Posts tagged with: Volunteers
Keeping up with our #Volunpeers – SIA’s Transcription Center Accomplishments
When it comes to the Smithsonian Transcription Center, there’s always more to discover, more material with which to engage. It can be easy to lose track of just how much our crowd of #volunpeers accomplished and why it is so important to us. We’re not done yet, but after four years, it’s a good time to take a step back and see what has been accomplished through the effort of over 3,700 volunpeers working on the Archives’ documents.
What’s in a name - #volunpeer
When the TC launched in 2013, we had notions about who might come to work on the projects the Archives and other Smithsonian divisions put online. Honestly, we didn’t expect the volunteers who came to represent such a broad range of interests, experience, and age groups. The dedication they have shown is exemplified by the lesser known people, events, specimens, and the connections between them that they have surfaced. And it does not stop there. In short, we found a community of peers, ‘birds of a feather,’ in our mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. Hence the Twitter hashtag #volunpeers.
Measuring the impact: By the numbers
The number picture below is the easiest to draw an impressive in its own right. I’ve grouped some of the projects into a few topical categories in an effort to open a window on these successes. But first, the numbers …
The sheer numbers are impressive: over 3,700 registered volunpeers have completed over 700 projects, transcribing and reviewing over 38,300 pages of material.
Enabling in-depth access to content
A global audience
However, numbers don’t reveal the true value of the accomplishments this partnership has created and continues to create. The accessibility these efforts have made possible is extraordinary. Instead of the viewing the documents in person at the Archives as was the case years ago, the latest combination of digitization, online access, and in-depth searching opens up a new realm of possibilities. Transcription makes that in-depth searching a reality. Warning: what follows might seem like a lot of content despite being a partial listing. We are grateful to all the volunpeers who helped make it so!
A global scope of material
The Smithsonian’s early emphasis on scientific research led to assembling a national collection with which to facilitate that work. To that end, second Smithsonian Secretary Spencer Baird corresponded with people around the globe in this pursuit. His Index of Correspondence is geographically organized and documents relationships around the world with many of the individuals whose works or specimens our volunpeers transcribe such as Vernon Bailey, William Dall, Robert Kennicott, Benjamin Dann Walsh, C. Hart Merriam, and Frederick W. True. The United States National Museum’s Curators Annual Reports capture how curators sought to collect and distill the new information that was pouring in.
Work by geographical region
Alaska and the Pacific Northwest (33 projects)
- Leonhard Stejneger
- Martin W. Gorman
- Frederick W. True
- George Gibbs
- Albert Spear Hitchcock
- William H. Dall
North America (263 projects)
- Florence Bailey
- James Eike
- G. Arthur Cooper
- Constantine Rafinesque
- Robert Ridgway
- William Henry Holmes
- Bohumil Shimek
- Albert Spear Hitchcock
- Alexander Wetmore
- Harrison G. Dy
- Vernon Bailey
- Frederick Colville
- Ira Gabrielson
- Charles Walcott
The Caribbean and the West Indies (17 projects)
Central and South America (69 projects)
- Martin H. Moynihan
- Cleofe E. Calderon
- Mary Agnes Chase
- Doris Cochran
- Ellsworth Killip
- Albert Spear Hitchcock
- Alexander Wetmore
- Waldo Schmitt
Europe and the UK (13 projects)
Africa and the Middle East (9 projects)
Asia (23 projects)
Antarctic and Oceania (6 projects)
Completed online transcriptions make it possible for researchers, scholars, and scientists to use data mining techniques to first, locate appropriate primary sources, and then analyze that material. We are excited about the prospects of this continued collaboration in the months to come. As #volunpeers remark on Twitter, #welearntogether.
Related Resources
- Field book posts on The Bigger Picture blog.
- Baird’s Network, Bigger Picture blog.
- The Field Book Project blog.
Related Collections
The links in the groupings above lead to the Transcription Center which will in turn link to collection finding aids and catalog records. Another way to find these resources is to search our collections here.
Volunteer Appreciation: Petrina Foti
In recognition of all the incredible work done by our volunteers here at the Smithsonian Institution Archives and across the Smithsonian, I’d like to highlight the work of one of their ranks. Petrina Foti is a volunteer with the Smithsonian Institution Archives’s Oral History Proect. She recently earned a doctorate in museum studies, and has donated her research interviews on collecting and exhibiting computers and software to the Smithsonian Oral History collection. As she works to process these oral history interviews, she tracks down place names, scientific terms, objects and projects mentioned so that future researchers have clear and accurate information.
What did you do before you began working with the Smithsonian Institution Archives?
I was completing my PhD in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester in the UK. Before that, I worked at the National Museum of American History, primarily in the Computers Collection. I actually started as a volunteer as well, but later join as staff. My PhD was about how the Smithsonian collects and exhibits computer history, so my academic work is still fairly closely tied to my museum career.
What brought you to the Smithsonian Institution Archives as a volunteer?
