>> Laurie Allen: Welcome to this informational webinar about the Artist or Scholar in Residence grant funding opportunity as part of the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative, which is a part of Of the People Widening the Path. My name is Laurie Allen, and we're about to get started with some housekeeping, and then we'll dive right in. So this is the CCDI, Connecting Communities Digital Initiative grant for an Artist or Scholar in Residence informational webinar. This webinar is being recorded, and we ask that you put questions in the Q and A feature in Zoom. So there's a Q and A feature in the chat. You're welcome to chat with us in the chat. But if you have questions you would like us to answer, please put them in the Q and A. And just as a reminder, this session really is for you all to get your questions answered. We want to make sure that any questions you have as you find your way through the application process for this opportunity that we are able to answer them as much as you can. So please, please, if you have a question, chances are someone else has it too or a very similar one. So we just please invite you to use the Q and A feature in Zoom. Ask your questions. These webinars, I think, tend to go better when folks are just typing away their questions. So please bring them on. I'm joined today in the webinar by my cohost Sahar Kazmi. And we'll probably be joined by another colleague, Hope O'Keeffe who works with us at the Library. She's in the Office of General Council. So thank you so much for being here today, and let's get started. In this hour, we're going to start with just a brief overview of the Of the People program. And then a little overview of the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. And then we'll spend most of the time focusing on this particular notice of funding opportunity, this opportunity for an artist or scholar in residence. Talking through how to apply. And then we'll spend some time answering those questions that we hope you'll be adding to the Q and A as we go. Happy to talk about some examples that are in the notice for inspiration. And talk a little bit about how to learn what the Library of Congress that might interest you in in your scholarly or artistic pursuits. Throughout the webinar, I'm going to be pointing you to for more information or in the event that we don't get to your questions or if you ask questions that we need to double check on, we occasionally post updates to the blog posts that's posted there at blogs.loc.gov. Of the People is the home for all of the Of the People blog posts. And in that, at that site there is a link to this information about this particular opportunity. And we'll add questions and answers there as we go if we don't get to them here. So let's get into this. So we're going to start by talking about Of the People Widening the Path. It's a multiyear initiative that creates new opportunities for more 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. It was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. And this is the first year of this four-year grant opportunity. So we're offering this opportunity now, and we'll offer it again as over the coming years of the grant opportunity so that this is our very first time. We're interested in hearing your feedback about the process as it goes so that we can continue to make improvements for next time. Of the People Widening the Path has three programmatic arms. There is part of the program that is run through the Internships and Fellowships Office. Part that is run through the American Folklife Center. And part that is run through the Digital Strategy Directorate. The Digital Strategy Directorate in the Office of the Chief Information Officer is where I work, and that's the part that's home to the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. And we're going to talk more about that part in a moment. But first, let's just mention the other 2/3 of the Of the People program, one through the Internships and Fellowships Program. There are opportunities for the Archives History, the Heritage Advanced Internship Program and notably the Junior Fellows Program which is open now. So applications are now open for the Junior Fellows Program. This is a paid internship remote next year, a paid remote internship opportunity for undergraduates and graduate students, and I believe recent graduates, to do an internship over the summer. It's a ten week program, paid at the Library of Congress. I believe there are 40-some opportunities available right now. We invite you to apply or share those with students that you know. It's a really great program, and we're grateful for the support of the Mellon Foundation in helping to keep these programs going and expand their reach. Okay, the other third is the American Folklife Center. The American Folklife Center has been the supporting cultural documentation of communities of everyday life in communities for decades. The particular grants that they're offering through Of the People are about cultural documentation by communities. So that is a program that entails public participation in the creation of archival collections seeking to support contemporary cultural documentation focusing on the culture and traditions of diverse and often underrepresented communities in the US. And really the key thing here is it's enabling communities to document their experiences from their own perspectives. So they opened a notice of funding opportunity. They opened a funding opportunity in the fall. It has closed, and they're doing the, they're identifying the grantees, I believe there will be 10 grantees I believe or up to 10 grantees from that process this year, which is different from the grant that I'm describing next. But this year there will be 10 of those. And then they'll open that grant opportunity again next year. It's a really, really remarkable program for cultural documentation. It includes not just the grant funds but training in documentation methods, interviews, photography, et cetera, and preparing in managing of digital files. And then the American Folklife Center will hold on to, has an in just system for some of those files that the cultural documentation of the communities becomes part of the Library of Congress's collections. So it's a really wonderful program that you should please visit the Of the People blog to learn more about it. Okay, so now we come to the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. This is a very brand new program at the Library of Congress. It didn't exist before this funding from the Mellon Foundation. And it is inspired by the work of the LC Labs who are our colleagues in the Digital Strategy Office. LC Labs has been incubating in new ways for technology to engage with the Library's collections and new ways for people across