Archives Week - Awards

One of the highlights of Archives Week is the award ceremony which honors individuals or organizations for support and use of archival records. 

The Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, October 11, 2006:
The American Numismatic Society, 96 Fulton Street
Cocktail Reception, 6-7 pm
Awards Presentation, 7-8 pm

Award for Archival Achievement

The award recognizes an individual or archival program that has made an outstanding contribution to the archival profession, or a notable achievement of value to the archives community, its patrons or constituents. The recipient must be a member of the Archivists Round Table or an archival program operating within the New York metropolitan region. This award is not issued annually, but only if appropriate candidates are nominated.

This year's winner is Deborah Wythe.

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York acknowledges Deborah Wythe for her significant contributions as both practitioner and educator in the area of museum archives; her innovative work at the Brooklyn Museum, where she is creating a new model for the integration of digital collections and institutional functions; and her status as a dedicated and generous mentor to junior and veteran archivists alike.  Currently Head of Digital Collections and Services at the Brooklyn Museum, Deborah previously served as that institution’s Archivist and Manager of Special Library Collections from 1986 through 2005.  An active member and past chair of the Museum Archives section of the Society of American Archivists, she is editor and contributing author of the second edition of Museum Archives: An Introduction  (SAA, 2004).

Deb’s introduction to museum archives came as a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, working on the records of the Musical Instrument Department, while completing her dissertation on 19^th century Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf.  After earning her doctorate in musicology at New York University, she served as curator of the Steinway Collection at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY. 

In the 1980s the NHPRC, noting the dearth of museum archives programs and citing the loss of important cultural records, started awarding funds for the establishment and development of museum programs.  Deb came to the Brooklyn Museum through one of these NHPRC seed grants and was faced with the formidable undertaking of creating the 100 year-old institution’s first archival program.  She was charged with the establishment of collection development plans, records surveys and management, appraisal and preservation strategies, processing priorities, descriptive practices, access guidelines and reference services.

Significantly, Deb realized that her mission extended outside the doors of her own institution.  A founding member of SAA’s Museum Archives section, she has used this forum to help educate her colleagues and advocate for the advancement of professional practices in museum archives through the dynamic exchange of information and collaborative efforts.  The publication of Museum Archives: An Introduction is the most tangible outcome of that vision.  This comprehensive, lucid and handsome work is a resource not only for museum archivists, but has much to offer both seasoned and fledgling archivists operating within a broad range of institutions.  Now as a new member of the SAA Publications Board, she will have an opportunity to participate in the selection and development of publications of similar quality, utility and substance.

Her fellow archivists know her to be a dedicated and innovative professional.  One longtime colleague notes her talent for developing “simple and elegant solutions, usually on a shoestring, and always with little or no fanfare accompanying her creative efforts.”  These abilities are in evidence in her most recent project at the Brooklyn Museum, where as Head of Digital Collections and Services she has developed a central clearinghouse to manage the museum’s far-flung digital resources.  Tasked to utilize existing resources within the museum, Deb gathered staff and technical resources from many different departments and grant-funded projects to integrate the museum’s digital collections.  The outcome has made images more accessible, eliminated duplication, and increased productivity.  The project is forging a new model for how digital assets can be managed for diverse purposes within a single institution.  Much of the success of this venture is attributable to Deb’s energy, logic and persistence.

Finally, Deb has been a generous colleague and mentor to countless archivists both within and outside the museum archives community.  She is a natural teacher and, like the best educators, is both knowledgeable and enthusiastic to share her expertise, whether she is introducing a new intern to basic archival practice or making a presentation to her peers at a professional symposium.  Always available for practical advice, technical support, and boundless encouragement, Deb has demonstrated herself to be a rare and valuable resource, as well as talented and inspiring leader.

Previous Winners

Award for Outstanding Support of Archives

Recognizes an individual or organizations for notable contributions to archival records or archival programs through political, financial or moral support.

This year's winner is Metropolitan New York Library Council  (METRO)

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York recognizes the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) for its outstanding support of digital projects in New York City archives.  METRO assists local digital projects with funding, professional collaboration, and training for staff.  Its exemplary support for local archives was launched in 2002 with grant money from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (LSTA).  As this program evolved, METRO has emerged as a major educator and supporter of digitization in the New York area.  METRO's Digitization Advisory Council, comprised of local experts, collaborates with OCLC in developing this program, and they continue to direct digitization initiatives at METRO.

