THE COLLECTIONS

IN FISCAL YEAR 1998 ➣ 7,409 acquisition purchase orders prepared

➣ 18,847 titles cataloged

➣ 171 E(electronic) journals and 30 other 

electronic titles cataloged

➣ 12,205 volumes labeled, bound, and boxed

➣ 1,479 inventory records created for uncataloged Special Collections materials

➣ 466 volumes treated in the Book

Conservation Laboratory

➣ 208 brittle books microfilmed

➣ 13,644 journal issues checked in

IN THE COLLECTIONS

➣ 1,215,848 volumes

➣ 6,126 current serial/journal subscriptions

➣ 184,515 microform units

➣ 2,102 manuscript units (groups)

ACQUISITIONS

➣ 46% of the books added to SIL collections were

acquired as gifts or from exchange partners

The Libraries offered 177 full-text journals online

this year to library users on the Smithsonian staff.

Published by Academic Press, these journals cover the

fields of science, technology, and medicine

With a $10,000 grant from the Latino Initiatives

Fund, the Libraries purchased a number of printed

materials in the field of Latino Studies

GIFT AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM

➣ 4,651 Exchange partners

➣ 5,455 books received as gifts were added 

to the collection

➣ 3,142 journal titles received on exchange

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 1998

Fiscal Year October 1, 1997-September 30, 1998

IN 1998...

The Collections 1

Services to Our Users 2

New Enterprises 3

How We Make It Happen 4

Education and Service 5

Exhibitions and Publications 6

Supporting The Libraries’ Efforts 7-8

Smithsonian Institution Libraries

“The Queen Pine” by Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History

of the Island of Barbados (1673), purchased with gift and

endowment funds
2

SERVICES TO OUR USERS

USER BENEFITS

➣ 50,010 reference questions were answered by

branch library staff

➣ 51,014 items were charged out to users

➣ 260,361 circulation transactions handled by staff

➣ 129,455 items were browsed by users on site

➣ Interlibrary loan services to Libraries’ users were

improved with the establishment of the Ariel Internet

service which facilitated delivery of 468 articles borrowed from other institutions

AFRICAN ART INDEXING PROJECT

By the end of FY 1998, 18,869 records had been

entered into the African Art Index, with 6,911 added

during the fiscal year. These records, compiled by Janet

L. Stanley from published literature about African art

(pamphlets, journal articles, chapters in books, conference proceedings) are available in the SIL catalog on

SIRIS (www.siris.si.edu) and in OCLC, the international

bibliographic database. A keyword search of AFAINDEX?

will retrieve a complete sub-set of the African Art Index

records. The project is support by a grant from The

Getty Grant Program.

RENOVATIONS & NEW SPACES

➣ The number of branch libraries expanded to 19 

as planning continued for the FY 1999 opening of

the National Museum of the American Indian Branch

in Suitland, Maryland, and the FY 2000 opening of

the Natural History Rare Book Library in the Natural

History Building

➣ Anthropology Branch and Birds Library relocated and

continued operations with reduced collections during

building renovations

➣ Central Reference and Loan Services closed for

building renovations. Relocated staff continued to

provide reference and Interlibrary loan services

➣ Preservation Services Department made room to

accommodate a digital imaging laboratory scheduled

to open in FY 1999

INTERLIBRARY LOANS OF SIL ITEMS

4,312 books and articles from SIL collections were

loaned to other institutions in 1998

More than 400 items were loaned to

➣ National Agriculture Library

100-230 items were loaned to

➣ World Wildlife Fund Library

➣ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

➣ National Institute of Standards and Technology

➣ University of Delaware

➣ University of Georgia

50-100 items were loaned to

➣ State University of New York Albany

➣ University of Maryland College Park

➣ National Geographic Society Library

➣ Johns Hopkins University

➣ Louisiana State University

➣ Georgetown University

➣ University of Puerto Rico

➣ Texas A&M University

➣ George Washington University

ENDOWMENT

SUPPORT

The Wineland

Research Library

Endowment was

established to

provide support

for activities and

research relating

to Native American and exploration literature

in conjunction

with the purchase of the Charlotte and Lloyd Wineland Collection of

Native American and Western Exploration Literature.

RIPLEY LIBRARY ENDOWMENT

The S. Dillon Ripley Library Endowment, established

in 1983 on the occasion of Secretary emeritus Ripley’s

80th birthday, has enabled the Libraries to acquire 444

books in the past five years to enrich the non-rare collections, many specifically requested by Smithsonian

curators and scholars to support ongoing and new

research projects. In 1998, 94 works were purchased

for 16 branches.