the country to engage with the digital Library of Congress. They've had an Innovator and Residence Program that I strongly encourage those of you that are interested in the Artist or Scholar in Residence to take a look at the Innovator in Residence Program, which it was in some cases based on, though it's slightly different. But they've got a great set of example projects, and I really encourage you to check out their work. So it was partially inspired by the work of LC Labs, the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. But it was also inspired by the communities across the country, communities, especially Black communities, indigenous communities and communities of color, whether in one place or spread out across the country, who are gathering whether in person or online across great distances, to use technology to share stories about their history, to claim their rightful place within the American historical record. And the work that's been ongoing by scholars, artists, activities, community members, public libraries and, you know, small house museums across the country is a real inspiration. At the same time, the Library of Congress has been investing in digitizing materials from across our huge collections for generations digitizing prints and photographs, manuscript materials, music, film, books and all manner of other materials and making them available online. So these two pieces, the Library's digital collections and communities across the country who are making creative reuse of archival material, of Library material, is a real inspiration through the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. So this program is designed with, we're going to talk about this particular opportunity in a moment for the Artist or Scholar in Residence. But I want to call attention to the fact that we also offer two other grant opportunities, one for higher education institutions targeting two or four year minorities serving institutions and one for libraries, archives or museums. And both of those we've had a series of webinars. We'll be posting the webinars. They take a couple of weeks to process, but there'll be videos of those webinars available on the site soon. There's already a couple, and there'll be more coming. And there's information about them on the blog. So the Grant for Higher Education Institutions is up to $60,000 to support the development of a digital interface publication, exhibit or experimental approach to bringing digital Library of Congress materials together with a course, program or interest group that will make use of it for educational purposes. So that $60,000 to support that is for the Higher Education Institution. The Library of Archive Museum is for a very similar project but is instead offered for libraries, archives, museums, community archives. So those are the two other grant opportunities. This year, there's only one of each being offered by the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative because we're very, we're a new, it's a new initiative. It's getting up and running now. So over the coming years, we will offer more opportunities, both for libraries, archive museums and for higher education institutions. There'll be more of those, which is different from this Scholar and Artist in Residence. This one's only going to happen once a year. And it's for a two year, this is the one we're going to spend the rest of the time talking about, it's a two year overlapping residency. That means the first person will be, they'll start in year one, and they'll finish in their second year. And in their second year, we'll have a new first year person. So it's a two year residence for scholars or artists or people who identify as scholar artists or artist scholars or just plain scholars or just plain artists to engage with digital collections, demonstrate possibilities and share insights. It's about exploring ways that the technology, library and memory communities can be transformed by welcoming unheard voices and stories. So in terms of how to apply for this grant, the best advice we can offer, the very best advice, is read all of the notice of funding opportunity. Read the notice of funding opportunity. Use it as a tool. Take it apart and put it back together. Cut it up if you need to and hang it on the wall. The answers to your questions are often in the notice of funding opportunity, and I really want to take time to go through where those answers probably are. Where do you need to look closely in the notice of funding opportunity to get answers to questions about what this opportunity is. So section A is the program description. Section, so what is this and what is the Library really looking for and why is the Library doing this? Section C is the eligibility requirement. Who can apply? Section D is what needs to be in the application. What is required to be in that application package, and how do I submit it? And section E is how will the Library be reviewing this? And then what does the award look like? Okay, so there's more sections in there, but I want to point those out here. And let's talk about how do you get to that notice of funding opportunity. Because the notice of funding opportunity is a PDF document. It's available online. The easiest way to get to it I think is to go to the Of the People blog, click on the Artist or Scholar in Residence. Once you're here you'll see we have questions and answers. A lot of the common questions that we get are answered in that question and answer section of this page. So I encourage you to take a look there. But we also have this link over and over again on the page, which is, visit the notice on grants.gov. Click on related documents and download all forms. So you come here, and you download the form in order to get this PDF that looks like this. It is a multipage PDF with lots of sections. But as I said, section A is the description. Section C is eligibility. D is application submission, what goes in that application package. E is award review, application review. So what is the Library going to be, what criteria is the Library going to use when evaluating those proposals. That's here in section E. And section F is project management and reporting. What kind of reports will you need to do? Okay, so let's get into the NOFO which is the term that I'll use from now on, the notice of funding opportunity. I'll start, you'll probably start at the beginning, but I think it's useful just to point out once again that a lot of people who apply for grants who've been successful in applying for grants in the past have told us that one of the things that you start with often is look at those criteria for proposal evaluation. What are they going to, what criteria are they going to use to evaluate the proposal? It's, and in our case what's listed there is does it advance the