Smithsonian Libraries

A Typical Day at the Library

 While recently wandering through the twisting halls of the National Museum of American History, my colleagues and I bumped into a young researcher at the Libraries' American History Library.

Joseph Conrad, an intern from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fl, is spending the summer studying the archives of the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Museum, formerly known as the National Museum. His research will include how the museum has changed its role throughout its long history.

The Arts and Industries Museum, completed in 1881, boasts Victorian architecture, and is currently under renovation. It served as the spot for President James A. Garfield’s inaugural ball, and has hosted numerous other significant occasions. While under renovation, visitors can view its amazing façade (located beside the Smithsonian Castle), and if traveling with children, can also ride the carousel out front!

Smithsonian Institution Libraries welcomes the general public, scholars, interns, and researchers like Joseph, and  to study and enjoy the many unique collections our twenty libraries have to offer!—Liz O'Brien

Centennial of the Discovery of the Burgess Shale

2009 is the centennial year of the discovery of the Burgess Shale fossil in the Rocky Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, Canada.

In 1909, Charles Walcott—the fourth secretary of the Smithsonian Institution—made the discovery of these fossils and continued to document and collect more than 65,000 specimens from the Walcott Quarry (named in his honor) between 1910 and 1924.

"Burgess Shale" (which takes its name from a nearby mountain called Mount Burgess) refers to one of the world's most fertile fossil localities, with well preserved fossils in which even the soft parts (such as gills, legs, and guts) remain. The fossils are 505 million years in the making (from the Middle Cambrian age) and comprises areas of the town of Field, British Columbia to Yoho National Park, near the border to the province of Alberta. The time period these fossils represent show evidence of an "evolutionary Big Bang" in which all major types of animals suddenly show up in the fossil record, resulting in a great expansion in biodiversity.

The Burgess Shale area at this time straddled the equator, with plant and wildlife living in a warm, shallow sea. The land was completely devoid of life with only marine plants and marine invertebrate animals existing at this time. This discovery was important to the field of paleontology and evolutionary biology due to its age, the detailed level of preservation, and important clues as to the nature of evolution with all the major types of animals (phyla) known today as well as those that cannot be placed on modern classification systems. The Burgess Shale has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks since 1981.—Brett Lambert

The Libraries' Biodiversity Heritage Library has a variety of Charles Walcott's findings on the Burgess Shale digitized for your viewing pleasure here.

Photo of Charles Walcott courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

A three-hour tour...

On June 26 twenty-three Catholic University of America (CUA) library program students and two instructors, Diane Schnuurpusch and Michele Masias, came to the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries three-hour tour, as part of the CUA 31st Institute on Federal Library Resources.

The first hour was a question and answer session between the students and National Museum of American History librarians Chris Cottrill and Jim Roan, about the library's role within a museum and academic setting. Samples of the Libraries' trade literature collection were put on display by Roan.

After the first session ended, the students were divided into two groups, with one group staying on-site for a talk by museum curator Dr. Peggy Kidwell, National Museum of American History Information & Communications Technology, who gave a presentation with collection objects on research and using the library. The other group visited the Dibner Library for a tour into the collection vault and reading room given by Special Collections head, Lilla Vekerdy. The groups then switched places and attended the other sessions.—Chris Cottrill

Something about Mary…

Mary Jinglewski from Cottey College joined the Libraries for a six-week internship this summer.  Jinglewski, hailing from the state of Georgia, spent her internship in the National Museum of American History Library.  Some projects she worked on included developing web 2.0 strategies for the library, providing the trade literature and cataloging spotlight for the monthly report, shelving and pulling books, and escorting and assisting researchers that pass through the library. Jinglewski also initiated an informal survey of the visitors to the Libraries' exhibition Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration, located in the Libraries exhibition gallery on the first floor of the National Museum of American History.  Jinglewski also served as a frequent and lively contributor to this blog. In addition to these assignments, Jinglewski kept especially busy by working one day per week at the National Museum of the American Indian Library. 

Jinglewski recently earned two general associates degrees, both in arts and sciences, from Cottey College, a women’s college in Nevada, Missouri (pronounced “Ne-VAY-da” to the non-insider…).  She plans to continue her studies at Berry College in Rome, Ga., in August.  Jinglewski says the internship with the Libraries appealed to her because she “would receive a wide range of unique experiences that can’t be found elsewhere.  The atmosphere of the Smithsonian Libraries fosters creativity and innovation like no other place.”

A budding librarian, Jinglewski also applied for the internship to help her explore current trends in librarianship and plan a course of study for an eventual masters degree in library science. Although a collector of golden age sci-fi novels (Poul Anderson, Andre Norton, and Anne McCaffrey), Jinglewski primarily reads non-fiction and political science texts.  She is a whiz at movie trivia (if you see her, try to stump her!). She also enjoys traveling, and embarked on a trip to New Zealand for her spring break this year.—Liz O'Brien

photo by Lu Rossignol