METRO has distinguished itself by endowing significant local history digitization efforts with start-up funds.  In many instances, it has funded smaller repositories without access to traditionally large foundation or government digital project grants.  During 2005 and 2006, Digital Metro New York distributed $140,000 to 17 libraries to facilitate launching and completing digital projects.  Some projects include Brooklyn Public Library’s Democratic Party Scrapbooks and Fulton Street Trade Card Collection; CUNY Graduate Center’s Erie Canal holdings; rare books at the Leo Baeck Institute; and historical visual records of Pratt Institute.  These modest grants – each totaling less than $10,000 – allow collections to begin small by piloting learning and infrastructure development of digitization projects.

Further, METRO offers excellent workshops on practical digitization issues – from website enhancements to metadata to podcasting – conducted by national leaders for interested archivists and librarians.  Registration fees are underwritten by LSTA grants.  This training is supplemented by METRO’s Digitization Special Interest Group (SIG), an informal and valuable professional development and resource sharing network. 

In 2006 METRO introduced Digitization Planning and Training Grants, for which repositories can apply for matching funds to retain specialists addressing specific digitization problems.  METRO’s website features a range of useful resources highlighting digital standards and best practices.  We applaud Metropolitan New York Library Council’s rapid and effective commitment to developing a sophisticated user community with a high level of professional discourse – achieving important results in promoting access to the unique local history collections of our smaller repositories.

Previous Winners

Award for Innovative Use of Archives

Recognizes an individual or organization for use of archival material in a meaningful and creative way, making a significant contribution to a community or body of people, and demonstrating the relevance of archival materials to its subject.

This year's winner is Darwin at American Museum of Natural History

The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York would like to acknowledge the American Museum of Natural History for its splendid and groundbreaking exhibition on Darwin, in recognition of the Charles Darwin bicentenary in 2009.  This extensive installation – consisting of original manuscripts, notebooks, personal mementos, laboratory equipment, historic plant and fossil samples, and even live tortoises and iguanas – was organized in conjunction with London’s Natural History Museum, Cambridge University Library, and Darwin’s Down House.  Record audiences attended the exhibition, which was extended due to popular demand.

Simply put, Darwin traces the evolution of evolution – the chronological development of the naturalist’s theories of natural selection, which laid the foundation for modern biology and the field of genetics.  Visually appealing installations use specimens and diagrams from the Galapagos Islands to illustrate Darwin’s studies and how he empirically evaluated his evidence.  Over 100 documents include correspondence from Darwin at 22 pleading with his father to go on the H.M.S. Beagle expedition, original notebooks containing sketches of his evolutionary tree, as well as manuscript pages from The Origin of Species.  The reconstruction of Darwin’s studio with his personal artifacts provides an exciting laboratory for his ideas – and audiences are actually given insight into the workings of the mind of one of the 19^th century’s creative geniuses.

Significantly, a human side of the scientist emerges:  keepsakes from the devastating loss of his ten year-old daughter, Annie; his debilitating illnesses; daily walks in his gardens; and his struggle over two decades that his theories would challenge the fundamentals of the accepted religious order.  As Darwin the man is demystified, we’re even more in awe of the epistemological obstacles he overcame and his crisis of conscience, which conflicted with the devout faith of his own wife.

The exhibition closes with a statement from the Museum’s curators:

For 150 years, the theory of evolution by natural selection has not been seriously challenged by any other scientific explanation.  

It further asserts that the 200 scientists at the American Museum of Natural History find no scientific proof to support the theory of intelligent design.

Given recent attacks against science – under funding and politicization of research; minimal support for stem-cell inquiry; incursion of intelligent design into the science curriculum, even in New York State – the Museum is to be commended for this well-timed and persuasive show.  With corresponding declines in math and science education – affecting America’s future competitiveness in the global economy – this compelling exhibition attracted a broad general audience, exposing them through archival displays to the beauty and durability of the scientific method.

Previous Winners

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