project goals. So we have listed the goals in the beginning. If it doesn't advance those project goals, is it feasible? Like is this a real thing that can be done. The background and experience of the applicant and the costs and the likelihood that the budget will support project execution, is it a good use of funds. Are the funds being used to do the thing that it says it's going to do and being used to do that well? So that's the criteria. Let's get into the beginning. So section A has the background of the program. First of all, it's a two year program. And as it says in section A, in year one we call it a residency. It's at least 10 days in person. And during that year, the idea of that year is to refine, excuse me, your proposed project plan. So you'll apply with a project plan. And the idea of year one is get to know the Library. Refine it, undertake research, learn what you can from the Library from actually really digging in so that you can reduce or revise an expanded work plan and budget to reflect the development in the first year for approval by Library staff. So basically, spend that first year and those, we expect about $50,000 for that first year in the budget. So spend that first year refining, learning, growing your plan. And then in the second year, the expectation is that you'll spend at least 20 days in person to engage more deeply. And then the technical, artistic or scholarly product should be created and shared during this year. So the idea is in that second year, you create a public facing research or artistic publication, project, exhibition or event. And that's in the second year. So that's in the background. We talk about the purpose, and I'm actually going to read this because I think it's valuable. As I said before, in the criteria for evaluation, does this meet the purpose? So the purpose of this program is to help the American people, help the American people benefit from the expertise of leading creators and thinkers with expertise at the intersections of race, technology and history to demonstrate and explore possibilities for the largest digital library in the world. With this program, the Library is inviting a scholar or artist to explore the largest library in the world and help reimagine the technical and social possibilities for the digital Library of Congress by centering the perspectives of Black, indigenous, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander or other communities of color across the United States. The awarded project might take many forms so long as it addresses the intersection of race, technology and cultural heritage. Proposals should explain how the artist or scholar in residence would approach the materials, collections or practices in the Library. How would they approach those? And how would they create, how they would create, engage or explore technological and cultural approaches to connect the Library with communities of color around the country. While there is tremendous flexibility in a form that Artist or Scholar in Residence projects might take, common to all projects must be deep engagement with digital materials and tools made available from the Library of Congress. Okay, so that's what it says in the purpose section. We talk in section A.3 about the program expectations and deliverables. Make a scholarly or artistic project, artistic or scholarly project. Spend time at the Library. Do some outreach and engagement. And come to a symposium. All right so section B is award information. It has like the importance number for, this is NOFO zero through to zero or on and on. Section C is the eligibility requirements. The applicants must be individuals. So don't apply as an organization or as a higher education institution. It has to be an individual. Only one application per individual. So if you've got multiple ideas, we want one application. Can include, that said, you can include contractors in the budget. I put that in parentheses because I think it's important. So individuals may apply. However, if you want to work with other people, which great projects so often do, you can subcontract. You can put subcontractors, folks that you're going to pay for their services or products into the budget. But there's not cost sharing. Okay. So what needs to happen in the application and submission information. So registration information, proposal narrative, budget plan and worksheet, and the form. That's what you need. The proposal narrative is sort of the biggest part, and this is, I'll talk more about what it has in it. But it says in the proposal narrative you have to have a cover page and what needs to be on it. Who is the staff and consultants? So you're going to put a CV or portfolio in the appendix. But also just list the staff and consultants that you'll be working with. Detailed description, the project, and we'll get more into what that means in a moment. Description of past activities. So relevant things that you think are relevant to past activities that you should include. And you could include, well yeah, it's in the NOFO what that might mean. Budget narrative and spreadsheet we'll get into in a minute. And then conditional information, it's basically just there are cases where we might need other information. But if you look in that section it just says like if you are, if you, for example, I can't remember what any of the individual ones are, but if you meet this requirement, then we need this information for you. My suspicion is that many of you won't meet any of those conditional information requirements, but you might. So take a look. Okay, so I said that the proposal includes a detailed description of the proposed project. So we're asking you to describe your question or theme and how it engages with LC digital collections. What we've said is it has to have like technology, cultural memory and communities and racial or ethnic minority communities or race somewhere. But there are a million projects that might touch on, engage, reflect on those questions that are about all kinds of things. So what is the question or theme or idea, what is that theme that you project is going to center around? And how does it engage with the Library's collections? What is the theoretical or artistic context or underpinning for the work? So what conversations will your work be part of in the artistic community or in the theoretical or in the scholarly worlds. And then who are the audiences for this project? Who in particular do you imagine would be moved by this project in some way? What technology will you be using or developing or exploring. And how might the project grow over two years? So understanding that we'd like to see, because that first year is a growth year, we'd like to see how the project might grow over the two years and then a work plan. And the work plan, it's really a timeline. What