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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Accession 21-011

National Museum of American History

Website Records, 2008-2020

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:National Museum of American History
Title:Website Records
Dates:2008-2020
Quantity:
Collection:Accession 21-011
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This accession consists of various websites and sections of websites maintained by the National Museum of American History. The primary National Museum of American History (NMAH) website was crawled on October 31, 2019. The website includes information about the museum and its exhibitions, collections, special events, and staff as well as online exhibitions and educational resources. Detailed collections information is not included in this accession. An embedded blog, "O Say Can You See?," was crawled separately on the same date. The blog launched in July 2008. The "American Enterprise" exhibition overview page on the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, includes information about the exhibition. The Archives Center section of the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, includes information about the Archives Center and its collections and exhibitions. This accession does not include detailed information about individual collections. The "History Wired: A Few of Our Favorite Things" overview page on the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, provides information about an experimental website of that name which was retired in 2016 due to browser compatibility issues. The website had been a virtual tour of selected collection objects, many of which were not on public display. The Smithsonian Jazz section of the NMAH website, crawled on February 21, 2020, contains information about jazz-related collections, research, educational programs, and events at NMAH and across the Smithsonian Institution as well as information about the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Jazz Appreciation Month. The Adobe Flash-based "Preparing for the Oath: U. S. History and Civics for Citizenship" section of the NMAH website was both crawled and manually captured on August 26, 2020. Due to issues with Flash, neither capture is complete and server files were also received. The web section serves as an online study guide for the civics portion of the United States Naturalization Test. Shortly after these captures, the web section was redesigned to no longer use Flash which would not be supported by Adobe after December 2020. The "Smithsonian's History Explorer" website, crawled on February 21, 2020, was developed by NMAH in partnership with the Verizon Foundation to offer free, innovative online resources for teaching and learning American history. These resources focus on learning history by "reading" objects for the stories they hold about the nation and its many peoples. Learning activities feature artifacts selected from the museum's collections and draw on the expertise of the museum's curatorial staff. Due to technical issues, some multimedia may not function properly. The "'What It Means to Be American': A National Conversation Hosted by the Smithsonian and Zócalo Public Square" blog, crawled on February 21, 2020, is a national, multiplatform, multimedia conversation hosted by NMAH and Zócalo Public Square that brings together leading thinkers, public figures, and Americans from all walks of life to explore big, visceral questions about how the nation's past can help everyone understand its present and imagine its future. The blog, launched in 2014, includes long-form articles on a variety of topics as well as images and short-form posts submitted by the public in response to specific questions. Materials are in electronic format.

Descriptive Entry

This accession consists of various websites and sections of websites maintained by the National Museum of American History.

The primary National Museum of American History (NMAH) website was crawled on October 31, 2019. The website includes information about the museum and its exhibitions, collections, special events, and staff as well as online exhibitions and educational resources. Detailed collections information is not included in this accession. An embedded blog, "O Say Can You See?," was crawled separately on the same date. The blog launched in July 2008.

The "American Enterprise" exhibition overview page on the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, includes information about the exhibition.

The Archives Center section of the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, includes information about the Archives Center and its collections and exhibitions. This accession does not include detailed information about individual collections.

The "History Wired: A Few of Our Favorite Things" overview page on the NMAH website, crawled on February 14, 2020, provides information about an experimental website of that name which was retired in 2016 due to browser compatibility issues. The website had been a virtual tour of selected collection objects, many of which were not on public display.

The Smithsonian Jazz section of the NMAH website, crawled on February 21, 2020, contains information about jazz-related collections, research, educational programs, and events at NMAH and across the Smithsonian Institution as well as information about the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Jazz Appreciation Month.

The Adobe Flash-based "Preparing for the Oath: U. S. History and Civics for Citizenship" section of the NMAH website was both crawled and manually captured on August 26, 2020. Due to issues with Flash, neither capture is complete and server files were also received. The web section serves as an online study guide for the civics portion of the United States Naturalization Test. Shortly after these captures, the web section was redesigned to no longer use Flash which would not be supported by Adobe after December 2020.

The "Smithsonian's History Explorer" website, crawled on February 21, 2020, was developed by NMAH in partnership with the Verizon Foundation to offer free, innovative online resources for teaching and learning American history. These resources focus on learning history by "reading" objects for the stories they hold about the nation and its many peoples. Learning activities feature artifacts selected from the museum's collections and draw on the expertise of the museum's curatorial staff. Due to technical issues, some multimedia may not function properly.

The "'What It Means to Be American': A National Conversation Hosted by the Smithsonian and Zocalo Public Square" blog, crawled on February 21, 2020, is a national, multiplatform, multimedia conversation hosted by NMAH and Zocalo Public Square that brings together leading thinkers, public figures, and Americans from all walks of life to explore big, visceral questions about how the nation's past can help everyone understand its present and imagine its future. The blog, launched in 2014, includes long-form articles on a variety of topics as well as images and short-form posts submitted by the public in response to specific questions.

Materials are in electronic format.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 21-011, National Museum of American History, Website Records

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Container List

Electronic Records

National Museum of American History (NMAH) website, crawled October 31, 2019

Electronic Records

"O Say Can You See?" Blog on the NMAH website, 2008-2019, crawled October 31, 2019

Electronic Records

"American Enterprise" exhibition overview page on the NMAH website, crawled February 14, 2020

Electronic Records

Archives Center section of the NMAH website, crawled February 14, 2020

Electronic Records

"History Wired: A Few of Our Favorite Things" overview page on the NMAH website, crawled February 14, 2020

Electronic Records

Smithsonian Jazz section of the NMAH website, crawled February 21, 2020

Electronic Records

"Preparing for the Oath: U. S. History and Civics for Citizenship" section of the NMAH website, crawled August 26, 2020

Electronic Records

"Preparing for the Oath: U. S. History and Civics for Citizenship" section of the NMAH website, manually captured August 26, 2020

Electronic Records

"Preparing for the Oath: U. S. History and Civics for Citizenship" section of the NMAH website, server files, received August 27, 2020

Electronic Records

"Smithsonian's History Explorer" website, crawled February 21, 2020

Electronic Records

"'What It Means to Be American': A National Conversation Hosted by the Smithsonian and Zocalo Public Square" blog, 2014-2020, crawled February 21, 2020

Electronic Records