Virtual Volunteering

Sample Inquiry Letters

Following are templates for letters which may be sent on behalf of TFAO. Volunteers are free to change them to suit their personal style and the circumstances for their correspondence.

1. Regarding scholarly articles and essays:

• request letters for permission to republish an essay: to an author, to a museum for unnamed authors, to a museum for one named author, to a museum for multiple authors, to a private source, essay published but not indexed pending author's review
• response to author's questions on copyright
• response to "what is Resource Library?" question from source before submission
• letter inviting art dealers to submit artist biographies
• introduction of TFAO to a publisher regarding an essay

2. Regarding publicity articles:

• thank you note for media information received
• exhibit 650+ words request to museum staff
• exhibit 700+ words request to the curator or executive director of a museum
• request to museum to send by email information previously received in the US Mail
• request to the media relations director of a museum for additional text
• request to the media relations director of a museum for .jpg images for a published article
• request to the media relations director of a museum for .doc file versus .pdf file

3. Regarding the TFAO videos-VHS catalog

• question on videos in a collection
• VHS/DVD videos in your collection

4. Regarding state art history microsites

• inquiry to curator on adding to state art history microsite

5. Regarding letters from the public

• reader request for image or text reprinting: no copyright held
• should TFAO publish a reader's question

TFAO cautions our volunteers to use discretion in providing their personal phone numbers. If a correspondent seeks a volunteer's phone number TFAO encourages having the person making the request be asked to call TFAO.

Return to volunteers

About volunteering at TFAO

Traditional Fine Arts Organization's (TFAO) Digital Library and its publication Resource Library welcome volunteers to further the broadening of knowledge of American representational art. College interns are also welcome.

When you become a virtual volunteer you can help TFAO any time and anywhere. Projects are completed off-site in residences of volunteers or at other locations where access to the Internet and/or OCR scanning equipment are available.

Virtual volunteering is suited for individuals studying library science, art history and and others who enjoy research in order to expand and make more readily available knowledge of American fine arts. Interns and volunteers choose their own hours. We are proud to acknowledge our volunteers' efforts in published texts. Project-related out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursable.

Do you want to learn more about virtual volunteering at TFAO? Please send an email to:

Search Resource Library

Copyright 2011 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.