Description: Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields thousands of questions per year.
Description: In the Smithsonian Institution Archives, we each have our favorite stories that are told through materials in our collections. Several times a year we might give "treasures shows" for interns or special visitors, and we pluck items that highlight moments and people in the Institution's history. We pull out a draft of James Smithson's will, letters from the Wright brothers,
Description: The story of the first emoji which can be found in the Museum of Modern Art's collection. [via AIGA Eye on Design]U.S. National Archives is celebrating former first Lady and women’s rights advocate, Betty Ford, with new resources and citizen archivist activities where you can learn more about her life! [via NARA]Use this app, Native Land, to learn about the indigenous history
Description: Searching through the Smithsonian Institution Archives collections to find our who designed the star logo for the National Collection of Fine Arts.
Description: Some refer to the Smithsonian as "America's Attic." It probably earned this nickname because throughout its history, the Smithsonian has acquired artifacts, relics, paintings, personal collections, and even hair samples related to the Commander in Chief (yes, the National Museum of American History has a collection of presidential hairs!).With Presidents' Day coming up on
Description: Did you know that April is Records and Information Management Month? What is records and information management? Glad you asked! [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Dan Brown Books, by Federico Filacchione, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] Information is collected data, thoughts, ideas, or memories. Records are documents that contain information