tributed quarterly; and 74 in-service enrichment opportunities 

 were offered to volunteer participants as a means of increasing 

 their knowledge and understanding of the Institution's work 

 and collections. New cloth lanyards inscribed with the sun- 

 burst, Smithsonian Institution, and the acronym VIARC were 

 offered to all volunteers. 



Incoming public inquiry mail, including electronic inquiries, 

 numbered 35,385. Capability to respond online facilitated answers 

 to some 2,264 inquiries originating primarily from the WWW. 

 Twenty-five new bibliographies, fact sheets, and leaflets were 

 created and uploaded to the web on sublets from anthropology 

 to zoology. Outgoing mail in response to both mail and phone 

 inquiries numbered more than 78,505 pieces. The most popular 

 leaflets and bibliographies were: "Tropical Rainforests," "The 

 Book of Mormon," "Violins Bearing a Stradivanus Label," 

 "Sources of Information on Mollusks," and "Careers in Biology, 

 Conservation, and Oceanography." A survey of the origin of 

 public inquiries revealed the top 5 domestic sources to be Califor- 

 nia, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Overseas in- 

 quiries originated largely from Canada, the United Kingdom, 

 Australia, and Germany. 



Public telephone inquiries answered by VIARC numbered 

 more than 311,287. Factors influencing the volume of calls in- 

 cluded America's Smithsonian, the Star Wars exhibition at the 

 National Air and Space Museum, the Amber exhibition at the 

 National Museum of Natural History, Black History Month 

 activities, and activities for the presidential inauguration. 



The Behind-the-Scenes Volunteer Program recruited and 

 placed 288 new volunteers to assist with staff projects; 415 

 volunteers were registered and oriented for other staff. Total 

 volunteers participating in behind-the-scenes projects during 

 the year numbered 1,312. Translations completed by volunteer 

 translators numbered 105 in 15 languages. 



Efforts to addtess the Institution's accessibility and cultural 

 diversity goals were ongoing. Fifteen percent of new Volun- 

 teer Information Specialists represented minority constituen- 

 cies. Eighteen percent of new volunteers placed in projects 

 behind the scenes were known to be minorities. Printed ac- 

 tivity "Samplers" were produced for all Heritage Celebrations 

 and 24-hour recorded information tapes were also provided. 

 Telephone requests for Black History Month Calendars were 

 the highest ever received (1,387). As updates were required, 

 publications were revised to reflect adherence to accessibility 

 guidelines. One section of the Smithsonian Information 

 Center's main information desk was redesigned to accom- 

 modate visitors and volunteers in wheelchairs, and primary 

 publications were provided in alternative formats at all infor- 

 mation desks for distribution to visitors. 



The Institution- wide volunteer survey conducted annually 

 through VIARC counted a total of 7,743 volunteers who contrib- 

 uted some 605,724 hours of service during FY 97. The January 

 issue of The Torch featured volunteer participation in 150th- 

 anniversary activities and continued to pay tribute to the con- 

 tributions of volunteers across the Institution. Volunteers were 

 also acknowledged throughout the year in many other ways. 



Appreciation events for participants in VIARC's two volun- 

 teer programs included remarks by Secretary Heyman at the 

 spring event for behind-the-scenes volunteers and remarks by 

 Under Secretary Constance B. Newman at the Holiday recep- 

 tion for Volunteer Information Specialists. 



Work with the tourism industry continued through partici- 

 pation in major marketplace activities including the American 

 Bus Association, National Tour Association, Travel Industry 

 Association, and La Cumbre, the principal visit USA travel 

 trade show for Latin American tour operators and travel 

 agents. Liaison with local hospitality, convention, and visitors 

 associations was ongoing, as was online promotion of the 

 Smithsonian through TravelFile and NTA Online. To pro- 

 mote the Smithsonian as a major destination for international 

 travelers, VIARC assisted the Washington, DC, Convention 

 and Visitors Association in arranging tours of the National 

 Air and Space Museum for familiarization groups from Ger- 

 many and Switzerland. A rack card promoting the National 

 Postal Museum was distributed widely through local and 

 national travel industry sources and group bookings for the 

 Craft Show were made available to tour operators for the first 

 time. 



Additional activities during Fiscal 1997 included distributing 

 hundreds of thousands of Smithsonian Credit Card applications; 

 compiling 35 binders on Inaugural activities for reference by 

 phone and museum information desk volunteers; producing 

 membership promotion banners for the Information Center, A 

 Quick Guide for visitors interested only in museum highlights, 

 and a leaflet on the History of the Castle. 



Automation advancements and enhancements were sig- 

 nificant. New computers were configured and installed at 10 

 museum information desks, and the NASM computer was 

 finally connected to the Network. A "Smithsonian Informa- 

 tion Center" site was made available on the SI Intranet and 

 VIARC's Encyclopedia Smithsonian site on the Internet became 

 the number two entry point for the Smithsonian Home Page, 

 following the Home Page itself. 



Enhancements to VIARC's custom computer programs 

 were numerous, including additional online source statistics 

 for the Resmail and VIP programs, additions such as "quick 

 keys" to the InfoTools program, and many other upgrades to 

 software used by all VIARC units, which improved efficiency 

 and productivity. 



Office of Contracting 



John W. Cobert, Director 



The Office of Contracting (formerly the Office of Contracting 

 and Property Management) continued to provide central con- 

 tracting, procurement, and advisory services for all Smithson- 

 ian museums, research institutes, and offices. The office is 



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