“Herd of Bison and Elk” (Tab. 47),

Prince Maxmillian Wied, Reise in das

Innere Nord-America in den Jahren

1832 bis 1834. Atlas 1839-41, from the

Wineland Collection

“And the staff coped magnificently with disruptions,

displacements, noise, debris, sudden returns of

large office collections, fumes, leaks, sprinklers

going off, cold air, moves and closing of branches.” 

Nancy E. Gwinn, SIL Director
3

NEW ENTERPRISES

PUBLISHING FOR THE WORLD-WIDE

AUDIENCE ON THE INTERNET

The Libraries’ online exhibition, From Smithson to

Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution, was

launched in April with an attached set of Lesson Plans

created by the Smithsonian Office of Education for high

school students relating to themes of history and government. Notices about the educational online exhibition

and the history class curriculum materials were mailed

out to 5,000 history teachers in schools which have

Internet access. The schools, reaching into all 50 states,

included middle, junior high and high schools, public

and private schools, and schools in urban and rural settings and with large and small student populations. The

notices and the mailing were supported by a grant from

the Smithsonian Office of Education. 

SIL HOME PAGE <WWW.SIL.SI.EDU> ➣ 756 was the average daily number of visits to the SIL

web site

➣ By September, the average daily number of “hits” on

SIL’s Home Page reached 9,001

➣ Nearly 4% of online visitors came from outside 

the U.S., from Singapore and South Africa to Brazil

and Sweden

➣ June 18, 1998, was the busiest day of the year

➣ The Internet Reference Tools section was the most

popular portion of the SIL web site

The Home Page was re-designed in September, introducing a new subject guide to the Internet that organizes

web sites by subject disciplines investigated by

Smithsonian staff. The new design features images from

the collections.

GRANTS

The Atherton Seidell Endowment Fund awarded the

Libraries $47,690 to initiate a project to digitize rare literature in the Natural History collections. A digital imaging

production unit headed by Susan Blaine, head of the

Libraries’ Preservation Services Department is being set up

at the Libraries’ facility on North Capitol Street.

The Libraries established a Natural History Rare

Books Advisory Committee to make recommendations

about which books will be digitized. The goal is to bring

research treasures from the collection to an international audience on the World Wide Web. 

The Smithsonian Women’s Committee funded a project to preserve a collection of nineteenth-century books

in the Horticulture Branch. The Libraries’ will use the

award of $3,780 to clean and purchase protective enclosures for over 500 books.

The Libraries published on its Home Page (www.sil.si.edu)

a digital edition of Jakob Sturm’s Verzeichniss meiner

Insecten-Sammlung (1796) with an introduction by Leslie

Overstreet, Curator of Natural History Rare Books, and an

appendix with an alphabetical index to the species

described in the text and illustrated in the plates.

James Smithson (1765-1829)
4

HOW WE MAKE IT HAPPEN

THE PEOPLE

The Libraries had 112 members on its staff in 

FY 1998 (nine joined the staff this year) and two 

student workers.

VOLUNTEERS

Donate their time and skills in 12 of the branch

libraries and in several offices, from Acquisitions

Services to Information Systems. This year

➣ 8,942 hours were contributed by 57 volunteers. 

From that total,

➣ 2,465 hours from 14 volunteers in the National

Museum of African Art Branch

➣ 1,019 hours from volunteers at the National Air and

Space Museum Branch

➣ 1,207 hours from 10 volunteers at the Book

Conservation Laboratory, Preservation 

Services Department

We thank them, one and all, for helping the Libraries

bring better service and fulfill its mission.

ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES

In January the Libraries implementated an alternate

work schedule policy, allowing most Libraries’ staff to

develop schedules flexible enough to respond to ongoing

educational and family needs and other commitments.

The plan was the result of hard work on the part of an

interdivisional task group, which took into account the

varieties of schedules, types of positions, and workloads

across the Libraries.

THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Funding Sources

Federal Appropriation $6,478,285

Trust Fund Allocation 1,002,000

Gifts & Grants 242,691

Endowments Income 34,996

Total $7,757,975

Expenditures

Personnel Costs $5,648,748

Library Materials (Collections) 1,256,203

Program Support 347,376

Cataloging Support 187,856

Miscellaneous 109,908

Staff Development 60,092

Public Programs 37,249

Total $7,647,431

TRAINING LIBRARIANS

➣ Libraries’ staff helped organize ”Just in Time,” a 

2-day disaster-preparedness workshop for paperbased collections held in September at the

Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and

Education, and 20 of the Libraries’ staff participated

➣ The Libraries co-sponsored with the Research

Libraries Group a 3-day Digital Imaging Workshop

in October

➣ The Libraries’ Preservation Services Department hosted for 8 months intern Tina Mason, a graduate student in the University of Texas Austin’s Preservation

and Conservation for Archives and Libraries program. 