As a PhD candidate and now practicing museologist, I spend a lot of time working on my own and living in my own head, so to speak. I missed working with collections and actively being part of the field. So, after I graduated from Leicester, I looked for something that would let me do that. Of course, one of my main responsibilities is processing the interviews that I conducted during the course of my PhD, so I still am constantly thinking about my research, but from a completely new angle. It’s been really interesting taking something that was meant only for me and my own way of processing information and making it accessible for anyone interested in curatorial history or computer history.
What has been your favorite part of working here?
Working with Pam Henson, Smithsonian Historian, and all the stories that she knows about the Smithsonian, the people who worked here, and their past projects. I’ve learned so much about the Smithsonian, not just in terms of facts and dates, but in terms of the culture and people, both now and generations past. I have a far better and deeper understanding of Smithsonian history than ever before.
What is the most interesting thing you’ve found at the Smithsonian Institution Archives?
Like everything at the Smithsonian, I don’t think I can chose one thing. There’s too much to choose from! It might be easier to list the things that I find boring!
Has your impression of the Smithsonian changed since you began? What’s surprised you the most?
The Smithsonian is constantly surprising me, even after being in the field for over ten years. I feel like the Archives encapsulates everything that makes the Smithsonian, the Smithsonian. I think I understand the Smithsonian better than I ever have before thanks to having worked here.
Want to join in the fun at the Archives? Learn more about how to intern or volunteer! You can also help transcribe materials from collections across the Smithsonian (including the Archvies!) online, at the Smithsonian Transcription Center.
Related Resources
- Thank you, Volunteers!, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Get Involved, Smithsonian
- Pac-Man bites back, O Say Can You See? blog, the National Museum of American History
- Video games, Ralph Baer, and my first accession, O Say Can You See? blog, the National Museum of American History
Understanding growth in insects: Dyar’s Law revisited
Recently, I had a conversation with Dr. Jorge Santiago-Blay, an entomologist whose research includes fossilized insects. A Resident Research Associate in the Department of Paleobiology with the National Museum of Natural History, and faculty member at both the University of Maryland University College and Penn State University York, Dr. Santiago-Blay’s keen interest in insects is contagious.
In his recent investigations, a small, fossilized head in amber was proving difficult to identify. “I was working with students on this old (approximately 100 million years old) fossil, but its identity kept eluding us. What was it? We always seemed to be asking,” Dr. Santiago-Blay said. “Eventually, it became apparent that the fossil specimen was the head of a larva. Sadly, the rest of the body was not available in the fossil. The team began to wonder how large the fossilized larva was. Because, as far as we know, there is only one such fossilized larva available, we decided to measure modern look alikes of the fossilized larva to try to guess the size of the fossilized specimen.” As Dr. Santiago-Blay’s team began garnering and analyzing data, new questions appeared. “As I dug further into the data, the available photos, and so on … I noticed a pattern that reminded me of Dyar’s Rule, but it was different because we were measuring the dimension of a softer body part, the abdomen.”
At the turn of the twentieth century, entomologist Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr. (1886 - 1929) and others researched growth patterns of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), Diptera (flies, such as mosquitoes), and other arthropods. Dyar identified a geometric pattern of increase in the exoskeleton length and width relationships over progressive molting events—indicating that this progression could be measured so consistently that one could reliably predict the size at which the next molting events would occur. We see the first mention of a “Dyar’s Law” in the scientific literature, referring to this progression, as early as the 1920s.
No data set is perfect; there is always extraneous data. When a scientific standard like Dyar’s Law is developed, the analyses used to arrive at the standard include filtering out the “noise” in the data. Dr. Santiago-Blay’s team is taking a fresh look at Dyar’s original, unfiltered observations for clues that might explain how Dyar reached his conclusions.
Santiago-Blay and his team hope to find some answers in Dyar’s original field observations and his personal papers located at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. That will require transcribing a number of Dyar’s field books cover to cover to make as thorough an examination as possible. Last spring, the Smithsonian Transcription Center held a #DigIntoDyar campaign to tackle a number of Dyar’s sawfly field books from the Archives collections.
“I think the Transcription Center and its volunteers are wonderful. The work they do is extremely important. Hopefully, their help transcribing Dyar’s materials will make it possible to discover more answers and better understand Dyar’s Law,” Santiago-Blay said. More of Dyar’s field books are available now for transcription at the Smithsonian Transcription Center.
Related Resources
- Record Unit 7101. Harrison Gray Dyar Papers, 1882-1927, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Harrison G. Dyar Notebooks, Department of Entomology, 1882 - 1925, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- The Impossible Case of Harrison G. Dyar, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- The Bizarre Tale of the Tunnels, Trysts and Taxa of a Smithsonian Entomologist, Smithsonian Magazine
A Wonderful Wetmore Adventure
Thanks to the dedicated (and speedy!) help of the Smithsonian Transcription Center transcribers, more than 40 photo albums put together by former Smithsonian Secretary Alexander Wetmore are now transcribed! The albums cover Wetmore’s extensive travel around the world: from across the United States, during his time with the US Department of Agriculture’s Biological Survey bureau, fresh out of college; to his yearly research trips to Panama during his long career with the Smithsonian.
