and offices have access to SIRIS, the local area network, and 

 the Internet. The Libraries is benefitting from greater systems 

 linkage, enhanced communication, and improved access to in- 

 formation sources. 



The Libraries catalog is available as a CD-ROM as Smithson- 

 ian on Disc: Catalog of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries on 

 CD-ROM (1994), and copies are available for use in all branch 

 libraries. The publisher, G. K. Hall & Co., an imprint of Mac - 

 millan Publishing, reports using the accurate and complete 

 bibliographic records of the Libraries as a model prototype for 

 other CD-ROM products of library and archive records from 

 Harvard and Columbia Universities, the Getty Art History In- 

 formation Project, and the New York Public Library. The pub- 

 lisher updates the CD-ROM once a year, and the disc has 

 records of the Libraries' eighteen branches as well as records of 

 the library at the National Museum of American Art and the 

 National Portrait Gallery. 



The cataloguing the Mel Heinz Collection of 60,000 trade 

 catalogs from machine-tool and metal-working companies, 

 funded by a 1993 grant from the Atherton Seidell Endow- 

 ment, was completed, and another cataloguing project of 

 trade catalogs currently underway will add 40,000 more re- 

 cords to the international bibliographic database, OCLC (On- 

 line Computer Library Center). 



The Research Services Division launched its Project Access 

 program by centralizing the borrowing function in the inter- 

 library loan service (ILL), and an ILL Team planned and began 

 operating a service center that will soon supply or coordinate 

 all information access. A report from the Electronic Access 

 Task Force led to several demonstrations and trials of end-user 

 services. As a special member of the Research Libraries Group, 

 the Libraries participates in the RLG ShaRes program along 

 with more than 100 of the largest research libraries in the 

 country. The program fosters resource sharing among its mem- 

 bers, offering priority lending with expedited loan service, per- 

 mitting the Smithsonian Libraries to offer its users more 

 efficient and effective research support with this direct access 

 to premiere library collections. 



In the Collections Management Division, the Assistant Di- 

 rector organized a review of journal subscriptions, responding 

 to budget pressures caused by continually rising prices. The 

 Acquisitions Services Department worked on the inventory of 

 noncurrent serials and planning continued for automated 

 check-in of journal issues. Presentations to foreign visitors em- 

 phasized the value of the recently completed Gifts & Ex- 

 change data base. The Preservation Services Department 

 prepared over 1,000 volumes for microfilming, demonstrating 

 the maturity of the Libraries' Brittle Books program, and the 

 program for m-house repair of non-rare collections was ex- 

 panded. Staff arranged for storage of the preservation master 

 negatives at National Underground Services in Boyers. Penn- 

 sylvania, an archival facility that meets preservation standards 

 developed by the Research Libraries Group, the Library of 

 Congress, and the Association for Information and Image 

 Management A preservation photocopy contract added this 



capability to the arsenal of preservation techniques available 

 for replacement of deteriorated volumes. Susan Blaine initi- 

 ated formation of the Capitol Area Preservation Network 

 (CAPNet), a regional group of preservation professionals to ex- 

 plore mutual concerns and develop needed programs. 



With the Commission on Preservation and Access, the Spe- 

 cial Collections Department launched an experimental project 

 to put digitized images of illustrations from Special Collec- 

 tions materials on CD-ROM to allow for greater access to the 

 collections while reducing handling of these fragile materials. 



The Planning and Administration Division (PAD) achieved 

 a number of improvements in service and operations during 

 the year, implementing new operations, improved facilities, 

 and increased accountability. The major achievement of the 

 year was the smooth transition to the new Smithsonian Finan- 

 cial System (SFS) and the Electronic System for Personnel 

 (ESP). PAD transferred responsibility for payment of inter- 

 library loans to FEDLINK, a federal library organization, re- 

 ducing the workload of staff. In-house training was offered on 

 ergonmetrics, copyright issues, assisting employees with prob- 

 lems, and supervisors' responsibilities. Several brown bag 

 lunches addressing issues of interest to the staff were spon- 

 sored by the Staff Development Committee. 



Space planning, oversight of projects, and construction cov- 

 ered a number of areas, including projects for the National 

 Museum of the American Indian, the Libraries' space at the 

 Institution's Service Center, the Suitland Masterplan, and ren- 

 ovation of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and 

 Technology. Work began in earnest on plans for the Rare 

 Book Library in the Museum of Natural History East Court 

 when the Libraries hired its own architect; the Museum of 

 American History Branch Library was renovated. A four-story 

 stack was constructed at the Smithsonian Tropical Research 

 Institute and the existing library building was renovated. 



The Dibner Fund provided funds for the Dibner Library 

 Lecture, presented this year by W. Bernard Carlson of the Uni- 

 versity of Virginia who gave a lively illustrated talk on "Mak- 

 ing Connections: Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray, and 

 Thomas A. Edison and the Race to the Telephone" to an ap- 

 preciative crowd of sixty. The Dibner Fund also funded two 

 SIL128/Dibner Library Resident Scholars in the History of 

 Science and Technology, Helen M. Rozwadowski of the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, and Stephen A. Walton who is work- 

 ing in a pre-doctoral program at the University of Toronto. 



The Libraries opened a new exhibition, Balloons: The Birth 

 of Flight, 1783-1793 in its Gallery in the Museum of American 

 History in September 1994. The exhibition, which displayed 

 books from three branches, was underwritten by Mr. Barron 

 Hilton and by contributions from Mr. Jacques Soukup, Mr. 

 Kirk Thomas, and Dr. and Mrs. James L. Rand. Support for 

 the brochure and a Young People s Quiz was provided by the 

 Smithsonian Women's Committee. The Libraries' 1995 exhibi- 

 tion has received funding from the Glen Eagles Foundation 

 and the Smithsonian's Special Exhibition Fund. At the 

 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Branch Librar- 



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