class Cullman Library collection of rare books in anthropology and the natural sciences where collections stand alone as objects of great aesthetic interest as well as serve ongoing scientific and research needs. Also tour the Biodiversity Heritage Library scanning center which has digitized over 11 million pages of text in the past 12 months.

(below - top - Keri Thompson in the Biodiversity Heritage Library Scanning Center; below - Daria Wingreen-Mason with a selection of rare materials from the Cullman Library)

Who doesn't love whiteboards?

Just love whiteboards don't you? The smell of the erasable markers? Maybe some of the older of you will have the same feeling for overheads!

But, well, there's something about whiteboards that is really fun.

Today, at the Smithsonian 2.0 meeting, Brad Ferren ("PowerPoint is evil") took advantage of the stage spanning whiteboard of the Lecture Hall of the Smithsonian's Ripley Center to give Smithsonian staff and guests and mini lecture on the Pantheon, Gothic Cathedrals, and the hope for a future for museums in general and the Smithsonian in particular.

Bran gave us six points to think about ... any guesses as to what they were?

What Visitors are Saying: A View into the Smithsonian on the Flickr Commons

On June 16^th, 2008, the Smithsonian Institution made its first foray onto the world of social photo-sharing websites as the fourth institution to join the Flickr Commons. The Commons is a special area of Flickr that gathers together photo collections from both national and international libraries, museums, and archives.

Here is a summary of moments that have excited, and frankly at times, baffled us. 

People really do like portraits of long dead scientists

If the truth be told, none of the members of the Smithsonian Commons team expected much response to the SI Libraries photo set, “Portraits of Scientists and Inventors.” Boy were we wrong.

The scientists hold 4 of the top 20 slots for ‘most viewed’ photos from the Smithsonian photostream (Smithsonian photos have received over 1.2 million ‘views’ to date). To be fair, 3 of the 4 photos are of famous scientists (Albert Einstein and Marie Curie) and the fourth is an intriguing shot of Felix Nadar (photographer and aeronautical scientist) in a hot air balloon.

 

Portrait of Felix Nadar (1820-1910), Photographer and Aeronautical Scientist,1910, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2583275097/

“America’s Attic” is relevant in social media environments

…especially when it hits on current events (the presidential inauguration) or issues (evolution vs. creationism).

The SI Archives launched a set of rare, previously unpublished photos to the Commons which document the Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes Trial, a.k.a. “The Trial of the Century.” Flickr members debated constitutional amendments, science, and religion.

Tennessee v. John T. Scopes Trial: The Seven scientists asked to testify for the defense standing in front of the Defense Mansions, 1925, by Walton Davis, Smithsonian Insitution Archives, http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2898310107/

We see historical record, they see creative inspiration

One flickr member, who happens to be a digital artist, was inspired by this portrait of Edward Gay from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art:

Reinterpretation of Edward Gay portrait (Smithsonian Archives of American Art) by Flickr user, "Lynchburg, Virginia,"  http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynchburgvirginia/3078329663/

Web communities, like Flickr, aren’t just distractions for the hip and wired

Since joining the Commons, we have connected with fish researchers (www.fishbase.org), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see their identification of artworks from the Met’s collection attached as a note on a photo from the SI Arhives of American Art), history buffs, and enthusiastic fans around the world. 

In a non-scientific survey of 61 visitors to SI on the Commons, they self-identified as ‘regular people’, photographers, bloggers, students, researchers, educators, librarians, and even one craftsperson. As a side note, 100 % of these respondents have a more favorable opinion of the Smithsonian because of our participation in the Commons.