>> Erika Gault:  Hi, my name is Erika 
Gault and I'm a Program Specialist
with Connecting Communities 
Digital Initiative Grants.
And I'm pleased to be here
today, joined by my colleague
Olivia Dorsey.
>> Olivia Dorsey:
Hi, my name is Olivia.
I'm also a Program Specialist
within the CCDI initiative.
>> Erika Gault:
Thank you, Olivia.
We are here for the Higher
Education Informational webinar.
Along with Olivia Dorsey and
myself, we are joined by our
other colleagues.
Would like to let you know
today that this webinar is being
recorded and it will also 
be available online.
Here's our full team which
consists of myself, Olivia,
Brian Foo, Marya McQuirter, 
and Kimber Thomas.
We have a lot to get through in
this next hour, but this is what
you can expect.
First, we'll provide an
overview of the “Of the People”
program and CCDI.
Then we'll share more about the
reason you all are here today.
CCDIs Higher Education 
Grant Opportunity.
After that, we'll talk about
how to apply for this
opportunity and provide
examples to inspire your
application. Any and all of the
links that you see throughout
these slides will be made
available to you following this
presentation through links.
“Of the People” just a little bit about 
“Of the People: Widening the Path”
It's a multi year initiative 
that creates new opportunities
for Americans to engage with 
the Library of Congress
and to add their
perspectives to the library's
collections. Allowing the 
National Library to share a more
inclusive American story.
I'll turn it over to Olivia.
>> Olivia Dorsey: “Of the people” 
consist of three programmatic arms,
including the Internships 
and Fellowships program,
the American Folklife Center,
and the Digital Strategy 
Directorate, which you'll see
here. The Connecting
Communities Digital Initiative,
also known as CCDI, is part of
the Digital Strategy Directorate.
Our program provides 
fellowships and grants
to individuals and institutions
for projects that innovate,
Imagine and remix library
materials to highlight the
stories and perspectives of
Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, or
Latino, Asian American and
Pacific Islander and or other
communities of color from 
any of the 50 U.S. states,
the District of Columbia and its
territories and commonwealths,
which include Puerto Rico,
the Northern--Northern
Mariana Islands,
Guam, American Samoa
and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In the next few slides, I'll go
into detail about the work of
the other two arms of our
program.
The Internships and Fellowships
Program offers a wealth of
opportunities for
undergraduate, graduate and
recently graduated students 
to work with the library as
interns. This program enables
students to experience the
integrated analog and digital
collections and services of the
world's largest library.
The Fall 2023 Archives, History
and Heritage Advanced Internship
and the Summer 2023 
Junior Fellows program.
Application periods have
recently closed, but you can
stay tuned to the “Of the People”
blog at blogs.loc.gov/ofthepeople
for more information 
on additional opportunities.
The American Folklife Center offers 
Community Collections Grants
which emphasize
supporting cultural
documentation by communities.
Their grants entail public
participation in the creation of
archival collections, seeking to 
support contemporary cultural
documentation, focusing on 
the culture and traditions of
diverse, often
underrepresented, communities in
the United States.
They also enable communities to
document their cultural life and
experiences from their own
perspectives, while enriching
the library's holdings with
diverse materials featuring
creativity and knowledge 
found at the local level.
Again, please subscribe to the
“Of the People” blog for the
latest information on the next round 
of Community Collections Grants.
We also encourage you
to visit the “Of the People”
website to learn more about 
the current recipients.
As part of CCDI. We also offer 
a grant for our libraries,
archives and museums
opportunity.
And this year we'll be awarding
up to three grant awards for up
to $70,000 to support three
local cultural heritage
organizations by enabling
storytelling across a range of
platforms. The grants 
are for up to 12 months.
The funds will support the
creation of projects that make
significant and meaningful 
uses of the library's digital
materials. Projects must also
center one or more of the
following groups 
Black, Indigenous.
Hispanic or Latino.
Asian American and Pacific
Islander and or other
communities of color.
These grants are intended for
public libraries, nonprofit
libraries, archives 
and museums.
If you are a library archive or
museum at a higher education
institution, you should apply
for the higher education grant.
The application deadline for
this opportunity is September
7th, 2023 by 2:00 pm 
Eastern Standard Time.
For more information, we
encourage you to visit the
Of the People website.
You can also view our
libraries, archives and museums
Informational webinar.
For our Minority Serving Higher
Education Institutions Grants
this year will award up to 
three grant awards for up to
$70,000 each to support up 
to three higher education
institutions by enabling
storytelling across a range of
platforms. These grants are
also for up to 12 months.
The funds will support the
creation of projects that
facilitate teaching and
learning with the library's
digital collections for
students, staff and or community
members and make significant
and meaningful use of those
digital materials.