➣ Valerie Wheat, Museum Reference Center Librarian,

completed the 1-year Association of Research

Libraries Leadership and Development Training

Program for librarians from racial minorities

“Just in Time” training, Ned Kraft, above,

and Janice Stagnitto

Ellis, in mildew protection gear, at right
5

Interacting with local universities 

➣ Two branch libraries, the Cooper Hewitt, National

Design Museum Branch in New York City and the

National Museum of American History Branch in

Washington, DC, are serving as the principal

libraries for Master’s degree students of the Parson’s

School of Design

➣ The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Branch

gave 133 orientation tours to students from the

Republic of Panama and central America this year

➣ The Museum Support Center Branch maintained

reserve-reading shelves for students in a conservation

class at George Washington University

➣ Margaret Dittemore, Anthropology Branch, did a

presentation for Museum Studies students from

George Washington University

➣ William E. Baxter, Special Collections Department,

spoke to U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen

➣ Alvin Hutchinson, National Zoological Park Branch, met

with psychology students from Georgetown University

➣ The Anthropology Branch supplied books for a

George Washington University anthropology class

Staff service in the American 

Library Association

➣ In ALA’s Association for Library Collections and

Technical Services,

➣ Sherry Kelley was chair of the Committee on 

Metadata and Cataloging

➣ Ned Kraft was chair of the Out-of-Print 

Discussion Group

➣ In ALA’s Library Administration and Management

Association, Mary Augusta Thomas was chair of the

Fiscal and Business Officers Discussion Group and

chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal,

Library Administration and Management

➣ Martin R. Kalfatovic is editor of ALA’s Library &

Information Technology Association’s newsletter, 

published electronically at <www.lita.org/>

Other professional service by SIL staff

➣ Amy de Groff chairs the Education Working Group of

the Federal Library and Information Center Committee

➣ Mary Augusta Thomas is president of the District of

Columbia Library Association

EDUCATION ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE

Providing financial support to scholars

➣ The Dibner Fund supported three SIL Dibner Library

Resident Scholars this year who spent productive

hours working with materials in the Dibner Library of

the History of Science and Technology. 

LECTURE

Harvard Professor

Katharine Park discussed

“Visible Women:

Anatomical Illustration

and Human Dissection in

Renaissance Italy” 

at the 1998 Dibner

Library Lecture, supported by The Dibner Fund.

An educational

brochure published

for the Libraries’ exhibition Frontier Photographer:

Edward S. Curtis was supported by funds from the

Smithsonian Office of Education. The fold-out brochure

geared to high-school students featured an illustrated

time-line of Curtis’s life, “Things to Think About,” and a

list of suggested readings.

LICENSED PRODUCTS PROFITS

The Libraries earned $16,578 in royalties in 1998

from the sale of licensed products authorized by the

Smithsonian Office of Product Development and

Licensing. Images from Libraries’ collections appeared

on china place settings, men’s socks, silk scarves,

Christmas ornaments, and jewelry made by licensees. 

LIBRARIES BOARD ESTABLISHED

With the approval of the Board of Regents, the

Libraries established a Board with seven founding members this year. The inaugural meeting was held on May

20. The Board will provide leadership during the

upcoming campaign, help develop new constituencies

and generate support nationwide for the Libraries’ services, programs, and collections.

J. de Ketham, Fasciculo de

Medicina (1493-4), [Plate 8]

And SIL staff made 25 professional presentations

this year at a variety of conferences and annual

meetings, and served on numerous committees,

planning groups, and task forces.
6

EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

“Kingfisher” by John James Audubon,

The Birds of America (1827-38)

“Three Chiefs – Piegan” by Edward S. Curtis (Montana, 1900)

EXHIBITIONS

In the Libraries Gallery, Washington, DC

➣ to July 1998, Audubon & the Smithsonian, guest

curated by Helena Wright (National Museum of

American History)

➣ September 23, 1998 – September 1999, Frontier

Photographer: Edward S. Curtis, curated by William

E. Baxter (SI Libraries)

In New York City

➣ February-May 1998. Arquitectonica: The Times

Square Project, curated by Stephen Van Dyk 

(SI Libraries) at the Cooper-Hewitt, National 

Design Museum

SIL BOOKS LOANED TO EXHIBITIONS

Two major exhibitions in the newly renovated space

at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum displayed materials from the Libraries’ collections at the

CH Branch. Fountains: Splash and Spectacle featured

24 rare books describing and illustrating fountains

from the Renaissance to the present day. Twenty-eight

trade catalogs illustrated the theme of Opening Our

Doors, including pamphlets and books describing 

silver dining flatware, needle and sewing catalogs, 

fabrics, and wallpapers. The Libraries’ loaned a copy of

De Beghinselen der Weeghconst by Simon Stevin

(Leyden, 1586) to the Pabellon Villanueva, Botanical

Garden of Madrid for an exhibition celebrating the

reigns of Philip II and Charles V.

