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diversity of the Institution and the increasing complexity of the law and of planning and oversight responsibilities in connection with the scheduled heavy emphasis on the construction and renovation program of the Institution.

Resources available to the [[underlined]]specialized administrative and technical offices[[/underlined]] in FY 1979 will total $9,317,000 including both appropriated and nonappropriated funds and 353 positions. An additional $3,601,000 and 31 positions are projected over the planning period which, if provided, would result in total resources of $12,918,000 and 384 positions by FY 1985. The most significant changes are programmed for accounting, computer, personnel, and printing and photographic services.

Efforts will continue to improve and strengthen financial administration in the Institution. Major emphasis will be devoted to the development and implementation of a system of data base management. This system will permit sophisticated financial planning and analysis by enabling instantaneous retrieval of financial information. In addition, participation will continue in the development of a comprehensive personnel/payroll system that will incorporate provisions required by the Civil Service Reform Act, as well as personnel and pay policies governing trust fund employees. Additional steps will be taken to establish customer service units in the larger bureaus to facilitate the transmission of accounting information to centralized accounting records. Over the period, a greatly increased use of computer processing is anticipated.

The five-year planning process for computer services continues to indicate an increasing demand for automatic data processing in all areas of institutional operations. Approximately 125 researchers now receive assistance in mathematical and statistical applications each year, many of them taking advantage of the interactive processing capability afforded by the present computer. Collections management efforts over the next several years will emphasize the data handling aspects of the inventories now taking place with large volumes of information expected from the Natural History, History and Technology, and Cooper-Hewitt Museums. Continued support will be given to other museum, gallery, and zoo collections. In the administrative area, present systems will be improved and new ones implemented in such areas as plant services work and inventory controls, library purchases and subscriptions, budget planning and control, traveling exhibition scheduling and monitoring, protection manpower scheduling, and the development of a new personnel/payroll system in collaboration with the accounting and personnel offices. Work needed by the auxiliary activities includes a system for magazine advertising accounts, a complete purchasing and control system for the museum shops, and improvements to the Associates registration system. Overall, a backlog of systems and programming work of some 20 man-years is projected at the end of FY 1980. Some of this backlog can be met with contractual computer programming support over the planning period.