Kapsalis is the Web director for the Smithsonian Institution Archives, which recently started a new website that puts more of the archives’ collections online.
Why was the site developed?
The archives collects the history of not just the Smithsonian but all the research and arts and cultural heritage activities the Smithsonian has been involved in since the mid-1800s, so we wanted to make these records more accessible to people who use them in all different ways.
How do people use these collections?
We have everything from people who are just interested in the local history of D.C., who want to see old pictures of the area, to Ph.D. students and fellows who come to research specific topics.
What features does the new site have?
The old site was launched in 1995. … There wasn’t the money to pay attention to it until recently. It didn’t have our collections. It didn’t have a space where staff could talk about the Smithsonian or how they care for our collections. … They’re all excited about sharing their skills to help people handle their own archives.
Why did you want to make your records more accessible?
These records are part of our history. Whether you’re local to D.C. or you’re in a place where the Smithsonian was or is doing active research, it touches a lot of people. People find personal connection. We’re involved in a project on Flickr which gives the public access to photographs from all kinds of cultural heritage institutions. … We just put out photos of the Scopes Monkey Trial. A 94-year-old women in Tennessee who had been at the trial wrote us a letter telling who some of those people were.
Is there anything in particular online viewers should check out?
I would say visiting our blog, because we have stories from the archives, we have a daily snapshot from the collections.