➣ Of the 58 books loaned by the Libraries for exhibition, 5 were shown in exhibitions in Washington, DC,

52 in New York City, and 1 in Spain.

VISITORS

➣ 200 national and international visitors toured the

branch libraries this year

PUBLICATIONS

➣ Modern African Art: A Basic Reading List by Janet L.

Stanley, Museum of African Art Branch Librarian, was

the Libraries’ first original work published online

Eleven staff members published 37 articles, reviews, and

bibliographies, and three books this year. 

➣ Research Associate Silvio A. Bedini was awarded the

J. T. Fraser Prize for his book, The Trail of Time:

Time Measurement with Incense in East Asia

(1998) by the International Society for the Study 

of Time

➣ Janet L. Stanley, Museum of African Art Branch

Librarian, also published in print this year. Volume 6

of her The Arts of Africa, An Annotated

Bibliography was released by the African Studies

Association Press

➣ Mary Augusta Thomas co-edited an American Library

Association volume, Information Imagineering

➣ Amy de Groff, Janice Stagnitto Ellis, Carolyn Hamilton,

and Martin R. Kalfatovic published articles this year,

Amy Levin published a bibliography online, and 

Nancy E. Gwinn, Sheila Riley, Amy DeGroff, 

Martin R. Kalfatovic, and Mary Augusta Thomas 

published reviews
7

SUPPORTING THE LIBRARIES’ EFFORTS

“Utensils and Arms” (Tab. 21), Prince Maxmillian Wied, Reise

in das Innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834.

Atlas (1839-41), from the Charlotte and Lloyd Wineland

Collection of Native American and Western Exploration Literature

CAMPAIGN FEASIBILITY STUDY

To prepare for the Smithsonian capital campaign, the

Libraries commissioned a campaign feasibility study to

assess potential donor interest in the Libraries’ stated

campaign funding priorities and to assist in refining the

Libraries’s plans and campaign goals. The results were

very positive, and the Libraries’ goals were viewed as

reasonable and achievable.

DONORS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT

$25,000 and up

Nancy Wineland Castle

Joseph F. 3rd and Joan Cullman

Mrs. Jefferson Patterson

$5,000 - $24,999

Anonymous

The Edward S. Curtis Foundation

The Dibner Fund (David and Frances Dibner)

The Jaques Admiralty Law Firm

$1,000 - $4,999

Howard H. Baker, Jr.

Christopher Cardozo

The Curtis Centennial Project

The Curtis Collection

Robert J. Hurst

Frank A. Weil

Caspar W., Sr. and Jane Weinberger

Charlotte Wineland

$500 - $999

James M. Kemper, Jr.

Dudley and Lois Rochester

David Spencer

$250 - $499

John and Lois Eberhard

Bill Lambert

Rosemary L. Ripley

Rodris Roth

Russell Train

Bruce Wasserstein

$100 - $249

Anonymous

Tobin and Anne Armstrong

Marion Oates Charles

Charlottesville Camera Club

Mary Lou Cowden

Douglas Evelyn

Alfred C. Glassell, Jr.

