The Smithsonian: 150 Years of Adventure, Discovery, and Wonder

The Electronic Smithsonian

In the past few years the Smithsonian has moved into another dimension and in 1995 officially announced its address in cyberspace. However, for nearly a decade individual museums and project directors throughout the vast complex had been experimenting with various forms of electronic communications, including CDROMS and sharing data via the Internet.

With the highly successful launching of the Smithsonian's Home Page in May 1995 millions of Americans can now tap into the world's largest museum and truly "wander the halls" in a world with few restrictions. There are no closing hours, no long lines or impenetrable crowds, no need to worry about wheelchair ramps or other special facilities. With a few mouse clicks visitors can leap from modern art to ancient artifacts, travel around between centuries and across continents, exploring people, places and things as never before in history.

In fact you do not even have to be in the United States. If you have a computer and a link to the World-Wide web in any spot in the world you can visit the Smithsonian at your leisure.

In many ways this proves the foresight of Smithsonian founder James Smithson when he said:

Since its launch on May 8th there have been over 4 million "hits" per month. The Smithsonian Home Page is undoubtedly one of the Internet's most popular sites. Among the most popular are the American Art, the American Indian Museum, National Zoo and the National Air and Space Museum. Plans are underway to expand in every arena of Smithsonian operations, including the extremely popular products which are included in the Museum Shops on the Mall and in the Smithsonian catalogue.

"This interest in gaining access to the Smithsonian," says Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman, "shows that we are on the right track in our effort to make the Institution readily available nationwide. I am very pleased that this beginning of the Institution's efforts to reach out electronically to the nation and to the world is so successful. As we improve and enlarge our presentation it should become even more popular."

Secretary Heyman had an extremely broad vision for the Smithsonian on the day he took office in 1994. In his September Installation Address as the 10th Smithsonian Secretary he told the audience and the world that "the Smithsonian can become truly national but in order to do so, it must develop its capacity to give electronic access to its collections throughout the nation." Heyman pointed out that the technical capacity exists now to record the collections in digital form and transmit them in on-line computer networks and on discs. "We presently share our exhibitions through a splendid system of traveling shows....electronic communications, however, broadens our potentialities immensely and at a relatively low cost...," he said.

Eight months later http://www.si.edu became the newest address for the world's largest museum, which was about to celebrate its 150th birthday, in both the real and virtual worlds. It was as if the Smithsonian had spent one and a half centuries gathering treasures, analyzing their meaning, and showing them to visitors in Washington...just to prepare for this larger opportunity to now present them to the entire world via the Internet.

In order to make all of this happen, Secretary Heyman moved the electronic Smithsonian to the very highest levels of priorities within the Institution. Heyman appointed Marc J. Pachter, a long time veteran of the Smithsonian, as the Counselor to the Secretary for Electronic Communications and Special Projects and hired A. Lee Denny into the new position of Senior Information Officer. Under their careful direction, a team was assembled to create the original Smithsonian Home Page and eventually the special site for all information regarding the 150th Anniversary celebrations. To make this happen, the Smithsonian has drawn heavily on the expertise, experience and global perspectives of the National Science Foundation which provided the funding that lead to the birth of the Internet. Experts from NSF work closely with the Smithsonian team on every aspect of the Home Page.

As Pachter points out, "This is not about technology alone. The Smithsonian Home Page gives us the chance to show off what the public cannot see, even when they come here on the Mall, and get a glimpse of how we do things. We have always been restricted by space in the museums. But in cyberspace, entire collections can be shown. Time and space take on different meanings." It is also his intent that future presentations on the Web will give viewers greater insight into the inner workings of the Smithsonian. Information and strategies will be shared about how collections are developed and presented. The technology will also allow input from the Internet user, thus making the entire process a two-way communication and providing the Smithsonian with more valuable input from its audiences around the globe.

For 150 years the Smithsonian Institution has existed with dual purposes... steadily collecting and preserving pieces of the past while at the same time looking well into the future. "As we plan for the celebration of our 150th anniversary in 1996, we will continue to enlarge our technological capacity and know-how to extend the reach of our historic mission," stated Secretary Heyman as the organization prepared for the most ambitious celebration in its rich history.

Today there are 16 museums and galleries, and the National Zoo, as well as 11 research centers, collectively housing over 140 million artifacts and specimens "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." There are hundreds of traveling exhibitions and cultural programs, the Smithsonian magazine with its XXX million readers, plus a XXX million membership component reaching across the nation and most continents. And yet, like an iceberg, only the tip has been visible and most of the Smithsonian has until now remained untouched, invisible to most people. And now, thanks to electronic communications, the Smithsonian's world reaches far beyond the Mall to millions of adults and children who might never enter the doors of a museum.

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