ABSTRACT
This chapter serves as overview for the study and a place to introduce and define computer-based technology and the Smithsonian Institution. A brief history of the Smithsonian is presented, along with a closer examination of three of the Smithsonian’s nineteen museums: the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The study’s two key models are also introduced: the model of expert curatorship and a methodology for the emerging tradition of collecting and exhibiting computer-based technology. In addition, the chapter begins with an examination of how the National Museum of American History collected an Apple iPod for the first time and the challenges that this posed. This chapter includes excerpts from interviews with the following museum professionals at the Smithsonian Institution: Joyce Bedi (NMAH); Alicia Cutler (NMAH); Eric Jentsch (NMAH); Sharon Perich (NMAH); Carlene Stephens (NMAH); and Hal Wallace (NMAH).
