Barbara P. Ferry

Associate Director, SLA Library Research Centers

As the Associate Director, SLA Library Research Centers, Barbara manages the services and staff of eighteen 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 from Cornell University.