happens when. What's the plan? Okay, we're almost to the Q and A. I see there's a bunch in there, and I'm looking forward to getting to them and keep them coming. The budget, we need to see the budget in two different forms. One is the budget plan worksheet. This is a spreadsheet that's available for download from grants.gov, the same place that you're going to find the notice of funding opportunity. So there's a budget plan worksheet. It's an Excel spreadsheet, and it has categories, it has tabs for categories. The categories are salaries, wages and benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual and other costs. So we need to see the numbers. What will you spend on what in the budget? And then we need a budget narrative. So that is a short but clear connection between document that's like sentences, right. Sentences that say this money will be spent on this thing. The numbers should match perfectly the budget plan worksheet. But here we want to see sentences that say why this money is necessary. What's the connection between the money and the project activities and objectives? So and that budget narrative is a separate document. It's not part of the eight page proposal. It can be a separate document. All right and then you fill out this form which is available online. And then not through grants.gov but actually just be email, you send this, all of this, to this email address by December 21st. We've extended the deadline. It's now December 21st. So send all of your application package as an email or a series of emails if it's big to locgrants@loc.gov. That's the only way that we accept grant applications for this opportunity. And again, if you have questions that aren't answered here, please email them to locgrants@loc.gov. Please include the subject, this long code, because this is the notice of funding opportunity number that we need just to make sure that we're answering things in the right places. And just to be clear, when we answer questions, we need to answer them, we answer them also in the Q and A on that blog. Okay, so Sahar, it looks like we have some questions. >> Sahar Kazmi: We do. Okay. Thank you everyone for your questions, and please continue to add them to the Q and A if there's something you haven't heard addressed yet. So Laurie, since you just spoke about budget, going to the subject of that, someone asks about budget and correlation with outcomes. Could you speak to whether the intention for this grant is to support the development of an effort or a specific type of product. >> Laurie Allen: Huh, I'm not sure that I totally understand the distinction. So, you know, I'll sort of, I'm tempted to kind of go back to the purpose. So we want a public facing research or artistic publication project exhibition or event. But certainly, and that, you know, what we're looking for is impact on the American people and the way that the Library of Congress connects with and understands itself in relation to the American people. But really, so we're looking for some sort of outcome certainly. But the reason we're affording that two year window is because the process really does matter. How, you know, I think we are also hoping very much to benefit from having this person, you know, engage with the Library. So I think, you know, we do want both a process and the outcome. Does that answer that question, Sahar? >> Sahar Kazmi: I think that does address the question. I have a couple more on the same theme. Should we include an artist fee in the budget, or are all the funds supposed to be designated for production and research-related costs? >> Laurie Allen: Oh please do pay yourselves and pay the people who work with you. That is, I mean this project is, this grant is absolutely, you know, absolutely designed to, yes, please include funds for your own time. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, thank you. Is the budget, so this is again about the two years and the budget allotment for each year. The question asks is the budget separate from the 50,000 for the first year? Is it 100,000 for the second year? What is the total budget limit for the two years? >> Laurie Allen: Okay, so the grant is, allows for, and I turned the screen share off for a second because I want to pull up the grant, and I don't want you guys to watch me move around my screen. But the notice of funding opportunity in section, and this is why I'm pulling it up now. The notice of funding opportunity, sorry give me a second. It has, it is, I'm not going to be able to find it right now. I'm very sorry. Basically, the way that the budget, the way that the $150,000 is, we will not pay more than that for this opportunity. The budget, actually the outlay of costs is listed, I believe, in section F of the notice of funding opportunity. And it actually says, you know, I think it's like 15% will be given, up to 15% can be given within this many days. Up to 30% can be given within this many days. So the way it lays it out is it basically takes that, you know, two year period. So 720 days I think is the number of days altogether in a two year period. And it basically lays out, you can get up to this percent at this date. You can get up to this percent. And what it adds up to is you can get up to $50,000 in the first 360 days, 65 days, whatever that is. You can get up to and then, you know, almost the full amount. By the end of the grant, you need that final deliverable in order for us to pay you the last amount. So the budget, that up to number means you can go under it. So if you say I want this fellowship, but I actually only want to spend, I only need $20,000 in the first year, that's okay. But what you can't say is I need $90,000 in the first year because we can only do up to a certain percentage in the first several months and again in the first year. So I believe that's in section F of the notice of funding opportunity is the information about exactly when we expect to distribute funds. So your budget can have the funds go in different directions, and it can be flexible about exactly, you know, which part of the budget goes where when. But we won't give more than those percentages out over the course of the year, two years. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. I think you literally just spoke to this, but I'm going to state the question aloud so maybe you can reiterate. So are the funds released as progressive draws or all at once? >> Laurie Allen: Over the course. Yes. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, great. I have a question about the 10 days onsite piece. So if you're out of state, will the required days rule to be in a single visit, or can they be planned as different visits? >> Laurie Allen: Oh, it's, whatever works, either one is fine. >> Sahar Kazmi: Is that travel something you can work into your budget? >> Laurie Allen: Yes. