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effort are contained within the Special Programs table, but are described in some detail here.  Collections management, particularly inventory, will receive continued attention, and the methods of handling the Institution's bibliographic and archival resources will be improved through automated systems and administrative refinements.  The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service will expand its international program as well as develop new exhibitions for national audiences.

[[underlined]] Museum Support Center [[/underlined]].  Construction of the Museum Support Center began in January 1981 and is scheduled for completion in January 1983.  Occupancy of the building for maintenance purposes and preparation of the laboratories and other work areas will begin shortly thereafter.  Throughout the planning process, and during the construction period, strict standards for suitable environmental conditions and security, as well as for laboratory functions, have been adhered to closely.  Following a thorough study of the problem, a storage system of racks capable of holding a variety of integrated modular collection encasement units has been determined to be the most effective means of meeting the needs of various Smithsonian museum departments to store collections there.  The acquisition process for both storage and laboratory equipment began in FY 1981 and will continue through the planning period and beyond.  It is planned to start the process of transferring collections as soon as possible after completion of the Center and after all the basic systems (fire, protection and environmental) are operational and have been thoroughly tested.  The first collections to be moved to the Center are "wet storage" collections from the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center, and from the Departments of Invertebrate and Vertebrate Zoology of the Museum of Natural History/Museum of Man.

Additional details regarding the construction, equipping and operations of the Museum Support Center appear in the Special Programs chapter and the Facilities chapter.

[[underlined]] Conservation Research, Training, and Information [[/underlined]].  The plans developed in 1979 for the Conservation Analytical Laboratory in the Museum Support Center and for the facilities and training program for conservators and conservation technicians have remained substantially unchanged since their inception, and both program and budget growth will occur during the years immediately ahead.  Within the Center, the Laboratory and training program will occupy the major portion of the 44,000 square feet of space assigned to conservation functions to be performed there.  Other parts of this space will be used by the Anthropology Conservation Laboratory and by the Conservation Laboratory of the Museum of American History.  Conservation treatment presently performed by the Conservation Analytical Laboratory in the American History Building will be transferred to the new Museum Support Center, and consideration is being given to modifying the existing facilities on the Mall for specialized research and analytical tasks.