Electronic Records Projects

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture. The Commission seeks proposals that will increase the capacity of archival repositories to create electronic records archives that preserve records of enduring historical value. The NHPRC supports efforts by archivists and records managers to meet the challenges of electronic records.

Projects must involve institutions that have already established archives and records management programs. We seek applications for start-up or collaborative projects:1. Start-up projects: Develop the capacity of institutions to prepare to capture and preserve electronic records, through program planning; OR 2. Collaborative projects: Establish and/or improve electronic records archives by engaging in effective and innovative collaborations. Most electronic records archives depend upon collaboration among archivists, record managers, and information technology specialists. Only a few organizations have all the required expertise, making training, collaboration and recruitment of new personnel essential components of electronic records archives. NHPRC strongly encourages applicants to include professional development components necessary for the success of the project. These may consist of basic or advanced electronic records and digital preservation training for archives staff, agency records managers, high level administrators, information technologists, and others. Projects cannot establish electronic document management systems that only manage born-digital records with limited retention periods. Projects in this category cannot digitize historical records. Applicants who wish to digitize records should refer to the Digitizing Historical Records announcement. Applications requesting support for these activities will be considered ineligible in this program.

Due Date: June 9, 2011

Amount: A grant normally is for 1 to 3 years and up to $300,000. Cost sharing is required. It is the financial contribution the applicant pledges to the cost of a project. Cost sharing can include both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project. The NHPRC will provide up to 50 percent of the total project costs.

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National Historical Publications Historical Records grant

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals to publish historical records of national significance. Projects may focus on the papers of major figures from American life or cover broad historical movements in politics, military, business, social reform, the arts, and other aspects of the national experience. The historical value of the records and their expected usefulness to broad audiences must justify the costs of the project. Grants are awarded for collecting, describing, preserving, compiling, editing, and publishing documentary source materials. The NHPRC does not fund proposals to purchase historical records; it also does not fund proposals to publish the papers of anyone who has been deceased for fewer than ten years. Eligible Activities Include: * Scholarly documentary editions in printed and bound volumes. * Scholarly documentary editions in online and other formats. * Image editions in online, microfilm, and other formats. * Conversion of existing print and microfilm editions to electronic publications. * Combinations of the above.

Amount: $250,000

Date due: October 7, 2010

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National Historical Projects Basic Projects

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals for fundamental archival activities that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage. Proposals must demonstrate how the applicant employs the best and most cost-effective archival methods. Activities included under Basic Projects may be any one or combination of the following: 1. Basic Processing, 2. Preservation Planning, 3. Collections Development, and/or 4. Establishing Archives. Although projects focused exclusively on professional development are not eligible in this grant category, the Commission strongly encourages each application to include professional development components necessary for the success of the project.

Amount: $200,000

Date due: October 7, 2010

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Library Support Program (Canada)

The Library Support Program is designed to assist university libraries to strengthen their library holdings related to Canada in order to support teaching and research on Canada and/or Canada-U.S. relations. The International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS), through the respective Canadian Consulate or the Embassy, will contribute up to $2,500 Canadian for library materials (books, journals, CD-ROMs, microforms) purchased by university libraries on a one-to-one matching grant basis. These funds will be available only for the purchase of library materials considered to be Canadiana and which are deemed by the Embassy of Canada or High Commission to qualify as having a specific bearing on the study of Canada and/or Canadian culture. The material has to be about Canada, published in Canada, and not out-of-print.

Amount: $2,500

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Humanities Collections and Reference Resources

The Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program supports projects that provide an essential foundation for scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities. Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture, and digital objects. Funding from this program strengthens efforts to extend the life of such materials and make their intellectual content widely accessible, often through the use of digital technology. Awards are also made to create various reference resources that facilitate use of cultural materials, from works that provide basic information quickly to tools that synthesize and codify knowledge of a subject for in-depth investigation.

Applications may be submitted for projects that address one or more of the following activities: arranging and describing archival and manuscript collections; cataloging collections of printed works, photographs, recorded sound, moving images, art, and material culture; providing conservation treatment for collections (including mass deacidification); digitizing collections; preserving and improving access to born-digital sources; developing databases, virtual collections, or other electronic resources to codify information on a subject field or to provide integrated access to selected humanities materials; creating encyclopedias; preparing linguistic tools, such as historical and etymological dictionaries, corpora, and reference grammars (separate funding is available for endangered language projects in partnership with the National Science Foundation); developing tools for spatial analysis and representation of humanities data, such as atlases and geographical information systems (GIS); and designing digital tools to facilitate use of humanities resources.