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, great. Can you speak to the wider CCDI grant program? How many grants are you funding in this cycle per CCDI? >> Laurie Allen: There are three grant opportunities in CCDI in this round. Each of them is awarding one grant. So there are three opportunities, three grants. In future years, we anticipate, this might change, but we anticipate that over the course of, that, you know, next year, there will be seven grants. And next year and the year after seven. So the number of grants will go up from here, so there's three grant opportunities. This year, there's one grant in each. In future years there will be more grants in two of them. I didn't, I didn't anticipate how complicated this would be when we began describing it, and I apologize for the complexity. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie, okay. So you just spoke to this. There are different numbers of artists and scholars that will be active in each year. So for this year, you're selecting one artist and scholar for the CCDI program, correct? >> Laurie Allen: That's right. One, we are selecting one this year. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay. Oh, sorry, going back to the question of onsite visitation. Are the 10 days a minimum? >> Laurie Allen: Yes, it's a minimum. Yes, it can be more than 10, absolutely. We would love for folks to spend more time. >> Sahar Kazmi: Does this project proposal need to be a new project, or can it be an expansion of a current program at the Library? Or perhaps a current program like this person has worked on before. >> Laurie Allen: I think, you know, the work should be a new work, but if it's part of an existing set of works or program, I think that there's no problem there. We don't want to use this, so yes, if someone already has artistic or scholarly work that is, that sits at the intersection of Library, of race, technology and history and wants to add the Library of Congress into that work, that's certainly a possibility. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Larue. Can someone apply to the Artists and Scholar in Residence grant as a team? >> Laurie Allen: We unfortunately, well I shouldn't say unfortunately, we can only accept an individual, an individual as an applicant. However, contractors, so you can, one individual has to be the applicant, but they are welcome to include collaborators as contractors if it's a collaborative effort. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks. A two-parter. Could we reapply next year if we're not accepted in the first year? And would it be possible for the Library to provide any feedback to strengthen proposals for the following year? >> Laurie Allen: Absolutely, you can reapply. And I don't know about the answer to whether we can provide feedback. I think this is our first time going through this process, and I don't know the answer to that question. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. Okay. Is this grant interested in the intersection of what could be considered a community archive with Library of Congress holdings? >> Laurie Allen: Sure. I can't give advice on individual proposals, but I didn't hear anything there that sounds out of bounds. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay. Is a letter of support a requirement? >> Laurie Allen: I don't believe, I believe that in the notice of funding opportunity the place that it would be is in section D, which is in application information there is a subsection about background information, experience and background basically of the applicant. And it says you can include in an appendices relevant links or other materials. And you can include letters of support in that if you choose to. It is not a requirement. It's not on the list of things that, you know, we won't consider it without kind of thing. But it's certainly, you know, we do ask that you describe your background and experience. So if that is relevant, a letter of support, then you can include it in that as an appendix. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thank you. And Laurie, I don't know if you caught, but we do have Hope O'Keeffe online now. >> Laurie Allen: Yes, I saw that. I've seen a couple of things. I think, yeah, yes, sorry. I keep going. >> Hope O'Keeffe: Yeah, I [inaudible]. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Hope. Okay, I don't know if either of you can speak to this. I believe this is a question that was asked in the previous webinar and within trying to determine -- >> Laurie Allen: This is, I see this one. this is the DUNS number. >> Sahar Kazmi: That's right. That's right. >> Laurie Allen: So I have actually gone back and forth a few times. I know, this is the question about I have a deadline, I currently have a DUNS for a single member LLC. This number is already registered in SAM. Can I use the DUNS number to go after this opportunity? And I will, I have, I am continuing to look into it. I have heard, I'm not, I'm sorry. I really am sorry this is taking so long, but I will let you know. It's absolutely on our radar. And it's not fallen off. It is on there. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. Okay, so this person is an artist or a playwright and poet but not an expert in technology. Maybe you could say more about how they might be able to use their expertise and experience to access this opportunity or craft their application. >> Laurie Allen: I would encourage folks to look at the work of Labs to see what kinds of things they've done. And I think, we can also, I mean certainly there are, we're looking at the work of LC Labs is also a great place to look. There's also I think, you know, I'm really looking, we're really looking to the applicants themselves for the kind of what's going to surprise us or what are we not expecting at this intersection. So I think they're, you know, there are absolutely great ways to use Library of Congress, the Library of Congress website to find more about what our collections are, including the Guides website here, guides.loc.gov, which has lots of guides on it. As well as the Ask a Librarian service which is great for finding collections. But in terms of finding technologies, I think we're sort of interested in the artistic or scholarly practices of the folks who are applying to bring those pieces with them. I hope that addresses that one. >> Sahar Kazmi: Yeah, so, maybe you could expand on that a little bit more. So does technology include the digital collections? Do you have a definition of technology that is considered relevant for this opportunity? >> Laurie Allen: So we do talk about the digital materials of the Library. So that is like, you know, an easy way, though you could expand on this, but one easy way is to say what is on loc.gov. Those are the digital