Barbara P. Ferry

Interim Manager, Research Services & Head, Natural and Physical Sciences Department

As the interim head of Research Services Division, Barbara manages the services and staff of seventeen Smithsonian Libraries branches focused on Art & Design, History & Culture, and Natural & Physical Sciences. Prior to the Smithsonian, she was the Director of the Library and Archives at National Geographic Society, where she and her team launched the National Geographic Virtual Library, a database of National Geographic publications, images, and videos for the library market. Barbara received the Special Libraries Association: Outstanding Achievement in Business Librarianship, as well as the Nielsen Norman Group Intranet Design Awards. Barbara is a Founding Member of the University of Maryland's Future of Information Alliance. In her early career, she assisted reporters as a news research analyst at the Washington Post, and led a research team at Washington Information Group.  She holds a Masters in Library Science from the University of Maryland, a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University, and a Bachelors of Arts in American History from Cornell University.