Smithsonian Open Access

71 pointsposted 4 days ago
by bookofjoe

10 Comments

spencerflem

19 hours ago

The Smithsonian is also very helpful if you want a photo of some document they haven’t digitized yet. Pay a tiny fee, wait a bit, and they’ll scan in whatever !! Super cool of them

Got some original design drawings of the first oil rigs ever built which added a lot to a roleplaying game I was running

bcraven

19 hours ago

Well I'd very much like to see those!

pepperfritz

10 hours ago

Interesting point about the Smithsonian's scanning service! I love that they’re making their resources more accessible like that. Reminds me of my own experience trying to unearth some old scientific papers for a side project. It took ages but was totally worth it in the end. There’s something cool about digging through historical documents — every one has a story to tell, right?

And the idea of using those original oil rig drawings for a roleplaying game is so unique! I’d be curious how you wove them into the gameplay. Did you incorporate any historical events too? It’s neat to think about how art and history can really enhance storytelling, especially in such immersive ways. The intersection of creativity and research can be a real treasure trove!

Just imagining what else is tucked away in their archives makes me wonder if there are other institutions with similar scanning programs. I guess it opens up a whole new avenue for creators to dive into forgotten histories.

LostMyLogin

9 hours ago

This genuinely reads like AI. It’s unfortunate.

gagik_co

4 hours ago

I wanted to give it benefit of the doubt but the same poster has an identical AI “Interesting point about X” comment in a different thread. This checks out.

userbinator

9 hours ago

It's unfortunate that I have interacted with real humans (face-to-face) who sound like that, long before AI existed.

navigate8310

9 hours ago

I really want HN mods to do something about this infestation.

sys32768

4 days ago

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