Projects must also centre one
or more of the following groups
Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or
Latino, Asian American and
Pacific Islander and or other
communities of color.
The application deadline for
this opportunity is September
7th, 2023 by 2:00 pm 
Eastern Standard Time.
And for more details on this
opportunity, again, we encourage
you to visit the 
“Of the People” website.
At this time, I'll pass off to
Erika to share more about the
Higher Education Opportunity.
>> Erika Gault: Thanks. Now we'll 
move to perhaps what you're most
interested in, 
The Notice itself.
For all of these opportunities,
our best advice is to read the
entire Notice.
While all of the sections in
The Notice are important.
At this point, you may want 
to review these first.
That includes the 
Program Description,
Eligibility Requirements,
Application and
Submission Information,
and Application 
Review, and Award.
As a reminder, if you have any
questions, please send us an
email at LOC-grants@loc.gov.
The Library of Congress is
excited to announce this notice
of funding opportunity to award
three grants for up to $70,000 each
in support of Minority Serving 
Higher Education Institutions.
The library will provide 
financial support to enable
higher education institutions 
to use Library of Congress
digital materials to create 
projects that center one
or more of the following 
groups Black, Indigenous.
Hispanic or Latino.
Asian American and 
Pacific Islander.
And other communities of 
color in the United States.
For this Notice, the United States 
includes all 50 U.S. states
the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico,
Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, American Samoa
and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
We'd like to emphasize that
your projects do not have to be
digital projects.
The key is that your project
uses digital collections and
materials and centers, 
the lives, experiences and
perspectives of Black,
Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino,
Asian American and Pacific
Islander and or communities of
color. For non-for-profit
institutions 501.(c)3 status
is not required in 
order to apply.
Additional eligibility
information includes the
following. The institution shall 
not submit more than one
application under 
this announcement.
Libraries, Archives and
Museums, which are a legal
component of a higher education
institution, should apply under
this announcement.
The library will only issue a
grant to a single institution
that meets the eligibility
requirements stated in
The Notice. The institution can
choose to subcontract part of
the work to other institutions.
However, the institution to
which the grant is issued is
responsible for all aspects of
the grant, as the library will
have no contractual
relationship with any other
institution or contractor.
Successful applicants cannot
reapply in subsequent years for
the same project.
Late, incomplete or ineligible
applications will not be
considered for funding 
under this Notice.
An institution or a principal
member of an institution that
has been convicted or found to
be at fault in connection to the
award or the performance of 
a federal grant or contract.
And the past five years 
may be disqualified.
On this slide, we'd like to share 
with you a few examples of
possible projects you could
submit an application for.
However, you aren't limited to
these types of projects alone.
Other examples might include
things like dance performances,
films, digital zines.
The possibilities 
are truly endless.
We encourage you to be as
creative as possible and are
excited to see what 
you come up with.
>> Olivia Dorsey: With the help 
of Miriam, one of her colleagues
in the library's Contracts 
and Grants division,
we created some 
documents to
help guide you as you 
complete your application.
On the Web page for the Higher
Education Application, which you
can find at the link shown here
under Commonly Asked Questions.
You'll also find an Application
Checklist which will guide you
through all of the documents
you need to complete your
application. Well, I will point
out here is that one of the very
first steps we recommend you
take in the application process
is setting up an account 
with www.Sam.gov.
This is crucial to completing
your application.
Please note that registration to 
www.Sam.gov is free, but it can
take several weeks for your
account to become active in the
system. On the Higher Education
Application page, you'll also
find a Project Narrative Template 
shown here which you'll
need to use for your Proposal
Cover Page and for the
Proposal Details Portion 
of your Project Narrative.
For more information on the
Project Narrative, please turn
to Section C.501 
of The Notice.
On that same Higher 
Education page, you'll find the
Budget Plan Worksheet 
Template highlighted here.
You'll use this to develop 
your Budget Plan.
As you can see on the
screenshot of the template,
there are several budget
categories for you to speak to.
Personnel, Salary, Wages, 
and Fringe Benefits.
Travel, Equipment, Supplies.
Contractual or Purchase
Services and Other.
Please note there are multiple
components to your budget
materials. You can find more
information on those materials
on Section D.5.2 
of The Notice.
I'll also point out there's a
Budget Plan Worksheet, which I
just mentioned. That's the
template that you'll use for
your budget. There's a Budget
Narrative, and the purpose of
this document is to provide a
clear connection between the
expenses and the proposed
project activities and
objectives. Please note that
this is distinct from the
Proposal Narrative.
Lastly, on that same page,
you'll find the SF-424 form.
You'll also need to complete
this as part of your
application. The SF-424 form
also shown here is a required
form for organizations applying
for federal assistance.
