| MIND:
Modern Inventors Documentation Program
The MIND Program acts as a clearinghouse for inventors
seeking to preserve and donate their historical materials;
identifies and preserves the papers and other historical
materials of living inventors; promotes access to and
use of this documentary record by scholars, students,
and the public; and identifies inventors whose papers
and artifacts have particular significance to the research
and educational goals of the National Museum of American
History.
Download An
Inventor's Guide to the Preservation, Protection, and
Donation of Personal Papers (PDF file, 950K)
»
About the MIND Database
Information in the database was drawn from many sources:
Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN); Online
Computer Library Center (OCLC ); National Union Catalog
of Manuscripts Collections (NUCMC); online catalogs for
universities, colleges, historical societies, and other
organizations; ArchiveGrid (a service of RLG); Sources
in Electrical History 3: An International Guide to Corporate
Records and Archives of Companies in Electrical, Electronics,
and Computer Industries compiled by the IEEE, 1995;
and A Directory of History of Medicine Collections,
9th Edition, compiled by the National Library of Medicine,
1999. All database entries were sent to the appropriate
repository for verification. In some instances, repositories
submitted additional information on their holdings. The
records reflect differing descriptive practices among
repositories. Researchers seeking additional information
should contact the repository.
Alison Oswald of the Lemelson Center staff researched
and edited the original database entries with the assistance
of Lemelson Center and Archives Center staff at the National
Museum of American History. The database was designed
by Interactive Knowledge of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The first of several planned expansion phases to include
information on international archives with invention-related
holdings in the MIND Database began in 2008. Project staff
is investigating Canadian holdings that are appropriate
for inclusion in the database; additions from other countries
are welcome as well. Translations into English are encouraged.
For further information on the expansion of the MIND database,
contact Alison Oswald at oswalda@si.edu.
Contributing to the MIND Database
This MIND Database is an ongoing project to gather and
provide information about invention and technology collections
in archives, libraries, historical societies, and museums.
The database will assist scholars, inventors, teachers,
and students. Additionally, the database will enable the
Lemelson Center to identify gaps in the invention record,
for example the papers of women and minority inventors.
We seek information about inventors (corporate, government,
and independent), scientists and industries in all areas
associated with invention. We also seek information on
records of institutions such as academic departments and
research laboratories. The database contains information
from all time periods. If papers are held privately, but
available for research, we welcome this information. Additionally,
we would like to know if papers of significant inventors
have been destroyed. The types of materials included in
the database are: correspondence, course notes, diaries,
drawings, financial records, grant applications, instructional
materials, logbooks, notebooks, patents, patent applications,
photographs, publications, sound recordings, videotapes,
film, and artifacts, objects, invention prototypes, and
tools associated with archival collections. You may download
the MIND Database Submission Form in either a Microsoft
Word or PDF
and return it to:
Lemelson Center
Smithsonian Institution
P.O. Box 37012
National Museum of American History
Room 1016, MRC 604
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Fax (202) 357-4517
If you have any questions, please contact Alison Oswald
on 202.633.3726 or email oswalda@si.edu
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