Information Studies Research Works

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1632

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Access Policies for Native American Archival Materials in the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
(Society of American Archivists, 2020-10) Marsh, Diana E.; Leopold, Robert; Crowe, Katherine; Madison, Katherine S.
This case study contributes to the history of collections access protocols by examining one repository’s policies and practices over a fifty-year period— those of the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. It describes a series of archival programs and projects that occurred before, during, and after the development of the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials in order to view changes in the archives’ access policies within a broader cultural and institutional milieu, presenting a more complex narrative than previously available. The case study assesses the influence of the Protocols as well as some challenges to the adoption of several recommendations. Finally, we make several proposals for archival repositories with comparable collections and constituencies.
Aleš Hrdlička: A New Finding Aid and an Exhibit Appearance for a Controversial Figure in the History of Anthropology
(Smithsonian Collections Blog, 2020-04-03) Christensen, Katherine; Marsh, Diana
Aleš Hrdlička was an anthropologist who left a complicated legacy. His work in physical anthropology was groundbreaking, but his history is fraught with accusations of misogyny and a belief that his work contributed to major racist ideologies of the 20th century. His papers are open for research at the National Anthropological Archives and the finding aid for those papers, the original creation of which was funded by the Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), is now available digitally on SOVA through recent funding from the FY2019 Collections Information (CIS) pool. Some of Hrdlička’s work is on display in the new exhibition, Documenting Diversity: How Anthropologists Record Human Life
Revisiting the Relevance of Ethnography: Reflections on Extinct Monsters to Deep Time
(MuseNews, 2023-02) Marsh, Diana
This short piece reflects on the book Extinct Monsters to Deep Time: Conflict, Compromise, and the Making of Smithsonian's Fossil Halls as it is released in paperback. It argues that ethnography offers an important perspective on the power dynamics of institutions, as well as how museums maintain trust via the negotiation process of creating exhibitions.
Silver Horn’s Winter Count: An Archival Record of Indigenous Time Featured in a Smithsonian Exhibition
(Smithsonian Collections Blog, 2020-05-18) Marsh, Diana E.; Greene, Candace; Myers, Elena
Documenting Diversity: How Anthropologists Record Human Life is an exhibit showcasing the history of anthropological fieldwork through rare archival and print materials from the National Anthropological Archives and the Smithsonian Libraries. The show traces the progress of technologies used to record human life, from paper to film to today’s digital media. The exhibit also grapples with the limits of such documents. Some ethnographic “data” resist documentation. It may be hard to record, or Indigenous community members may not choose to share it (especially with white anthropologists collecting it). But a rare document in the exhibition is an exquisite piece in the hand of master illustrator Silver Horn, or Haungooah. Silver Horn was a Kiowa artist distinguished for his prolific career and intricate drawing style.
Sydel Silverman: A New Virtual Finding Aid for a Scholar Committed to Anthropology’s Legacy
(Smithsonian Collections Blog, 2020-03-11) Marsh, Diana; Christensen, Katherine
Last March, a giant in the field of anthropology passed away. Sydel Silverman (1933-2019) was a scholar of Italian and other (as she called them) “complex” societies, as well as the history of anthropology. Silverman advocated for anthropology throughout her career. At the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center in the 1970s, Silverman argued that anthropology was an “essential” discipline, convincing Margaret Mead to join her fight. Silverman’s perhaps most influential contribution to the field was her leadership of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, anthropology’s most prominent funding organization, where she served as President from 1987 to 1999. Through Wenner-Gren, Silverman built anthropology’s intellectual community and reach. Silverman was also a major proponent of preserving anthropology’s legacy through archival records. She helped to found the Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records (CoPAR), which published works on the topic and created a registry of anthropologists’ archival papers. This month, the NAA published a digital, keyword searchable (‘encoded’, in archives-speak) finding aid (created by Katherine Christensen) to Silverman’s collections.