It contains basic information such 
as the funding opportunity number,
your Contact Information, 
Project Title and
Project Description.
To get to that page, please
visit the link shown on the
slide here. Next, I'll review
the evaluation criteria.
As part of this opportunity.
So now I'll review the
evaluation criteria that we use
in our selection process.
You can find information
regarding our evaluation
criteria on Section E.1 
of The Notice.
Here are the key considerations
we'll use in evaluating each
application as it relates to
the advancement of program
Goals. One.
Does the project center on one
or more of the following groups
Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or
Latino, Asian American or
Pacific Islander and or other
communities of color?
Two. Will the project make
significant and meaningful use
of digital materials from 
the Library of Congress?
And three. Will the project
facilitate teaching and learning
with digital library
collections for students, staff
and or community members?
Additionally, here are the key
considerations we'll use in
evaluating each application 
as it relates to project
feasibility. Does the library
have digital materials and
collections needed for 
a successful project?
Has the applicant identified
and provided links to the
digital materials and
collections? Has the applicant
addressed whether those digital
materials and collections are
legally available for 
proposed uses?
For example, are there
restrictions on the use of the
materials? Has the applicant
addressed whether they have the
permissions and clearances to
share and use materials from
their own collections or other
collections included in the
proposal? Does the institution
and any collaborators,
consultants and or service
providers possess the skills
necessary for successful
completion of the project?
As a note, while you're
exploring digital materials and
collections for your project,
it's important to evaluate the
rights status of the material.
If you scroll down on a page
about a particular collection at
the library or a particular set
of materials at the library,
look for the Rights and Access
Section and there will be
information there that should
help guide you if you're still
unsure. You can reach out to
one of our librarians via the
library's Ask a Librarian
service at ask.Loc.gov.
We'll also demonstrate how to
use that service later in the
presentation. Here are the key
considerations we'll use in
evaluating each application 
as it relates to your budget.
Please note that Cost Sharing
is not required for this
opportunity. We'll be looking at 
does the applicant's proposal
indicate that the project can be 
completed within a 12 month
period? Are cost allowable
under the cost principles found
in two CFR-200.
Subpart E. If Cost Sharing is a
Proposed Cost Share, comply with
relevant standards.
Two CFR-200.306 Standard
Provision “Cost Sharing (Matching)”
for U.S. entities.
And finally, are cost
reasonable and effective for
project completion?
We'll also provide you with a
link to the CFR information on
the CCDI website.
This year, we're offering an
optional review of higher
education applicants.
Draft Proposal Narratives
Section E.1.1
of The Notice provides 
more detail about this,
but here's what 
you need to know.
If you would like to submit
your draft proposal narrative to
our program team for review,
you should submit them to DASH
LOC-Grants@loc.gov by June 30th,
2023 at 2:00 pm Eastern Standard
Time. Our team will provide our
feedback back to you by August.
Please note this optional
review is in fact optional.
It's not part of the formal
selection process and it will
have no bearing on the 
final award selection.
Any Draft Proposal Narratives
that are submitted for this
optional review will not be
considered to be part of the
final submission materials.
Final Proposal Narratives will
need to be submitted as part of
final submission materials 
by the submission date of
September 7th, 2023 at 2:00 
pm Eastern Standard Time.
And now I'll pass it to Erika
to talk a little more about how
to apply and how to 
get to The Notice.
>> Erika Gault:
Thanks, Olivia.
So how to apply?
When you submit your
applications, please email all
of your application materials
to LOC-grants@loc.gov.
We will not accept applications
submitted through Grants.gov.
If you have questions about the
application process, please
reach out. We will be accepting
questions about this opportunity
until August 25th, 2023 at 2 p.m. 
Eastern Standard Time.
We will be posting any
questions we receive about the
grants and the application process 
on our blog “Of the People”
You can find the blog at 
HTTPS//blogs.loc.gov/ofthepeople
If you are encountering issues,
submitting your application via
email, you can request
assistance until
September 6th, 2023 at 3 p.m..
So how do you get 
to The Notice?
Well, first we recommend going
to the “Of the People” website.
Once you're there, go 
to the Represent tab.
If you look at the menu 
to the left, you'll see
the CCDI Grant for Higher
Education Application.
Click on it. If you scroll down
the page, you'll see the link to
The Notice under the first
Commonly Asked Questions.
If you scroll to the bottom of
that page, you'll also find it
under Resources Grant 
Program Information.
Now, when you open The Notice,
here's what the first pages of
The Higher Education 
Notice look like.
On the second page, you'll see
a Table of Contents for each
Section. Here are the sections
we highlighted earlier.
As we mentioned, while all of
the sections are important to
read through, we recommend
reviewing A, C, D, and E first.