Marc Goldberg

Nancy E. Gwinn and John Y. Cole

Richard McG. Helms

James and Linda Hobbins

John Jameson

Keith A. Jones

Thomas E. Lovejoy

Roman Martinez IV

Alan and Betty Miller

Howard and Reba Oheim

William A. Oliver

Malcolm and Bettie Ripley

Russell A. Rourke

Russell Shank

Lawrence A. Skantze

Barbara J. Smith

Stanwyn Shetler

William Mitchell Van Winkle

Ulf Andreas Whist
SUPPORTING THE LIBRARIES’ EFFORTS

DONORS TO THE COLLECTION

8

Rita Adrosko

John-Tokpabere Agberia

Chinedu A. Agbodike

Mr. and Mrs. John Aha

Richard Ahlborn

Harry A. Alden

Mrs. John E. Armstrong

Donald P. Avery

Robert O. Bach

Wang Ying Bai

Douglas B. Ball

Mary W. Ballard

Corrine Barsky

Joseph Barth

Silvio A. Bedini

Amy A. Begg

Abdallah Benanteur

Ernst H. Berninger

Richard E. Beteta

Erna Beumers

Kent Charles Boese

Alaine Apap Bolgna

Maxima M. Bond

Brigitte Bouret

Eric S. Borsting

Mary Brandwein

John Bratten

Michael K. Brett-Surman

William H. Bunting

Andrew Chaikin

Eddie Chambers

Elizabeth Chilver

Wallace Cleland

Anthony G. Coates

Jorge Conte-Porras

Richard Cooke

Mireya D. Correa

Guido Craveri

Laudine and George Creighton

Feng Dashun

Allen C. Davis

Diane DeBlois

Adolfo de Sostoa

Ana Maria de Vasquez

Warren W. Dexter

Joan Giffen Donahue

Laurence J. Dorr

Helen Dossche

Richard Doty

Robert Dowling

Lynn Downey

William S. Dudley

Chris Dunn

Chris Ebigbo

Roger Edde

Judith Eglington

Annaleen Eins

Charlotte Elton

David Erhardt

Eduardo Esquivel

Angele Etoundi Essamba

Eduardo Esquivel

Betty B. Faust

Marc Leo Felix

Larry Ferreiro

Anne M. Franks

Douglas Freund

Kimball L. Garrett

Anna Gradowska

Renee Guerin

Jorge Gumbe

Laura Gutierrez

Joseph P. Harahan

Elizabeth Harris

Robert D. Harris

Eleanor C. Harvey

Stanley Heckadon

Wayne Henderson

Robert S. Hoffmann

Paul House

Ramon E. Howe

Kuang-Nan Huang

Andrei Dumitru Iacobas

Funke C. Ifeta

Krydz Ikwuemesi

Pascal James Imperato

Rose Issa

Dele Jegede

Veronika Jenke

Grady E. Jensen

Lars Christian Jenssen

David W. Johnston

Ann Juneau

Martin R. Kalfatovic

Roy Kausa

Sherry Kelley

David A. Kent

Shuji Komatsu

Karl J. Krapek

Daniel C. Krummes

Herbert Lachmayer

Richard W. Leche, Jr. Gwendolen R. Leighty

Richard A. Leyes, II

John Liddell

Olga Linares

Glenn Loney

Eleonora Louis

Dennis M. Lyden

Robert A. Malone

R. K. Malott.

Joe T. Marshall, Jr. Jean-Hubert Martin

Brian H. Mason

Michael D. Matthews

Pat McNees

James G. Mead

Charles Medearis

Rachel L. Mellon

Louise Meyers

Virginia Minton

Max Mohl

Owen D. Mort, Jr.

Lettie S. Multhauf

O. Odimayo

Ricardo Ojeda

Storrs L. Olson

Jack Padalino

J. B. Parker

Louis Perrois

John Picton

Richard A. Postman

Robin Poynor

Maynard S. Raasch

Randy Rach

William Rand

Clayton E. Ray

Nicholas C. Read

Robert K. Robbins

Daphne Ross

Ira Rubinoff

Carmen T. Ruiz-Fischler

Elizabeth M. Sanchez

Angel D. Santiago

George B. Saunders

Carsten Schulz

Alfredo Schael

Sven Scheiderbauer

Dr. Katesa Schlosser

Keith Fred Schmidt

Klaus Schneider

Ruth Sexton

Andy Shanken

Joshua Shapiro

Courtney Shaw

David Shayt

Ky Siriki

Neal G. Smith

I. Gregory Sohn

Kate Southey

Roger Staiger, Jr. David R. Stivers

Joseph Suarez

Paul M. Taylor

Jan Thies

Dale Thomas

Mary Augusta Thomas

Dante Martins Tiexeira

Herbert A. Trenchard

Ing. Umberto Ucelli

Richard Vari

Mary Ellen Vehlow

Alexander von Vegesack

Jane Villa-Lobos

Melvin J. Wachowiak

Roslyn A. Walker

Deborah J. Warner

Mary Jane West-Eberhard

John H. White

Lavonia Green Wiggins

Vince Wilcox

Ronald S. Wilkinson

Jeri Bernadette Williams

Elizabeth A. Willis

Frank H. Winter

Rainer Wirth

Norman E. Woodley

George Xanthakis

Diane T. Zinn

George R. Zug

Sheet music for “Smithsonian Polka” by W.

Bergman (1855) seen in online exhibition, From

Smithson to Smithsonian, at www.sil.si.edu