212 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1960 



The efficiency of the Bio-Sciences Information Exchange is greatly 

 aided by the functional arrangement of its new offices and its elec- 

 tronic equipment. A Burroughs 205 computer was installed in Octo- 

 ber and considerable progress has been made toward conversion to 

 operation on magnetic tape. 



The volume of information in the Bio-Sciences Information Ex- 

 change continues to grow; approximately 30,000 current research 

 studies are presently registered. The services of the Exchange are 

 used increasingly by the scientific public as well as by granting agen- 

 cies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration joined the 

 other Federal agencies supporting the Exchange this year. 



One new professional, Willis Foster, M.D., joined the staff in July. 



Conversations among Federal agencies are in progress concerning 

 broadening the scope of the Exchange to include the physical as well 

 as the biological sciences. 



SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM SERVICE 



The Smithsonian Museum Service, through appropriate educational 

 media, interprets to museum visitors and to the general public, the 

 objects, specimens, and exhibits of the several Smithsonian museums 

 and develops educational programs for interpreting the work of the 

 Institution in the fields of science, natural history, art, and history. 

 The activity of the Museum Service includes the administration of 

 Smithsonian cooperation with the volunteer docents of the Junior 

 I^eague of Washington, D.C. A more complete report of this activity 

 is carried in the Report of the United States National Museum. 



The Museum Service also provided assistance to professional and 

 subprofessional individuals and groups visiting the museums of the 

 Institution. Arrangements were made through the Museum Service 

 for Smithsonian participation in the Workshop on the Use of Com- 

 munity Resources sponsored by the University of Maryland. 

 Through the facilities of this workshop, a 5-day program outlining 

 the history of the Institution and the work of the various Smithson- 

 ian museum and research bureaus was presented to 39 graduate stu- 

 dents from the University of Maryland. Assistance in the form of 

 lectures, answers to inquiries, and special tours of certain museum 

 areas was also rendered to other college and university groups visiting 

 the Institution and to individuals from the United States and abroad, 

 visiting, or planning to visit the Smithsonian in a professional 

 capacity. 



The Museum Service took the first step in a long-range project to 

 orient visitors to the various museums and exhibits of the Institution, 

 through the installation and operation of an electronically controlled, 

 automatic slide lecture device in the Great Hall of the Smithsonian 

 Building. 



