Come Talk to Us Today on Twitter for Ask Archivists Day!

As we mentioned earlier this week, today is AskArchivists Day on Twitter. Starting at 9 am EST, and until 5 pm EST today, Smithsonian expert archivists, will be answering all of your questions about archivists, archiving, and archival collections.Come on over to the Smithsonian Twitter feed, and ask a question by adding @Smithsonian and the hashtag #AskArchivists to your tweet. We wanted to introduce you to the Smithsonian experts you'll be talking to today, so check out their profiles, and the live Twitter feed, below. ***************************************************** Name: Rachael Cristine Woody Position: Archivist Smithsonian Unit: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Favorite object from the collections you work with: I love the squeezes from the Ernst Herzfeld papers. Squeezes are formed by pressing soft, wet, moldable paper, pulp, latex, or plaster into a low relief inscription. When the material is dry and removed, it becomes a multidimensional mirror-image representation of the original inscription. Outside of Iran, the Freer|Sackler Archives contains the largest collection of paper squeeze inscriptions from ancient Iran.  The squeezes are my favorite because they capture a piece of history from our oldest ancient civilizations and discoveries are still being made from studying them. We are currently wrapping up a 3D imaging project that unveils these gems online as a web resource. Areas of expertise: Paper, housing physical collections, collections life cycle (acquisition, preservation, arrangement, description), outreach/advocacy, grant writing. Why you love being an archivist: I love being an archivist because every day I get to touch history.  As an archivist I am the protector and advocate for these historical documents so that they may endure and be accessible for generations to come. ***************************************************** Name: Lynda Schmitz Fuhrig Position: Electronic Records Archivist Smithsonian Unit: Smithsonian Institution Archives Favorite object from the collections you work with: Exhibit planning files are probably my favorite since they provides a behind-a-scenes look at all the work that goes into planning a museum exhibition. Areas of expertise: Born-digital materials that include email messages, audio files, websites, images, text documents, and more. Why you love being an archivist: I love being able to preserve the important and broad history of the Smithsonian Institution, which includes the building plans for the National Museum of the American Indian, the websites of the Anacostia Community Museum, and photographs of works of art at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. When I explain to many people what I do it gets them thinking about their own documents and their long-term importance.