Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA)

Research Center Website

Liza Kirwin, Interim Director

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) is a critical component of the Smithsonian Institution, providing reference and research services informed by the current and future needs of Smithsonian staff. SLA’s collections offer a broad and deep foundation for research, scholarship, and museum initiatives. SLA also serves the Institution and the public through education and outreach programs, including exhibitions, lectures, and publications, as well as internship and volunteer programs.

About Smithsonian Libraries

The Smithsonian Libraries is a network of 21 specialized research libraries supporting the Institution’s museums and initiatives. Approximately two million volumes are available to Smithsonian staff, interns and fellows, visiting researchers, and others working in Smithsonian facilities in Washington, DC, Maryland, New York City, and the Republic of Panama. Researchers who visit the Libraries online have access to hundreds of databases, more than 25,000 e-journals, and over 200,000 e-books.

Library collections are particularly strong in natural history, tropical biology, ecology and environmental management, wildlife conservation, American ethnology and culture, American history, aviation history and space flight, postal history, design and decorative arts, African art, American art, modern and contemporary art, Asian art, horticulture, conservation, and museum administration. Collections in African American and Latino history and culture are growing steadily. In addition, the Libraries hold a distinguished collection of more than 110,000 rare books (including world-class collections of rare materials in the history of anthropology and the natural sciences, and the history of science and technology), complemented by 11,000 manuscripts and vertical files, and the nation’s largest collection of commercial trade catalogs—500,000, representing more than 40,000 companies dating from the 1810s. The skilled staff collect, preserve, and share important scholarly materials, direct users to the most relevant electronic and print sources, and assist them with research strategies.

About Smithsonian Institution Archives

The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) is the official repository of all permanently valuable institutional records that document the organization, policies, and programs of the Smithsonian. It is also the repository of other documents, personal papers, and special collections, whether created by the Smithsonian or not, that provide additional historical evidence of the activities of the Institution. SIA preserves and describes these materials and makes them available to the public and the scholarly community in keeping with its own mandate and the ethics of the archival profession. SIA's audiences are wide and varied, including Smithsonian staff, curators, research associates, fellows, scholars, educators, genealogists, historians, archivists, collections managers, image researchers, journalists, and the public, from around the world.

Locations

SLA’s library research centers are in the greater Washington, DC area, the Republic of Panama, and New York City. The Smithsonian Institution Archives maintains a public reading room in Washington, DC.

Research Staff

Chenault, Wesley, Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives and Programs. B.A. (1992) Auburn University; M.A. (2007) Women’s Studies Georgia State University; Ph.D. (2008) University of New Mexico. Research specialties: American studies, memory studies, cultural heritage institutions, archives and material culture. Contact: ChenaultW@si.edu

Jackson-Beckett, Michelle, Curator of Rare Books, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library. BA (2010) Saint Joseph’s University; MA (2013) Parsons School of Design/Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; PhD (2022) Bard Graduate Center (Bard College). Research specialties: history of design, decorative arts, and architecture, 1800-present (United States and Central Europe); history of glass, graphic design, industrial design, ornament, interiors, and furniture; design archives, rare books, and special collections. Contact: jacksonbeckettm@si.edu

Overstreet, Leslie K.Curator of Natural-History Rare Books.  B.A. (1971) Reed College; M.A.T. (1972) Reed College; M.L.S. (1988) University of Maryland.  Research specialties:  printing and illustration technologies and processes in the 16th-19th centuries;  the dating of taxonomic works in the 18th-19th centuries;  the publication of Mark Catesby’s Natural history Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731–1743).Contact: OverstreetL@si.edu

Peters, Tammy L., Associate Director for Archives, Conservation & Preservation. B.A. (1990) Bethel College; M.A. (1994) Purdue University. Research specialties: Smithsonian Institution history. Contact: PetersT@si.edu

Vekerdy, Lilla, Head & Curator, Special Collections. B.A. (1982) Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; M.A. (1984) and M.L.S. (1984) Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Research specialties: Rare book studies, History of Medicine and Science, Paracelsus (1493-1541), medieval manuscripts. Contact: vekerdyL@si.edu

Conservation Staff

Bennett, William, Conservator. BA, English Literature, Brigham Young University (2010); MA, Conservation Studies, Books and Library Materials focus, West Dean College / University of Sussex (2014). Research specialties: Smithsonian history, stationery bindings, conservation bindings. Contact: bennettw@si.edu

Lockshin, Nora, Senior Conservator. B.F.A. (1992) Rhode Island School of Design; M.L.I.S., with Advanced Certificate in Conservation Studies (2002) University of Texas, Austin. Research specialties: Archive and library preservation and conservation, including books, paper, photographic and recording media. Contact: LockshinN@si.edu

Smith, Vanessa Haight, Book Conservator. B.A (1984) Washington College; Postgraduate Diploma (2006) West Dean College; M.A (2007) West Dean College. Research specialties: 17th century English bookbinding, European hand-press bookbinding methods and materials,  pigment analysis. Contact: haightv@si.edu

Reppert Gerber, Alison R., Head of Preservation Programs. B.A. (2009) Seton Hill University; M.A. (2014) Johns Hopkins University. Research specialties: Preventive conservation and treatment of paper, photographic, and audiovisual media; emergency preparedness and response for cultural heritage; and museum studies. Contact: ReppertGerberA@si.edu

Wagner, Katharine, Head of Book Conservation. B.A. (1990) Mount Holyoke College, MLS (2000) University of Maryland. Research specialties: leather degradation, leather tanning, leather in book conservation, emergency response for cultural heritage materials. Contact: wagnerkc@si.edu

Affiliated Research Staff

Ewing, Heather Peale, Research Associate. B.A. (1990) Yale University; M.A. (1998) Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Research specialties: Biography of James Smithson; history of the Smithsonian. Contact: EwingH@si.edu

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Research Opportunities

In addition to opportunities offered through the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program, SLA currently offers The Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program.

Dibner Library Resident Scholars conduct research using rare works from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology. The core of the holdings of the Dibner Library consists of approximately 11,000 rare books and 1,600 manuscript groups that were generously donated to the nation by the Burndy Library (founder, Bern Dibner) on the occasion of the nation’s Bicentennial (1976). The strengths of the Dibner Library collection are in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, classical natural philosophy, theoretical physics (up to the early 20th century), experimental physics (especially electricity and magnetism), engineering technology (from the Renaissance to the late 19th century), and scientific apparatus and instruments. The rare books, which date from the 13th to the 20th centuries, include significant holdings of works by Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Euclid, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Leonhard Euler, René Descartes, Pierre Simon, Marquis de Laplace, and Aristotle. Scientists represented by significant manuscript papers include Dominique François Arago, Humphry Davy, John William Lubbock, Isaac Newton, Henri Milne-Edwards, Hans Christian Ørsted, Henry Hureau de Sénarmont, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., and Silvanus P. Thompson. The Dibner Library collections support the scholarly interests of Smithsonian staff in the National Museum of American History and provide valuable resources for other Smithsonian and external researchers worldwide. This program is supported by the Dibner family.

For further information contact Lilla Vekerdy, Head & Curator, Special Collections, at vekerdyL@si.edu.

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