materials. There are digital materials that are not on loc.gov, but certainly spending time, you know, looking through the digital collections is, one of the things is to engage with those digital collections. But certainly engaging with sort of new forms of media, we don't have like a definition of technology in the grant. But certainly I think the, I think digital approaches, so using the collections in, I think, you know, there's lots of ways to engage digital collections. So social media, that's an engagement with digital collections in an interesting way. And if that could be imagined at scale or multimodal, multimedia digital video. There are also lots of computational approaches, so approaches that really rely on the scale. So using machine learning in artwork or, you know, virtual reality. So there's the kind of high tech ways of understanding technology, and then there's also sort of social media ways of understanding technology. And a whole bunch of other ways that we haven't yet imagined. Hope, were you jumping in here? >> Hope O'Keeffe: I am jumping in here as a non-tech person. Because this person said she was a playwright, or he was a playwright, I think she. So I'm a playwright. Can I just make up stories weaving together digital images from the collection? Can I write a play, can I write a play based on content and letters of [inaudible] for example? Could I create a play out of that and treat that as my project? Me being more inherently digital. >> Laurie Allen: Yeah, so I would say for the, for this Artist and Scholar in Residence we are looking for the digital aspect to be a little bit stronger so that the person, the artist or scholar actually has a take on technology or on the digital, what it means to use technology in these ways that is, so we are looking for something that is more than the ways that Hope described. I would say, however, the other two grant programs in CCDI, the ones for libraries, archives and museums and the one for higher education institutions don't share that kind of technology focus at all. They're just about using the digital library materials. So an artist or scholar who wanted to, for instance, work with a local museum to do a play about, that would be a great, the museum could then work with, you know, on that application for the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. But for the Artist or Scholar in Residence, the intersection with technology, probably that piece of it is certainly, is a little bit more central. I hope that answers that. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks. Sticking with the technology theme, someone asks about their particular community which has a rich cultural history but a serious digital divide that they think the Library could help address. But how is the Library thinking about communities that are navigating this digital divide but still wanting to amplify their stories? >> Laurie Allen: Thank you for that question. I love that question. And what I'll say is I think, you know, one of the reasons this grant opportunity exists and one of the years it's two years long is because we want, we want to be, to like hear from communities, members of communities themselves about what would work. And also, we want people who have creative or scholarly approaches to help figure that out. And so a project that tackles that question and that, you know, invites us or demonstrates what that might look like, so says we're going to, you know, you know, I heard of basically, I've actually had experience in some cases, genuinely printing out digitized, you know, taking digitized materials. I had an experience on a project I worked on in a former job where we took digitized versions of it, of letters and deeds written in the 18th century that were in Zapotec, an indigenous language in Mexico. And we printed those out, and we actually brought them into workshops with older community members who maybe weren't comfortable with the technology that we had. But having a piece of paper and a pencil, and they were, you know, helping their younger, you know, younger people in their community who were trying to learn the language, Zapotec, which was spoken by their grandparents in some cases but maybe not, maybe in danger to work with them on writing it out. And so that is a really innovative use of technology. I mean it's, I'm not recommending that particular project. I mean I love that project, but I think that is an approach that would be really interesting about the digital divide if it were described about the digital divide and that kind of thing. So certainly I think we're really interested in how can the digital library be useful as broadly as possible? And we want creative ideas. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. Yeah, how soon after the deadline will you announce grant recipients? >> Laurie Allen: We expect, it'll take a while to do reviews. Our expectation, the deadline is currently December 21st, and we expect, so there'll be some holidays, and then we expect to announce in, likely in April or late March. >> Sahar Kazmi: And then when will the residency begin? >> Laurie Allen: Pretty soon after that. >> Sahar Kazmi: Great. Okay, sorry, same question. Okay, so this is kind of a very high level question, but maybe you can speak to it. What caliber of applicants are ideal? >> Laurie Allen: I think I don't, I don't know, I mean I think, I just have to point to the evaluation criteria. We are looking for, we are looking for people who have demonstrated their capacity to do projects that have a large public impact. That said, it doesn't mean that you need to have a very fancy degree or that you need to be associated with some gallery at all. It just means that you have to have done work that's had an impact that can be demonstrated. So we certainly, you know, if this is the first time that you'd ever do anything that anyone saw, maybe this probably, that would be hard to demonstrate that you have that experience. But and, you know, we certainly, we are looking for folks who have demonstrated their capacity to do impactful work. But there are a lot of ways of demonstrating that capacity, and we're really interesting in being open about what it looks like to demonstrate capacity to do work that is important or that impacts people or that people connect with. