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Proper utilization of the new facilities will require a significant increase in staff for various organizations.  The phasing of this growth takes into account the time required for construction of the Museum Support Center and acquisition of its equipment and furnishings.  For the Conservation Analytical Laboratory, because of the difficulty in recruiting highly qualified and scarce conservation personnel, steps were taken in 1980 to prepare appropriate position descriptions so that personnel actions can be instituted on schedule.  Precise specifications for special conservation equipment, particularly fumigation equipment which must be in place in the Center at the time of its occupancy, have been developed and contracts for manufacture have been awarded.  A substantial amount of other equipment was purchased in FY 1981 and FY 1982. The process will continue into FY 1983.

Special task forces, consisting of Smithsonian staff and personnel from the academic community, have been created to develop a training curriculum, prerequisites for entering students, faculty arrangements, and course completion requirements.  Discussions are continuing with the administration and staff of two local universities, George Washington University and the University of Maryland, to explore ways in which conservation laboratory instruction and graduate and undergraduate level courses can best be integrated to produce well-rounded and complete conservation training program. The issue of appropriate degrees or certification, or a combination of these, is being investigated. It is planned that a director of the Conservation Training Program will be appointed in FY 1983. Other staff positions important to the expanded conservation analytical and treatment functions, and to the training program, will be recruited over the planning period, particularly in FY 1983 and FY 1984.

In addition to attending the development of activities that will occur in the Museum Support Center in the coming years, the Conservation Analytical Laboratory will continue to explore the best means of monitoring environmental conditions throughout the Institution's museums in an effort to stabilize relative humidity and temperatures in all areas housing exhibits and collections; it will continue its program of computerizing conservation data and related information which are the product of its ongoing work, and to establish closer linkage with similar systems elsewhere.  As an example of this, the Laboratory has installed a system for gaining access to the British Museum for their conservation reports and the Index to Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts.  Future projects of the Laboratory will include the updating of conservation information videotapes which are distributed upon request to the museum profession, and in the making of new videotapes of conservation processes while they are in progress.  These tapes will provide a valuable record of laboratory work and will be used for training and instructional purposes.  The Laboratory will continue