SPARC

Washington Post Discovers Smithsonian 2.0

The Washington Post did a story on the Smithsonian 2.0 event.

Condensing the two plus days of activity into a traditional print journalism article with limitations of space, coming out two days after the event, etc., was a difficult task. Already, readers have been providing some feedback on the WPost website, so that will help expand the coverage. So, for those of you who were at the event, particularly our invited guests, please do take a look at the piece and add some first hand impressions to supplement the story!

SI Libraries @ Smithsonian 2.0

Smithsonian 2.0 was held January 23-24, 2009. The two-day Smithsonian 2.0 gathering explores how to make SI collections, educational resources, and staff more accessible, engaging, and useful to younger generations (teenage through college students) who will largely experience them digitally. Over 30 creative people from the web and new media world will meet with 30 Smithsonian staff members to generate a vision of what a digital Smithsonian might be like in the years ahead.

A number of SIL staff worked on the event. Keri Thompson and Erin Rushing participated in the "Web and New Media Fair" demonstrating the Biodiversity Heritage Library and the Encyclopedia of Life; also at the "Web and New Media Fair," Doug Dunlop, Alvin Hutchinson, and Doug Litts showed a variety of other SIL online projects. I was part of the Smithsonian Web 2.0 organizing committee and was co-chair of the "Web and New Media Fair."

Perhaps the most interesting part of the event for the outside visitors (dubbed "the Digerati") were the behind the scenes tours of Smithsonian treasures and projects. Keri Thompson led a group through the BHL Scanning room while Daria Wingreen-Mason (above) wowed the group with a spectacular display of items from the Cullman Library, including a volume of the Audubon double-elephant folio (not seen in the above picture).

All SI staff are encourgaged to read more about the event and to participate in the ongoing discussion a the new Smithsonian 2.0 blog.

You can also see some more photos from the event on Flickr; you can also read some of the instant mini-blog postings by participants on Twitter.

Smithsonian Libraries Contributes to Inaugural

Of all the spectacular sites seen the past few days as Washington prepared for the inauguration of the 44th President,  one of the most striking was the staging of many dozens of portable coat racks in Smithsonian Libraries' library hall here in the National Museum of Natural History.

Also impressive were the great leaning tower of chairs that were stored near the Director's office (shortly after this picture was taken, a safety minded staffer turned the chairs the other way - just in case they were to topple over!).