Wetmore’s ornithology research spanned nearly his entire life, from his first published article at 13, to his book, The Birds of the Republic of Panama. These albums offer a unique insight into the career of a dedicated scientist—not just Wetmore’s tireless field work, but the friendships, adventures, and fun he had along the way.
Transcribing this material has helped unlock a number of new avenues of research. It has provided a key to determining where Wetmore—and a number of Smithsonian researchers and museum leaders who traveled alongside him—researched over a more than 50-year span. It has given us a chance to surface new questions and new information, including names of women scientists and artists who were involved in Wetmore’s field expeditions. It’s provided a lens into how the Smithsonian, and other leading scientific research institutions, conducted field work. These albums have also given us a look at Wetmore as a person—what he found funny or fascinating or unique about the world around him.
Thanks for helping us on this incredible journey, transcribers! In celebration, some of the Smithsonian Transcription Center’s biggest Alexander Wetmore fans have submitted some favorite images from their tireless work on the Wetmore albums—a greatest-hits set of photos from over 50 years of field work (plus a few new Alexander Wetmore field notes, live on the Smithsonian Transcription Center)! Enjoy!
Related Resources
Alexander Wetmore: Observing the Making of a Scientist, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
How Many Birds Have You Seen Today?, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
Thank you, Volunteers!, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
Volunteer Appreciation: Kathy Boi
The fourteen volunteers we have here at the Smithsonian Institution Archives are a vital part of the work we do every day. Our volunteers bring expertise and enthusiasm for the work of the Smithsonian Institution and the Archives, whether it is digital archiving, image research and digitization, or working with our oral history collection. From the volunteer weather observers that worked with our first Secretary Joseph Henry to the thousands of global volunteers who transcribe Smithsonian materials, the Smithsonian’s amazing accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without the help of our more than 12,000 in-person and digital volunteers.
In recognition of all the incredible work done by our volunteers, I’d like to introduce you to Kathy Boi, a volunteer with our Oral History Project. A retired Smithsonian employee, she brings her expertise from her years of work in the Secretary’s Office to making oral history interviews available to the public. As she works with the oral history interviews featuring the Smithsonian Secretaries, she tracks down place names, scientific terms, and projects mentioned in the interviews so that they have clear and accurate information.
What did you do at the Smithsonian before you began volunteering?
I had been a federal employee for several years, working at the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Forest Service, so when my husband and I returned to the Washington, D.C. area, I wanted to continue in federal service. I was thrilled to join the staff in the Office of the Secretary at the Smithsonian in 1982 as a clerk stenographer, transcribing Secretary S. Dillon Ripley’s dictation. Over the next 28 years, I advanced within the office and worked for five Secretaries (S. Dillon Ripley, Robert McCormick Adams, I. Michael Heyman, Lawrence M. Small, and G. Wayne Clough) and one Acting Secretary (Cristián Samper). I retired in 2010 as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary.
How did you start volunteering?
When my husband, Keith, and I retired, we first took a series of classes in bookbinding and restoration; he continued in an apprenticeship, and I moved on to learn handweaving, which I still love doing. Volunteering at the Smithsonian was high on my list. The variety and number of volunteer opportunities at the Smithsonian is amazing – and mind-boggling. I was approached by a number of Smithsonian colleagues who had projects in mind. Over the years, I had worked with Pam Henson, Director of Institutional History in the Smithsonian Archives, and her suggestion that I work on the Oral History Project in the Archives sounded perfect for me.
What has been your favorite project to work on so far?
My favorite interview is the one with Secretary Robert McCormick Adams, which I am currently finishing. I really enjoyed the ten years that I worked for him, and it was a pleasure hearing his voice recount his years as Secretary. Even more fun was listening to a younger Bob Adams in an earlier interview describe his exploits and adventures over his eventful career as an anthropologist.
What is the coolest thing you have found or learned about in the Archives?
I have learned so much about American history listening to interviews (such as Philip Lundeberg, Helena Weiss, and Louis Purnell) and conducting research.
How has your impression of the Smithsonian Institution Archives changed since being here? What’s surprised you the most?
During my career at the Smithsonian, I worked with the Archives staff regularly – archiving the Secretary’s records and doing research. I was shocked to learn how little I really knew about the extent of what is done in the Archives – conservation, preservation, digitization, conducting research, mentoring researchers, the use of technology such as social media to engage the public. The Archives staff is a dedicated and creative group, and I enjoy my association with them immensely.
Want to join in the fun at the Archives? Learn more about how to intern or volunteer! You can also help transcribe materials from collections across the Smithsonian (including the Archvies!) online, at the Smithsonian Transcription Center.
Related Resources
Thank you, Volunteers!, The Bigger Picture Blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives
Smithsonian Volunteers, 2011, Smithsonian Institution Archives
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