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. Can you and/or Hope talk a little bit about the intellectual property and copyright aspects? This person writes I know we can indicate, but if we expect or want to use work product for purposes outside of LOC, we can note that. But is it anticipated that this project would be the exclusive use of the Library of Congress? >> Hope O'Keeffe: It's my understanding you retain the copyright. Sorry, this is Hope. I'm one of the Library's lawyers. You absolutely retain the copyright and the right to do whatever you want with it. So it's not exclusive to LC. What we are going to require as a term of the grant is that we also have a right to use it for our purposes including the ones that, basically whatever you're setting forth here. You know, the seminar, a presentation on our website, you know, sort of whatever you develop. So we want to have a license to use that, and we would like patrons of the Library to have whatever rights that you would attach to it. But it's by no means going to be exclusive. The idea is to sort of share it with the American people. I don't know if, Laurie, do you have a different take on that? >> Laurie Allen: No, no, no. I think that was exactly right. And I just saw this note about the kind of folks trying to get a sense of sort of is it worth the effort of applying. And I, what I can say, I don't, we just don't know what our application pool is going to look like. We have never done anything like this. I know that in the past for other opportunities, for the Innovators in Residence, we have not gotten a huge number of applicants, but I don't know how many applicants we're going to get for this. I don't know whether we're going to get, you know, a hundred rockstars, that is a made up term. We just don't know. And so I wish that I could give, you know, I think, I have heard as feedback that I really, we're taking very seriously that it's important for people to understand, you know, whether it's worth their time to do this hard process. And I, in this very first one, I think that just the honest answer is we don't know. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. Yeah, there's a longer comment in the chat. Maybe we can address that towards the end. But I just want to get through a few more of the questions in the Q and A. Is there an expectation that the final deliverable can or will exist as a permanent or temporary part of the Library of Congress's digital platform? >> Laurie Allen: That is a, so the answer is it will not. So the outcome, we do not expect the outcome to live on the Library's infrastructure or to be part of the Library's, to sort of enter into the, it's not about creating things that become part of the Library's collection. So as Hope said, we would like the right, we will need the right to use the materials in various ways, but no, the expectation is not that it becomes like then a supported project by the Library of Congress. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thank you. So you've specified that this particular grant is for individuals. But this person writes that they are working with a grant office on their campus to support with budget development processing funds. They ask how this would work, but I'm curious like is this appropriate? What is the right way to weave this into their application? >> Laurie Allen: We -- >> Hope O'Keefe: I have an answer. >> Laurie Allen: Please answer that, Hope. Thank you. >> Hope O'Keefe: The answer is matching funds are fine. And if you're getting support from someone else, that's terrific. You know, that becomes part of your budget. And I'm glad that your university is supporting you. But the grant goes to you and not to the university. They don't, you know, so they can't get a cut. They can't get a credit. They're not the grantee. You are the grantee, but if they are supporting you in being able to more effectively develop budgets for grants, more power to them and to you. >> Laurie Allen: Yeah we can't, but I think, right, there's not going to be like overhead cost for your institution built into an individual grant in this case, if that's part of what the question is. >> Sahar Kazmi: Yeah, so there's actually another related question about matching grants that I think Hope just addressed. But this person was talking about can their university help to process I believe this application itself. >> Laurie Allen: I mean the application will, I'm not sure what that means. Like if they're giving you advice, that seems fine. But I think like the application, I'm not sure because it doesn't, I don't really think I understand. I mean they can help an individual. Anyone you want can help you. But, you know, but the application would be from the individual and not from the university. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, thank you. And if the person asking that question wants to get more specific in the chat or in the Q and A, please do so. Okay so someone writes that they recently discovered their ancestral heritage as an African Israeli messianic Jew. In terms of their application, the question what is a Jew too broad, should it be narrowed to explore Black Hebrews? They're basically interested in their, this particular part of their ancestry through the use of technology and media. But is this an appropriate subject matter for the grant application? >> Laurie Allen: I can't give advice on individual, I can't give advice on an individual idea. We're not allowed to give advice on individual ideas. I can only say please check out the, please check out the criteria for evaluation. And yeah, I think we are certainly open to ideas that are both broad and narrow in general. You know, I think artistic and scholarly ideas that are big or small if they can, then if they sort of invite the ways of thinking about the Library and the intersection between the Library race technology that we're interested in, I think that that's, that, you know, I can say that we are interested in ideas of all kinds of scales. But I can't speak to that one in particular. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. This might be a little specific, but I'm going to ask it. In terms of the year count for the residency, let's say it's announced in April, are we counting out 365 days from the start of the residency, or would it end in say the end of the calendar year December 2022? >> Laurie Allen: No, it's the two years from the start of the residency. So start of the residency and then however many days two years is is basically how long it goes. And I have an update for the person about the LLC. The answer is it's okay. You can use the SAM from your LLC. If you have SAM registration for an individual LLC, you can use that in your, as your SAM ID. I'm sorry for that taking a very long time. