- In partnership between Gale, part of Cengage Learning, and the Smithsonian, there are two new products available based on Smithsonian collections: Trade Literature & the Merchandizing of Industry and World’s Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow. Watch the video above to hear SIL Director, Nancy E. Gwinn, and Head of Special Collections, Lilla Vekerdy, discuss the collections, their relevance in research and the significance of digitizing them. [via Unbound blog, SIL]
- “Behind the Badge,” an interactive exhibition, recently opened at the National Postal Museum. It showcases the work of one of the nation’s oldest federal law-enforcement agencies. [via Pushing the Envelope blog, NPM]
- A look at the Smithsonian Transcription Center from the perspective of one of its volunteers. [via The Past Burns Bright]
- New from AVPreserve is The Cost of Inaction Calculator, a free online tool that helps organizations analyze the implications of varying levels of preservation actions when dealing legacy audiovisual collections. [via AVPreserve blog]
- President Obama proclaimed June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month and the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History holds over 68 cubic feet of LGBT-related collections including the DC Cowboys Dance Company Records, an all-male, gay, non-profit dance company based in Washington, D.C. that was active from 1994-2012. [via Smithsonian Collections Blog]
- Recommended reading: The Allure of the Archives, by Arlette Farge; translated by Thomas Scott-Railton; talks about the joys and experience of doing research in an archives. [via AOTUS blog, NARA]
- In the 19th-century, color dictionaries provided a common language for scientists to describe different hues found in nature. One such dictionary was Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, but the Smithsonian's first curator of birds, Robert Ridgway. [via Smithsonian Magazine]
- A boon to anyone standing in line at a grocery store or managing books or archival boxes, last week saw the 40th anniversary of the barcode. [via Core77]
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