Description: On October 27, 2016,12 p.m. EST, we will host a Facebook Live with our archives conservator, Nora Lockshin, and digitization specialist, Kira Sobers. They will give you a peek at the process of taking a historic diary from conservation, to digitization, to transcription by our volunteers on the Transcription Center! We'll keep which diary a secret until the day of, but it just
Description: Dr. Meghan Ferriter, a scholar in online communities, grew the Smithsonian's Transcription Center from 1000 to 9000 volunteers spanning the globe, and rallied the community to help the Smithsonian make over 300,000 pages of primary source documents searchable online! #Groundbreaker
Description: The ever curious story of mailing children by U.S.P.S. [via Smithsonian Magazine]The 2016 American Alliance of Museums MUSE tech award winners were announced, and the Smithsonian Transcription Center won! [via Center for the Future of Museums]A behind-the-scenes look at Google Cultural Institute. [via Wired UK]A super interesting project, Display at Your Own Risk, examining
Description: A look at Spencer F. Baird's tenure at the Smithsonian establishing a network of collectors to launch the Smithsonian's first official museum.
Description: The Hirshhorn is making Yayoi Kusama's blockbuster show accessible with virtual reality. [via Washington Post]Rare sighting of the endangered marbled cat via infrared camera trap! [via National Geographic]Mark your calendars: April 17-21 is Endangered Data Week. [via Digital Library Federation]We contributed to the Nationa Digital Stewardship Alliance's 2016 Web Archiving
Description: You can now download hi-res images of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings, sketches, and letters. [via Open Culture and Vincent Van Gogh Museum]Speaking of Van Gogh, the Art Institute of Chicago has recreated the bedroom in his famous painting and it is now for rent on Air BnB. [via Colossal]More enjoyable art browsing brought to you by technology! Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of
Description: Volunteers have been an integral part of the Smithsonian since the beginning. As our historian Pamela Henson likes to say, we have always relied on the kindness of strangers. A blog post in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month 2015. Includes a list of Smithsonian crowdsourcing projects that volunteers can participate in.
Description: When I started working with museums in 2005, the concept of crowdsourcing was in its infancy. That year, James Surowiecki ‘s book, “The Wisdom of Crowds,” was published and there were tiny experiments in crowdsourcing occurring in the cultural heritage sector. There were hesitations and objections about the whole concept within the GLAM (gallery, library, archive, museum)
Description: 2017 Women's History Month edition!Explore the changing role of female artists with Europeana. [via Europeana Twitter]The Smithsonian's Latino Center is accepting applications for their 2017 Young Ambassadors Program for graduating high school seniors! [via Smithsonian's Office of Fellowships and Internships]You can help transribe Phyllis Diller's joke file from the
Description: Travel with us to the Galapagos and the Marshall Islands as we launch some warm-weather scientific field books, diaries, and correspondence. While it’s not very wintery in Washington D.C., we’re hoping this will offer an escape to those entering the long remaining months of snow, sleet, and ice. And if you’re avoiding the cold, what a better way to spend your time than helping
Description: I was intrigued to receive a tweet from a digital colleague over at the NY Times pertaining to a family story that could very well be solved at the Archives. I’m continuously surprised at the variety of papers we hold here, but by now, I shouldn’t be given how far-reaching and varied the scope of the Smithsonian has been through history. Back to the story. THE elephant that
Description: The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has acquired the earliest known photograph of U.S. President John Quincy Adams. [via Art Fix Daily]For the last 3 decades, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics has amassed 100 years of protest art from around the world. [via AIGA]Related, how museum curators are collecting history as it happens, including those at our own