Because ensuring the longevity of humanities sources is critical to enabling their ongoing use, applicants may request support for implementing preservation measures, such as reformatting (including microfilming), rehousing, or item-level conservation treatment, in the context of projects that also create or enhance access to humanities collections.

Amount: $350,000 (across 3 years)

Date due: July 15, 2010

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Save America's Treasures

Administered by the National Park Service in collaboration with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Save America's Treasures is an annual grant program designed to provide critical investments in the preservation of the nation's most significant and endangered cultural treasures.

Grants are available for preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts and historic structures and sites. Intellectual and cultural artifacts include objects, collections, documents, sculpture, and works of art. Historic structures and sites include historic districts, lots, buildings, structures, and objects.

Amount: Varies

Date due: May 21, 2010

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Hidden Collections Grants (pre-proposals)

The Council on Library and Information Resources, an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand access to information, however recorded and preserved, has opened the pre-proposal application period for its Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant program.

The program will award funds to institutions (including historical associations and societies as well as archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural heritage organizations) holding collections of high scholarly value that are difficult or impossible to locate through existing finding aids. Award recipients will create descriptive information for their hidden collections that will be linked to and interoperable with all other projects funded by this grant with the purpose of forming a federated environment that can be built upon over time. Funding for the program comes from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Amount: $75,000 - $500,000

Date due: April 23, 2010

For more information, visit the Council on Library and Information Resources.

ALA Diversity Research Grant

The American Library Association's Office for Diversity seeks proposals for its Diversity Research Grant program. Since 2002, the ALA has sponsored the program to address critical gaps in the knowledge of diversity issues within library and information science.

Applicants must be current ALA members, and proposals must address one of three identified topics: upward mobility of library leaders from underrepresented populations; information services and collections for diverse children and young adults; and libraries and the meaning of multiculturalism. Only proposals demonstrating relevance to the 2010 research topics will be considered.

Amount: $2,000

Date due: April 30, 2010

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Preservation Assistance Grant

Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections. These may include special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, historical objects, and digital materials.

Applicants must draw on the knowledge of consultants whose preservation skills and experience are related to the types of collections and the nature of the activities that are the focus of their projects. Within the conservation field, for example, conservators usually specialize in the care of specific types of collections, such as objects, paper, or paintings. Applicants should therefore choose a conservator whose specialty is appropriate for the nature of their collections. Similarly, when assessing the preservation needs of archival holdings, applicants must seek a consultant specifically knowledgeable about archives and preservation. Because the organization and the preservation of archival collections must be approached in tandem, an archival consultant should also provide advice about the management and processing needs of such holdings as part of a preservation assessment that includes long-term plans for the arrangement and description of archival collections.

Amount: $6,000 for 18 months

Date due: May 18, 2010

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Access to Artistic Excellence (Museums)

Access to Artistic Excellence encourages and supports artistic creativity, preserves our diverse cultural heritage, and makes the arts more widely available in communities throughout the country. This category supports

Presentation of artistic works of all cultures and periods.

Preservation of significant works of art and cultural traditions.

Enabling arts organizations and artists to expand and diversify their audiences.

Amount: $150,000

Date due: March 11 or August 12 (depending upon focus)

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21st Century Museum Professionals grant

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is calling for proposals from museums, museum service organizations, and universities for projects that will enhance the professional development of museum staff. The 21st Century Museum Professionals grants are intended to have an impact on multiple institutions by reaching broad groups of museum professionals.

Funding will support projects involving core management skills such as planning, leadership, finance, program design, partnership, and evaluation. Projects may also focus on collections care and management, interpretation, marketing and audience development, staff retention, visitor services, governance, and other areas of museum operations. Additionally, IMLS encourages applicants to review its report, "Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills," and respond with project proposals that address competence in such 21st century skill areas as information, communications, and technology literacy; critical thinking; problem solving; creativity; civic literacy; and global awareness.

Amount: $15,000 - $500,000

Date due: March 15, 2010

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Native American Research grant

The Phillips Fund for Native American Research provides grants for research in Native American linguistics, ethnohistory, and the history of studies of Native Americans in the continental United States and Canada. Grants are not made for projects in archaeology, ethnography, psycholinguistics, or for the preparation of pedagogical materials.

Amount: $2,500 - $3,500

Date due: March 1, 2010

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