One of the projects that
would like to highlight is the
Harlem Renaissance Meets
Houston, Tillotson University
from our round one 
group of grantees.
There's located 
in Austin, Texas.
Some things to consider about
your project submission that
Houston Tillerson University's
project takes up.
One of those questions is 
who is doing the project?
The second is what 
is the project?
And the third is how it 
relates to higher education.
This project explored all of
these questions by looking at
the formation of Black
Aesthetics and the early 20th
century and reflected on its
meanings in our contemporary
moment. Students at Houston
Tillerson University, a
Historically Black University,
worked with Harlem Renaissance
era photograph collections in
the university's Archive at the
Library of Congress and
contemporary photographs taken
by their peers.
After careful study and
research of selected
photographs, students produce
new literature, art, dance and
fashion that reimagine 
Austin and Harlem.
Students also built physical and 
virtual exhibitions based on
their creative work.
This multi-modal approach allows
students and Austin residents
time and space to learn more
about the Harlem Renaissance.
To understand Austin in the
1920s and 1930, and to discuss
and compare Black Cultural
Production across time.
So this next slide tells you
more about exploring the
library's digital collections.
>> Olivia Dorsey: If you're 
interested in materials that
relate to communities of 
color, you can find them on
the Library of 
Congress website.
We have a variety of services
available to help you find those
materials. If you have a
particular topic or subject in
mind, you may already 
have questions.
If so, go to this menu on the right 
hand side of the www.Loc.gov
website and click on, 
Ask a Librarian.
Here, you'll be able to ask
questions of our reference
specialists and they'll be able
to assist you in a variety of
different subjects regions,
languages, as well as other
programs and services 
that  are available at
the Library 
of Congress.
If you click on one of 
these subjects and formats,
for example, Genealogy and
Local History, you'll be met
with a form that will connect
you directly with reference
specialists who specialize in
Local History and Genealogy.
If we go back a page and we
scroll down to the bottom.
We'll see that there are also
Related Resources that can help
assist you with your research.
Research Guides are another
great example of materials that
can assist you with your research 
at the Library of Congress.
Here we have an index of 
Research Guides that are
available and they are
organized by Subject,
Research Center, or you can just 
view all of the guides at once.
As you can see, the library has
about 82 subjects as of this
recording related to various
topics regarding the materials
at the Library of Congress.
You can also search within
these Research Guides.
For example, if you're
interested in Jazz, you can type
that in the keyword box here.
And then you can click search.
And then you'll be met 
with the results that show
Research Guides that 
relate to the topic of Jazz.
If I click on this Jazz research 
at the Library of Congress,
it'll bring me to the research 
guide that focuses on
Jazz Holdings within 
the Music Division at
the library of Congress, and it tells 
you about all of the different types
of materials that are
available. We go back a page?
We can also explore these
subjects and browse what's in
their contents.
For example, if I 
wanted to explore
Asian American and
Pacific Islander Studies,
I would click on 
this plus symbol
here, and then would be able to
view all of the Research Guides
that are available relating 
to this particular topic.
For example, the
Filipino-American materials has
a resource guide, and again,
this summarizes what the guide
contains, as well as materials
at the library that may assist
you. Now, if you just want to
browse the library's collections
to see what the library has,
you can go to www.Loc.gov.
And you can search within our
Digital Collections or within
the Library Catalog.
If you click on digital
collections.
You'll see all of the Digital
Collections that are available
at the Library of Congress for
you to view from any device.
Now when you're searching for
collection materials that relate
to communities of color at the
Library of Congress, please keep
in mind that you'll want to be
flexible with the language that
you use. For example, there are
certain terms that may not show
search results.
If you type them in.
For example, if you type in
Latinx and press enter, you
don't get any results 
for that term.
However, if you 
search for Latino.
You do get some materials that
show up and relate to that word.
Additionally, the same thing
holds true for Indigenous.
If you'd like to search 
for materials related to
Indigenous peoples. You 
will get some results.
However, if you do search 
for Native American.
To get additional results.
This concludes an overview of
the ways in which you can search
the Library of Congress's
collections for materials
relating to people of color.
>> Erika Gault:
So thank you for listening.
If you have any questions about
the application process, please
reach out to us at 
LOC-grants@loc.gov.
We will be answering questions
from now until August 25th, 2023
at 2 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time.
We will post any questions we
receive about the grants or the
application process on 
our blog “Of the People”.
If you encounter any issues
submitting your application via
email, you can request
assistance until
September 6th, 2023 at 3 p.m. 
Eastern Standard Time.
We also invite you to join our
live Q&A event about this grant.
There you'll have the
opportunity to ask our team any
questions you might have.
Thank you for tuning in and we
look forward to your questions
and possibly receiving 
your applications.
Thank you.