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Laurie. In the application, if we put our individual salary in the budget, is a yearly amount okay? >> Laurie Allen: Yes. I think so. I think that the budget sort of has, the budget spreadsheet sort of tells you how to, how to calculate those things I believe. So I think it might be the budget spreadsheet requires a different set of timing. But certainly putting money in for yourself for each of the years is certainly allowed. And that makes sense, yeah. I'm not sure. I mean I don't that, I think that, yeah, I hope that makes sense. Sahar, did I address that one? >> Sahar Kazmi: Yeah. Okay, so I'm about to put something in the chat directly from the blog, but I'll ask the question aloud as well. If we need to follow up with more questions, what is the deadline for emailing those questions to the Library? >> Laurie Allen: It is, I believe it is, you know, right before one week before the end of the, so December 17th. I believe it's December 10th is the date. Is that what it says on the blog, Sahar? >> Sahar Kazmi: It's December 14th on the blog, so I'll just copy and paste the line from the blog right here in our chat so everyone -- >> Laurie Allen: Oh it is. I said December 17th. The date is December 21st is the deadline for this grant. I'm so sorry. I have a real hard time with these December dates. It is December 21st which means the last date is December 14th. Thank you for questions and yes, that is the answer to that one. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, great. If the Library is not housing projects on our platform, should the applicants plan to budget for a way to host a digital project in other ways like with partner institutions of hosting capacity, the Cloud or other servers. >> Laurie Allen: Absolutely, yes. Thank you. >> Sahar Kazmi: Can the applicant, in an effort to expand the reach of their effort, include partners or collaborators from other communities beyond the one that their project will focus on? >> Laurie Allen: Absolutely. >> Sahar Kazmi: Great. Okay. There's one here's that like a little bit specific about their particularly application. I'll ask it, Laurie, and you just let us know if it's too detailed a question. They are anticipating a project about local DAC histories and are curious if they should consider expanding the scope of their research beyond DAC to meet the residency's larger goals. >> Laurie Allen: I, again, I can't give advice about, I can't give advice about any particular ideas. What I will say is that, yeah, I think sort of the same question that I said before. I think broad and narrow are both okay. We're looking for impact. And so I can't really answer that. I'm sorry. Thank you. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks. Hope, maybe you can speak to this one. Will preference be given to indigenous creators? >> Hope O'Keefe: Preference will be given to people who meet the terms of the NOLA, and I think your experience in dealing with the communities that you're researching will certainly be taken into account. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Hope. >> Hope O'Keefe: So that an indigenous person talking about doing work on their tribe of origin would probably have appropriate, very appropriate experience when we look at your past experience. But if you're researching something that's completely unrelated, I'm not sure that there would be any particular thumb on the scale. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, great. This is going back to the technology question which I know you've talked about in depth already, Laurie. But is there, beyond some of the resources that you mentioned, a way that applicants can get a briefing on new digitization or digital technology that the Library has available to give them ideas about what the possibilities could be for their project. Or maybe you could just restate some of the resources you mentioned. >> Laurie Allen: Yeah, I would say, I mean so I certainly think loc.gov, but also The Signal blog, which I don't think I mentioned before but I think is a good answer to this question. There's another blog on the Library's website called The Signal which is the blog that is, it's run jointly by the, thank you for that, Sahar, it's run jointly by the LC Labs team and the digital content management section. And there actually are quite a lot of posts there about brand new technologies coming out of the Library. I mean you might have to do a little bit of stretching to figure out what's the artistic or scholarly way to engage with those, but there's like a huge amount about this sort of in the weeds of the technical developments going on at the Library on The Signal. >> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, awesome. Who is evaluating the applications, and can you share something about their experience with technology if you know who the evaluators will be? >> Laurie Allen: So our expectation at this point is that the evaluators will be Library staff. Now the Library has a huge range of staff, and we haven't developed the panels yet. But our goal will be to have a range of experts from across the Library who have, you know, who have expertise in technology in territorial areas, so in the Library's collections, and in all sorts of areas of the Library. So I can't say exactly who. We don't have the panel set up yet, but it will be Library staff. But that said, there's a giant, the Library and the staff is huge and presumably, you know, we'll do our best to make sure that the panels include people with expertise from across the areas that the applicants will be applying in. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks. And there's a few questions just about the other grants, so I'll post a link to the Of the People blog, which is where you can find information about all of those. >> Laurie Allen: Thank you, Sahar, yes. All the other, all the grants through Of the People are available on that site. I saw someone asking about something other suitable for artists. The Innovator in Residence Program is actually not a grant opportunity. It is a, it is an, well, it's in, it's actually, it's a contract. The application process for that one when it comes out will likely be a two page statement of interest followed by a much longer thing if you are invited to do the longer thing. So just keep an eye out on the Library's social media and all various places. I don't know when that will come out. It will be in the next six to nine months I think probably. But that Innovator in Residence is another opportunity for books to keep an eye out for. We got one recommendation. Someone said we should have a like LC for creatives website or blog or list serve which I thought was cool, but we don't at this point. >> Sahar Kazmi: Yeah, that question on grants for artists was the last one. >> Laurie Allen: Well thank you all so much for your questions and for your time and for being here. This webinar was recorded. In our experience it takes about two weeks to process them for our, for the technology folks here to process those. So they'll be posted sometime after two weeks from now probably. But you can just keep an eye out on the blog. When they're posted they go on those same pages that where the information about the grants are. So thank you so much for joining us and for being here today. [ Music ]