Dr. Nancy Elizabeth Gwinn (1945 – 2024) was the director of the Smithsonian Libraries from 1997 until her retirement in 2020. She chaired the Association of Research Libraries Committee on Preservation of Library Material and served on the Standing Committee on Preservation and Conservation of the International Federation of Library Associations.
Her role as Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) Executive Committee Chair was lauded by Thomas Garnett, BHL Program Director (2007-2012). Of Dr. Gwinn he noted:
"From an early interest in digitizing literature to a full-scale vision of an interoperating network of biodiversity resources, Nancy tirelessly advanced and shaped the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Coordinating the cooperation of widely differing institutions, she cajoled, seduced, browbeat, and encouraged people to work for a greater good. She was amazing."
She was a member of the Caxton Club and in a memorial in The Caxtonian (October 2024) she was described as a metaphor of light--helping people to see clearly and creating an invitation to move ahead.
Dr. Gwinn and her husband, Library of Congress Historian, John Y. Cole, established endowments to support the internships at the Smithsonian Libraries and at the University of Michigan School of Information. They also funded an endowment for supporting the operations of the technical services of the University of Wyoming Libraries and the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
Selected Publications:
Gwinn, Nancy E., Lisa L. Fox, and Association of Research Libraries. 1996. Preservation Microfilming: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists. 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
Smithsonian Institution, Mary Augusta Thomas, Nancy E. Gwinn, Michael Dirda, and Storrs L. Olson. 2002. An Odyssey in Print: Adventures in the Smithsonian Libraries. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [2002].
Gwinn, Nancy E., and Johanna G. Wellheiser. 2011. Preparing for the Worst, Planning for the Best: Protecting Our Cultural Heritage from Disaster: Proceedings of a Special IFLA Conference Held in Berlin in July 2003. Berlin: K.G. Saur. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110931440.
Gwinn, Nancy E. 1989. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries: A Foot in Three Camps. [Chicago, Ill.]: American Library Association.
Gwinn, Nancy E., United States Federal Library Committee, and Library of Congress. 1984. Federal Information Policies: Emerging Issues on Managing Information Resources. Washington: Library of Congress.
More:
In Memoriam: Nancy E. Gwinn. Biodiversity Library.
In Memoriam: Nancy Elizabeth Gwinn, Caxtonian (October, 2024).
Nancy E. Gwinn - Wikipedia
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Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Distinguished University Professor
School of Information
University of South Florida
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