The Arago® Volunteer Research Program and Virtual Vault

The National Postal Museum is reaching out to an international, online audience of philatelists, historians, educators, students, and the public in a bold way. Arago®, the Museum's educational and research Web site, presents the collections in a context-rich setting with full color images and zoom-in capability.

Named after French scientist Francois Arago (a friend of Smithsonian benefactor, James Smithson), the web site - like Arago the man - advocates using modern technology to disseminate information to the public.

In fact, Arago® goes even further and solicits input from the public. Volunteer researchers provide scholarly information for the museum’s sundry objects. NPM invites philatelic and postal operations specialists in joining our endeavor to enhance the research of the museum’s objects that makes Arago® such an important online resource. For information on this exciting volunteer opportunity, please visit: Arago® Volunteer Research Program.