Among $9.3 Million in National Leadership Grants, IMLS Backs ALA E-Government Project
By Carrie Netzer Wajda Oct 4, 2010The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced the recipients of this year's National Leadership Grants (NLG). Among the $9.3 million for library-related projects (the total is $17.3 million) are numerous grants for libraries, universities, and library schools.
There are also grants for museums and other educational institutions. All the grants require a significant local match.
Among the highlight are the American Library Association's ambitious proposal to create a multi-state e-government project to provide web-based resources, the University of Michigan's plan to analyze the quality of mass digitization projects, and a program by the Athens-Clarke County Library, GA, to work with aging baby boomers.
Other projects received funding to connect natural history institutions' literature and specimen collections; a public library's partnership with a charitable organization to promote legal immigrants' civic engagement; a library-publishing pilot program and several collaborations between libraries and historical sites to preserve and display archival records.
The next deadline for the National Leadership Grants program is February 1, 2011. Click here for more information.
Below, a summary of library-related recipients by category, drawn from the official announcement.
Advancing Digital Projects
The Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA was awarded $675,072 (match: $989,669) for "Presenting Balboa Park: An Online Resource for San Diego's Museums."
[This] project will use open source tools and shared standards to create a rich library of digital content from the collections of Balboa Park's cultural organizations, resulting in unprecedented public access to rare and unique collections [and] new opportunities for educational programming.
The California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA was awarded $428,753 (match: $438,130) for "Connecting Content: A Collaboration to Link Field Notes to Specimens and Published Literature."
The California Academy of Sciences will partner with [5 major natural history collections] to develop a system for integrating biological researchers' field and specimen notes, with museum specimens and related electronically published literature. The enhanced and integrated access to biological data will... connect to other ongoing projects such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, a consortium of 12 major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions...to deliver important, page-level digital content representing the core of published literature on natural history.
Columbia University, New York, NY was awarded $974,998 (match: $1,079,299) for "Built Works Registry."
The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University will partner with ARTstor, Inc., and other collaborators to develop a Built Works Registry. The project will include developing the registry's policies, metadata structure, technical infrastructure, and a body of seed content.
Research
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI was awarded $674,722 (match: $288,739) for "Validating Quality in Large-Scale Digitization: Metrics, Measurement, and Use-Cases."
The University of Michigan's School of Information and the University Libraries, in collaboration with the HathiTrust and the University of Minnesota Libraries, will investigate possible methods for detecting and measuring errors and other quality issues within mass-digitized literature, and analyze the potential impact of found errors on educational and scholarly use of these digital collections.
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI was also awarded $589,728 (match: $142,371) for "Dissemination Information Packages (DIPS) for Information Reuse (DIPIR)."
The University of Michigan's School of Information, along with its partners the Inter-university Consortium for Social and Political Research, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the nonprofit Alexandria Archive Institute, will study how contextual information about data sets can best be created and preserved...to promote greater potential for reuse and repurposing of the data.
Demonstrations
The American Library Association, Chicago, IL was awarded $581,609 (match: $583,155) for "Libraries and E-Government: New Partnerships in Public Service."
The American Library Association will partner with the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland, and Florida State University to develop a web-based resource to help libraries and governments provide better e-government-related services such as filing taxes, applying for citizenship, enrolling children in schools, and applying for social services.
The Center for Research Libraries, Chicago, IL was awarded $590,766 (match: $662,912) for "Cooperative Print Archiving by Discipline: Developing an Infrastructure to Sustain Scholarly Resources."
The Center for Research Libraries will partner with the Law Library Microfilm Consortium and the U.S. Agricultural Information Network to build a sustainable and scalable plan for cooperative management of legacy print materials at the local, regional, state, and national levels... This project will establish a model for cooperative, coordinated management of physical collections by large numbers of libraries.
The University of Maine, Orono, ME was awarded $821,065 (match: $826,967) for "Maine Shared Collections Strategy (MSCS)."
The University of Maine and [several] partners... will participate in a statewide Maine Shared Collections Strategy (MSCS) project. The project will define a strategy for shared management of legacy print collections and explore new ways of delivering content to library users [through] print on demand and e-book on demand service for available digital collections.
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC was awarded $313,655 (match: $314,230) for "Developing a Model for Design of Next-Generation Learning Environments."
North Carolina State University's (NCSU) Libraries and its Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications will partner with strategic consultant DEGW to design, share, and promote an updated model for college and university libraries to support emerging new online learning environments.
The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA was awarded $200,002 (match: $191,606) for "MetriDoc: A Technology Framework for Decision Support Services in Libraries."
The University of Pennsylvania Libraries will develop an open-source decision support system (DSS) called MetriDoc to support evidence-based strategic planning in libraries...This one-year project will create a robust, scalable software platform to collect, store, and analyze a wide array of service data flowing from user activities and interactions with the library.
Planning grants
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN was awarded $100,000 (match: $36,135) for "Library Publishing Services: Strategies for Success."
Purdue University Libraries and partner libraries at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Utah will investigate existing organizational and service models for library-based publishing, identify best practices for such operations, and identify areas of critical or high need for capacity development, including opportunities for collaboration with university and other publishers.
Library-Museum Collaborations
The Denver Public Library, Denver, CO was awarded $461,257 (match: $482,456) for "Creating Your Community: Empowering Individuals and Safeguarding Communal Heritage Through Digital Community Archiving."
The Denver Public Library will collaborate with multiple partners including the Colorado Historical Society...in a pilot project to create an online community archive and preservation education project... The developed digital archive will include Web-based upload capabilities, a social networking environment for community members to exchange information, and services to help ensure that community memory is preserved.
The Athens-Clarke County Library, Athens, GA was Awarded $343,100 (match: $601,974) for "The Boomers: Reflecting, Sharing, Learning."
The Athens-Clarke County Library will partner with the Lyndon House Arts Center...to develop new services and programs for the aging baby boomer population...The partnership will include local baby boomers as advisers who will help guide the project to meet the needs of this target audience. The goals and objectives are to provide lifelong learning opportunities for and by older, active adults, expanding museum and library services beyond existing walls.
The Maine Historical Society, Portland, ME was awarded $745,313 (match: $989,782) for "Maine Library/Museum Mobilization Project: Re-Imagining Local History, Building 21st Century Communities."
The Maine Historical Society in partnership with the Maine State Library will...implement a statewide outreach and training program. This project is designed to foster collaboration and resource sharing between libraries, historical organizations, and schools through the exploration of local history and use of technology.
The Pennsylvania Heritage Society, Harrisburg, PA was awarded $806,183 (match: $1,072,527) for "Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show: New Audiences Through Collaboration."
The Pennsylvania Heritage Society and its partners the State Library of Pennsylvania [and others] Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission...will use the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War as a catalyst to engage new and underserved public audiences, and to involve local communities in dialogue that links the historical context for issues of race, equality, and freedom with these issues today.
Rhodes College, Memphis, TN was awarded $257,767 (match: $1,224,034) for "Memphis Coalition for Cultural Heritage."
Rhodes College, the Memphis Public Library, the National Civil Rights Museum, and other community partners in Memphis will create the Memphis Coalition for Cultural Heritage (MCCH)...MCCH will...address the need to build capacity for preservation and access to significant primary resources about the history of our community.
