Clarion University 2013: LS 575 Digital Libraries
Group Grant Writing Project (Leigh-Anne Yacovelli & Natalie Shilstut)
Natalie and I were the only group of two; all other groups were composed of three people. Not bad for a first try! |
|
Project objectives
Demonstration of:
~ strong selection skills for a digital collection
~ ability to work in a group to succeed on a grant-writing undertaking
~ strong content and writing style for grant
For this assignment, you are to work in groups. Your task is first to develop a work scenario where you would be employed (of course, hypothetically). The following are among the most common choices for this type of course: public library with a good historical collection, academic library, school library, museum or archive library, historical society.
Then envision a type of digital project that would be good for that setting. You do not have to own the items you are thinking of writing a grant for, but you should have some real examples in mind. So, if you wanted to do historic photographs, you might go look at several collections nearby one of the group members, so you would have good items to describe. You will want to look at many examples of projects on the web to get ideas. You are not allowed to simply describe a digital collection that already exists. You may, however, describe a real physical collection that is not yet converted into a digital library. You also may want to take parts of various collections you have knowledge of and use them to provide you an inspiration for a single collection description in your grant proposal. You will need to be able to give a physical description of the collection (you can essentially create the extent, number of items, etc., but the number you choose to digitize should make sense in terms of cost and time). Though your idea can be unique, it should be based on the fundamentals of good digital collection selection.
Once you decide on a setting and collection, you can start to shape your grant. One note of caution, if you use a real library for your setting, please change the name so if you show your grant proposal for job interviews or other purposes, it does not look provide what appears to be false information about that institution.
You will be working together to flesh out a good concept and to write the designated parts of a 2013 PA LSTA digitization grant (grant guidelines posted under assignments in D2L course content). Your ideas must make sense in the context of this grant (or, if your group feels strongly there is a better grant opportunity out there, please come to me early on and I can approve it). Part of your grade depends on how well you follow the guidelines of the grant. The group that has the best grant proposal will be “awarded” the grant and given five extra points per person as a result. (Though I reserve to right to adjust any individual grade if someone in the group is not pulling his/her weight).
Demonstration of:
~ strong selection skills for a digital collection
~ ability to work in a group to succeed on a grant-writing undertaking
~ strong content and writing style for grant
For this assignment, you are to work in groups. Your task is first to develop a work scenario where you would be employed (of course, hypothetically). The following are among the most common choices for this type of course: public library with a good historical collection, academic library, school library, museum or archive library, historical society.
Then envision a type of digital project that would be good for that setting. You do not have to own the items you are thinking of writing a grant for, but you should have some real examples in mind. So, if you wanted to do historic photographs, you might go look at several collections nearby one of the group members, so you would have good items to describe. You will want to look at many examples of projects on the web to get ideas. You are not allowed to simply describe a digital collection that already exists. You may, however, describe a real physical collection that is not yet converted into a digital library. You also may want to take parts of various collections you have knowledge of and use them to provide you an inspiration for a single collection description in your grant proposal. You will need to be able to give a physical description of the collection (you can essentially create the extent, number of items, etc., but the number you choose to digitize should make sense in terms of cost and time). Though your idea can be unique, it should be based on the fundamentals of good digital collection selection.
Once you decide on a setting and collection, you can start to shape your grant. One note of caution, if you use a real library for your setting, please change the name so if you show your grant proposal for job interviews or other purposes, it does not look provide what appears to be false information about that institution.
You will be working together to flesh out a good concept and to write the designated parts of a 2013 PA LSTA digitization grant (grant guidelines posted under assignments in D2L course content). Your ideas must make sense in the context of this grant (or, if your group feels strongly there is a better grant opportunity out there, please come to me early on and I can approve it). Part of your grade depends on how well you follow the guidelines of the grant. The group that has the best grant proposal will be “awarded” the grant and given five extra points per person as a result. (Though I reserve to right to adjust any individual grade if someone in the group is not pulling his/her weight).
Step 1 Groups
Find a group by using the discussion board area for week 5. Discuss your topic interests, workways, availability, etc.
Step 2 Library setting
Decide your setting. Give it a name and give yourselves job titles (woo hoo, instant director!)
Step 3 Project
Your groups should spend a considerable amount of time thinking about a project. Look at actual projects online.
~ Look at ACCESS PA collections. Some of these were funded through LSTA
http://www.accesspadigital.org/
~ Project items cannot exist anywhere else in digital format or they receive a much
lower priority from the funding perspective.
~ Must be able to demonstrate that your items are not under copyright or that you
have rights to publish them.
Schedule a time for your group to meet with me via Skype or in Wimba. I am acting as the grant contact, so it is a normal part of grant preparation to discuss ideas when not fully formed to make sure you don’t waste time on a project that is not fundable. Post your final topic idea to the group discussion board by the end of Week 8 (though I recommend doing it much sooner).
Step 4 Grant
Look at the LSTA grant or look for another grant if your project does not work with LSTA. We also can make modifications to LSTA, so ask me if there are small thinks to change. Also, if your setting needs to be located in another state, we will just pretend the PA LSTA grant proposal is for that state for this exercise.
Listen to the grant introductory lecture (Week 8 topic, but posted ahead of time in case you want to access it before or during the spring break period)
Write the grant proposal – for budget - indicated sections only and with certain exclusions in documentation. These are presented and discussed in the grant lecture. (I want you to focus on forming your group and brainstorming your ideas before you start working on the grant.) If you want to do a different grant, I will indicate the required sections there. Turn in one copy of the grant to the dropbox by Monday April 15, 11 pm.
Find a group by using the discussion board area for week 5. Discuss your topic interests, workways, availability, etc.
Step 2 Library setting
Decide your setting. Give it a name and give yourselves job titles (woo hoo, instant director!)
Step 3 Project
Your groups should spend a considerable amount of time thinking about a project. Look at actual projects online.
~ Look at ACCESS PA collections. Some of these were funded through LSTA
http://www.accesspadigital.org/
~ Project items cannot exist anywhere else in digital format or they receive a much
lower priority from the funding perspective.
~ Must be able to demonstrate that your items are not under copyright or that you
have rights to publish them.
Schedule a time for your group to meet with me via Skype or in Wimba. I am acting as the grant contact, so it is a normal part of grant preparation to discuss ideas when not fully formed to make sure you don’t waste time on a project that is not fundable. Post your final topic idea to the group discussion board by the end of Week 8 (though I recommend doing it much sooner).
Step 4 Grant
Look at the LSTA grant or look for another grant if your project does not work with LSTA. We also can make modifications to LSTA, so ask me if there are small thinks to change. Also, if your setting needs to be located in another state, we will just pretend the PA LSTA grant proposal is for that state for this exercise.
Listen to the grant introductory lecture (Week 8 topic, but posted ahead of time in case you want to access it before or during the spring break period)
Write the grant proposal – for budget - indicated sections only and with certain exclusions in documentation. These are presented and discussed in the grant lecture. (I want you to focus on forming your group and brainstorming your ideas before you start working on the grant.) If you want to do a different grant, I will indicate the required sections there. Turn in one copy of the grant to the dropbox by Monday April 15, 11 pm.