It's not too late to register for an all-day meeting about digitization
February 20, 2004. "Digitization in
Libraries and Museums: Experiences and Lessons Learned in Illinois" will be
held at the Leslie F. Malpass
Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois from 9:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. Liz Bishoff, formerly with
the Colorado Digitization Project, and now Vice President of Digital
Content and Preservation Resources,
OCLC, will be the keynote speaker. The afternoon session will feature a
panel with William Thompson,
Reference Librarian, Western Illinois University; Nuala Bennett, Interim
Coordinator, Digital Imaging and
Media Technology Initiative, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
Alyce Scott, Digital Imaging Program Coordinator, Illinois State Library;
Ben Williams, Head Librarian, The Field Museum; and Ms. Bishoff. Lunch
is included in the $15 registration. For a registration form, or more
information, contact Alyce Scott at the
Illinois State Library <[log in to unmask]> . An accurate count of attendees
is needed by February 9. Please
fax the registration form to the Library Administration Office
(309-298-2791) if the mailed form will not arrive
by this date.

Directions to Western Illinois
University:  http://www.wiu.edu/campus/map.shtml
Map of the campus:  http://www.wiu.edu/campus/images/campusmap03.gif



















At 10:50 AM 1/29/04 -0600, you wrote:
>While I am loathe to jump into the middle of this fight, I would like to
>suggest a few things here:
>
>First, most people, even the most educated amongst us, are not aware of the
>restrictions of the Migratory Bird Act, which regulates possession of a
>great many species (it is a stretch, but not too much of one, to say that it
>covers everything except pigeons and sparrows).
>
>Next, identification of genus and species is something that (generally) only
>trained ornithologists, sometimes with the aid of a reference collection,
>can do.   When you deal with modified or partial feathers it gets even
>harder.
>
>Since I have already deleted all of this thread I cannot vouch for David
>Haberstich's exact wording, but I did not get the impression that he
>"blamed" the native artist and "excused" Lawrence Small. He did raise an
>important issue, namely that to stop the killing ("taking") of regulated
>animal species (like the illicit excavation of archaeological remains) we
>need to look at what is happening at the beginning of the
>collecting/creating process as well as the end user.
>The use of alternative materials (or even alternative income sources) is one
>possibility that, for better or worse, has become fairly standard with
>contemporary Native American art; most of us are resigned (for lack of a
>better word) to the fact that the feathers on our art will be painted turkey
>or chicken and not hawk, eagle or any other regulated species.
>
>Finally, I think it is not unreasonable to remember that there are some
>people involved in this whole "scandal" who have political motivations and
>that a like or dislike of Mr. Small's other activities have influenced their
>behavior.
>
>
>Janice Klein
>Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
>[log in to unmask]
>www.mitchellmuseum.org
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
>Behalf Of ldewey
>Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 10:13 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Scandal at the Smithsonian
>
>
>David Haberstich's most recent defense of Lawrence Small ("Re: Scandal
>at the Smithsonian: L's Bells") exceeds his earlier note in both
>verbosity and turbidity. However.
>
>Either Mr. Small's private collecting is a sign of expertise and
>indicates how he is qualified to serve as Secretary at SI, or Mr.
>Small's illegal collecting activity is the honest mistake of
>inexperience, abetted by misinformation from a lawyer. Pick one.
>
>Certainly an experienced collector, especially one with such a focused
>interest as to purchase one thousand pieces at a time, would be aware
>of laws that affect collecting or transport of art, antiquities and
>ethnographic objects, and would take the appropriate measures to ensure
>provenance and legality. There is now several decades of international
>law governing the transport of art and antiquities, as well as CITES,
>in no small part because of illegal activity in the Americas.
>
>The legal charges are broad and specify his intent; "did possess,
>transport, cause to be transported, purchase, offer to purchase, carry
>and cause to be carried, migratory birds and parts thereof."
>
>As I wrote earlier,
>
>"At best, Small did not exercise due diligence in regard to his
>collecting activities. He ought to have been aware of both the
>statutory and the ethical requirements."
>
>D.H., please note that these are separate sentences and do not equate
>collecting activity with unethical behavior.
>
>The SI Code of Conduct does state that "Employees will not engage in
>criminal, dishonest, or other conduct adversely affecting the
>reputation or operations of the Smithsonian Institution." It certainly
>appears that Mr. Small has failed at least two of those tests.
>
>I would expect Mr. Small's lawyer to advise him regarding the statutory
>matters (as I wrote, but which David Haberstich had difficulty
>understanding), but I would expect his lawyer to defer on other
>matters, such as provenance or even issues of ethics. I don't think it
>is reasonable to expect his lawyers to provide "a qualified assessment
>of the collection," though David Haberstich apparently does.
>
>I was giving David Haberstich the benefit of the doubt in regard to his
>statement about prosecuting tribal artists whose work ends up in a
>private collection overseas. I was obviously mistaken in that
>assumption.
>
>However, my point was and is that the relationship between the artist
>and Mr. Small is not an equal one. There is considerable evidence of
>this inequality, as any reasonable study of post-Columbian history
>would indicate. David Haberstich's assignation of "blame" to the
>Amazonian artists (who, tellingly, remain anonymous in all of the
>reporting), while excusing Mr. Small, is stunning.
>
>-L.D.
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
>to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
>(without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
>[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
>Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
>message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
>read "help" (without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
>[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
>"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).