Haven't noticed anything on Museum-L about the commercial arrangement
between the SI and Showtime, so thought I'd pass this along as it may be
of interest. Below is an excerpt from the National Coalition for History
Washington Update.
NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #20; 28 APRIL 2006)
by Bruce Craig (editor)
NATIONAL COALITION FOR HISTORY (NCH)
Website at http://www.h-net.org/~nch/
2. SOCIETY OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS WEIGH IN ON SMITHSONIAN “SHOWTIME” DEAL;
SI SECRETARY SMALL RESPONDS TO THE AHA
The prestigious Society of American Historians, an elite organization
comprised of 250 fellows whose books promote literary distinction in the
writing of history, has passed a resolution condemning the Smithsonian
Institution’s (SI) commercial arrangements, including the Showtime deal as
well as a commercial publishing agreement relating to Smithsonian
Books. The resolution vigorously protests the Smithsonian’s “increasingly
commercial approach to its mission” and calls for the Smithsonian to
reconsider its contract with Showtime. The Society also suspended
Smithsonian Books as a publisher-member of the Society of American
Historians.
The resolution signed by Executive Secretary Mark C. Carnes, President
Frances FitzGerald, Vice President Eric Foner, and 26 other acclaimed
historians including Robert Dallek, David Kennedy, James McPherson, Mary
Beth Norton, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Tom Wicker states, “We understand
the economic pressures that pushed the Smithsonian into contracting with
Showtime, but Smithsonian cares for the artifacts of the nation’s heritage
as a public trust; there can be no justification for optioning that
heritage to any private interest....We emphatically concur with the
American Historical Association, which has concluded that Smithsonian’s
relationship with Showtime constitutes a ‘violation of the trust of
generations of Americans who donated materials to which they believed the
public would have free, open, equal, and non-discriminatory access
forever.’”
The Society also took issue with the character of the Smithsonian’s
agreement with publishing behemoth Harper Collins that was signed in
February 2005 with little attention or scrutiny by the scholarly
community. As a result of that agreement some 300 titles from the more
than 1,000 pending projects on the Smithsonian Press’s roster were
transferred to the publisher; about 230 were retained for the scholarly
publishing unit still under the direct control of the Smithsonian but
others were dropped. Several Society members were particularly concerned
that the transfer of some history titles and curtailment of marketing for
others took place often with no consultation with the authors.
The reference in the Society’s resolution to the American Historical
Association (AHA) letter refers to a letter sent by AHA President Linda
Kerber to Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small (see “Groundswell Builds in
Opposition to Smithsonian “Showtime” Deal” in NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE, vol.
12 #19; 20 April 2006) in which the AHA expressed “alarm and deep dismay”
about the semi-exclusive nature of the agreement with Showtime that in
essence violates the AHA “Statement on Standards for Professional Conduct”
relating to open access to archives. This week, in a two-page response to
Kerber, Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small responded.
In his letter to Kerber Small declared, “I want to assure you and the
community of historians, archivists, librarians, and researchers you will
not be excluded or restricted from access to the Smithsonian archives,
collections and libraries and our staff.” He explained that “the area that
appears to be the basis for actual concern is for filming rights at the
Smithsonian.” He boldly declared “Concerns that the new venture is
exclusive is false.” Small emphasized that the proprietary (hence secret)
agreement with Showtime impacts only producers “who wish to make
significant use of the Smithsonian’s resources and then sell their product
to commercial media distributors.” The AHA is preparing a statement on
Small’s response.
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