titudes, opinions and experiences of Smithsonian constituen- 

 cies. The small staff includes professionals with expercise in 

 sociology, demography, research methods, survey statistics, 

 and a variety of quantitative and qualitative data analysis and 

 evaluation techniques. 



Since its founding in 1987, ISO has conducted studies and 

 applied research for Smithsonian administrators, curators and 

 programmatic staff. Areas of investigation include audience 

 and membership profiles, background studies and assessments 

 of SI exhibitions and public programs, and ongoing analyses 

 of employee composition. For each study, ISO is responsible 

 for all aspects of study or survey design, implementation of 

 data collection, analysis and report writing. Institutional 

 clients are asked to assume the costs of data collection and 

 data entry. In addition, the office provides some technical con- 

 sultation to cultural organizations throughout the country 

 and professional review of applied research conducted for 

 them. The staff is also available, on a limited basis, to conduct 

 seminars in various aspects of applied quantitative and qualita- 

 tive research and program evaluation. 



The results of ISO studies are disseminated in several for- 

 mats. The ma|or vehicle is a Report series; analyses include 

 technical appendices which both document the work and can 

 be used as methodological models. The Reports are dis- 

 tributed both within and outside of SI. Results are also 

 presented at professional meetings or in journal publications. 

 (For example, a presentation at an international conference in 

 late 1995, "Museums and Their Visitors: Challenges for the Fu- 

 ture, "summarized our major research results over the past 

 several years; the results of our study of the Ocean Planet ex- 

 hibition at NMNH were presented at the annual Visitor 

 Studies Conference.) Research Notes have a more limited dis- 

 tribution, either because of the sub]ect matter or because the 

 results are not generalizable. (For example, a Research Note, 

 (RN 96-1) Peanut Buster and Jelly, is based on a limited data 

 collection at the Moten Elementary School.) Finally, to ensure 

 that clients have timely access to results while more formal 

 documents are being prepared, memoranda are prepared for in- 

 ternal use. 



The Office's 1995-96 activities included: (1) several major 

 museum studies using ISO-developed methodological innova- 

 tions in interviewing museum audiences; (2) assessments of 

 major exhibitions, including profiles of visitors and analyses 

 ot their behavior and learning experiences (e.g., Mechanical 

 Brides at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Con- 

 necting with Xatue Voices at NMAI. and Ocean Planet at 

 NMNH); (3) planning studies to determine the attitudes and 

 expectations of prospective visitors in advance of major exhibi- 

 tion projects (e.g.. Rock V Soul: Social Crossroads at NMAH); 

 (4) providing statistical information on Smithsonian con- 

 stituencies for bureau and office development staffs and pro- 

 gram personnel; (5") preparing all of the statistical analyses 

 used by the Institution to meet its labor force reporting re- 

 quirements to the Regents, the Congress and other federal 

 agencies' and (6) providing statistical, methodological, and 



analytical advice to units conducting their own studies or ap- 

 plying for grants which have evaluation components (e.g., we 

 joined the Arctic Studies Center at NMNH in a proposal to 

 the National Science Foundation for funding). 



As part of on-going efforts to understand Smithsonian 

 publics, two studies were completed. The first, America Meets 

 Asia: A Report Based on the Ipp4-ipp4 Freer Gallery of Art and 

 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Visitor Study (Report No. 96-2), was 

 based on about 2500 visitors exiting the galleries. The second, 

 Visitors to History: A Report Based on the ipp4-p$ National 

 Museum of American History Visitor Study (Report No. 96-3), 

 was based on a total of about 5300 interviews. Visitors at both 

 the Freer and Sackler and NMAH were interviewed using a 

 questionnaire similar to those developed for NMNH and 

 NASM. Data from these year-long studies, in combination 

 with data from NASM and NMNH, and the resultant 

 analyses, provide a wealth of consistent, comparable data 

 about major Smithsonian museums. 



Our work with the Rock V Soul exhibition team at NMAH 

 is breaking new ground in exhibition development. The 

 museum is creating a traveling exhibition on the roots of rock 

 and soul music in Memphis. To provide background informa- 

 tion, we are conducting studies at America's Smithsonian exhibi- 

 tion sites. These studies analyze the responses of visitors to the 

 thematic Rock V Soul display presented in panels and video in 

 the America's Voices exhibit. During the fiscal year data collec- 

 tion took place in Los Angeles, Kansas City and St. Paul. 



The office completed a comprehensive assessment of the Ocean 

 Planet exhibition, on view at NMNH prior to a national tour. It 

 was based on entrance and exit interviews and an observation 

 study. This study continues ISO efforts to understand the 

 relationship between the intentions of exhibition creators and the 

 responses of the visiting public to exhibitions. A study of users of 

 the Ocean Planet World Wide Web site is in progress, using a 

 method we developed for studying on-line usage of the site. 



An invitation to the director to deliver the keynote address 

 at a national conference, $1 Years Later: Evaluating Holocaust 

 Education, gave us the opportunity to summarize some of the 

 office's work and to address its implications for understanding 

 museum education. 



In sum, as described here and in our publication listing, 

 Fiscal Year 1996 has seen continued use, at SI and elsewhere, 

 of ISO's technical expertise and of the results accumulated 

 since its establishment almost a decade ago. 



The Accessibility Program 



The Accessibility Program in the Office of the Provost, a 

 central coordinator of Smithsonian efforts in accessibility for 

 people with disabilities, met two major objectives during FY 

 1996. These two objectives contribute substantially to the 

 Program's goals of ensuring that all existing and new 

 programs and exhibitions are fully accessible to staff and 

 visitors with disabilities. 



The first objective required that the Accessibility Program: 

 1) provides with assessment tools all Smithsonian units to sur- 



52. 



