Goals of the Program

The annual grants program aims to support collaborative and creative use of resources through the creation of digital content of enduring value to the Cornell community and scholarship at large.   The program, funded by the College of Arts of Sciences and coordinated by the Cornell University Library, was developed by the  Arts & Sciences Visual Resources Advisory Group.

 Examples of proposals that are within the scope of the grants program include:

• Creating new digital collections that are based on resources regularly used in teaching or research, including lecture notes, slides, photographs, printed documents, and manuscripts.
• Digitizing collections that are already held by the Cornell University, which are instrumental in supporting learning, teaching, and research at Cornell (Final selection of materials will be subject to ability to clear copyright, if required.)  View selected examples of sample collections.
• Converting materials held by other cultural institutions that will support teaching and research at Cornell - especially combining dispersed resources to create new and enriched ones (Final selection of materials will be subject to ability to clear copyright, if required.). 

For examples of projects within the context of the grants program, see the 2010 awards listed below.
The emphasis is on building a library of resources to support a range of scholarly activities in the College of Arts and Science and at Cornell in general rather than creating teaching applications or custom-designed web sites for a specific course. The digital collections created through this grants program will become a part of Cornell University Library's digital library.

The grant funding totals $50,000; individual project awards will be in the range of $5,000-$25,000 in the form of digital collection development services and systems provided by the Library, collaboration planning, and wages or summer stipends for research assistants. Collaborative projects that combine internal and external funding and other special programs are welcome.

For more information or an initial assessment of a project idea, please email dcaps@cornell.edu or call 255-1830.

Proposal Selection Criteria

The grant program is open to Cornell faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Library particularly encourages projects that:

• Increase the availability, and consequently the use of a collection of demonstrated scholarly significance
• Identify collections from the Cornell University that are important and should be accessed online by a large community
• Demonstrate strong interest within the academic community for access to the collection
• Contribute significantly to the existing digital collections such as the ones included in the Cornell University Library's digital library.
• Support the College's subject strengths
  

Application Process

Express initial interest by January 31, 2011  by sending an email to dcaps@cornell.edu.  In a paragraph please include the following information - description of collection, document types (photographs, monographs, manuscripts, slides, etc.) and estimated collection size.  

Staff from the Library's Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS) will contact and assist applicants with the full proposal application process - including copyright issues, budgets, technology options. Full proposals due by March 31, 2011.  

Download full proposal application (.doc)

The Proposal Review Committee, comprised of members of the Arts & Sciences Visual Resources Advisory Group, will evaluate proposals and make their recommendations.

Important Dates for 2011 Program

Stage                                                        Date

Express initial interest by                         January 31, 2011

Proposals due                                          March 31,  2011

Awards announcements                          May 2011

Planning & Implementation Begins         August 2011

2010 Awards

2010 Awards announced May 2010 and projects will begin shortly.  

Contacts

For more information, please email dcaps@cornell.edu or call 255-1830.

DCAPS (Digital Consulting & Production Services)
175 Kroch Library
http://dcaps.library.cornell.edu

For general assistance with Visual Resources & Digital Support Services
http://images.library.cornell.edu
email vrhelp-l@cornell.edu