>> John Fenn: My
name is John Fenn.
I'm the head of research
and programs here
at the American Folklife Center
at the Library of Congress,
and I'm joined by several
colleagues, one of whom is going
to co-lead this webinar with
me, and that's Michelle Stefano.
Michelle, do you want to
introduce yourself briefly?
>> Michelle Stefano:
Hello, everyone.
I work in research and
programs at the center,
and I'm so excited
to get started.
>> John Fenn: We also
have our colleagues,
Nancy Gross here
and Terren Mitchell.
They're both staff members
at the Folklife Center
who are going to be kind of
helping us in the background
on this particular
webinar, but nonetheless,
are important members
of the team,
surrounding the Community
Collections grant program
and all the other work
we do here at the center.
Just a few notes
here, orient everyone.
We'll -- the chat is closed,
but the Q&A feature is open,
and that's where we
would love for you
to put questions
throughout the webinar.
We'll try to get to as many as
we can, maybe even all of them,
by the end of the webinar,
and we do have a
dedicated Q&A period,
but if things start coming
up, as we're talking,
please do put your
questions in there.
It allows us to log them
and make sure we
can answer them all.
We are recording this webinar,
so you should have gotten a
message indicating you accept
that when you when you joined,
and when we will be trying
to make the recording
available as soon as possible
to the public, so you could
review what you learned,
and also you can pass
it along to other people
who weren't able to attend.
If you did want to come back, we
will be having two more webinars
in a couple of weeks, and then
again in July, ahead of the end
of the application period.
to provide general information.
And what we'll do during
this webinar is go over some
of the background of the grant
program, the mechanics of it,
and then some examples to
kind of inspire you all.
And we'll be talking about
the eligibility requirements
for individuals and
organizations and some
of the combinations
that are possible.
So I'll get started here running
through some of the mechanics
of it and kind of what this
grant is, reminding people
that of all the things I
just said but, you know,
that this is an extension
of some of the programming
and research support
that the Folklife Center
and the Library has been
trying to do for many years,
and it's a very exciting
opportunity.
It's part of the broader
<i>Of The People </i>initiative,
and that's an initiative
at the Library of Congress,
and I'll talk about
that in a second.
We're going to go -- like I
said, go over the program,
talk about the application
process and the materials,
so the mechanics, and then give
you some inspiring sort of ideas
about the kinds of projects you
might want to look at doing.
This is the second round of
funding for this program,
so we do have 10
awardees already in place
from the first round who
are doing their projects,
and so we're going to refer to
them throughout the webinar,
so there's a kind of concrete
set of examples to work from.
The first one you can see
here is Isaac Rodriguez,
during the <i>Sonidos De
Houston </i>project sort
of documenting Chicano music in
and around the Houston
communities,
so there's some great examples,
and we have links to some
of the write-ups of these
projects, so you can again,
see how they structure their
applications and projects.
Of the year -- <i>Of The People,</i>
<i>Widening the Path </i>is
this multiyear initiative
that the Library
launched with funding
from the Mellon Foundation,
so a really generous grant
of $50 million over five years.
There are three programmatic
arms <i>Of The People </i>at
the library.
The internships and fellowships
office is running a bunch of new
and existing internships,
using Mellon money.
The digital strategies directed
is running a few programs
under the Connecting
Communities digital initiatives,
grant project, and then the
American Folklife Center,
who is us doing the Community
Collections grant program.
There's information on
all of these programs
on the <i>Of The People </i>website,
as well as on the blog,
and we'll be making sure you
get links to those resources
so you can learn about them.
We're just going to talk
about the American Folklife
Center's Community Collections
grant program in this webinar,
but know that this is part
of a broader initiative to
really engaged communities
in being part of the
Library of Congress,
so it's not an imposing building
off in DC, but it's something
that is both a resource and
a repository for you all.
It's important to note
that in funding this,
the Mellon Foundation
acknowledged
that of <i>Of The People
</i>sort of connects
with their public
knowledge program,
and this is just an excerpt
from their mission statement,
but what's important to us
is in that second sentence,
the goal is to increase
equitable access
to deep knowledge
from scholarly texts
out to Community
Collections, right?
So we see deep knowledge as
existing in the traditions
and the cultural creativity
and practices that flow
through communities and
sometimes define communities,
and we want to give
communities an opportunity
to tell us what those practices
and what that knowledge is,
and so this is -- the
grant program is all
about enabling sort
of self-representation
in the national record,
in the collection stored
at the American Folklife Center.
So supports cultural
documentation by communities,
not just of communities.
It helps enhance
local repositories,
so those cultural
centers or nonprofits
or even public libraries
in your home towns,
your home communities
that might be able
to hold copies of
the collections.
Applicants can be
individuals or organizations,
so there are two different sort
of tracks for applying, I guess,
and we'll talk a little
bit more about that.
The funding is up to
$50,000 for a given project.
We intend to fund 10
projects per year,
so we funded 10 last year.
We want to fund 10
again this year,
and there'll be a
third round of funding
where we'll fund 10 more.
In addition to the funding
to support the cultural
documentation projects
that we'll be talking
about, there's --
we're going to be offering
some training to any of those
who need it, any of the
awardees who need training
in the cultural documentation
methods
that we're going to
be talking about.
That includes conducting
interviews,
doing ethnographic photography,
you know, any of that kind
of stuff that ends up defining
some of the collections we have.
The preparation and management
of the digital files that come
out of the documentation,
so we're not going
to be training awardees as
archivists, but we're going
to be training them how to
describe their materials,
so they're useful to
them, as well as to us
when they come into the Library.
And we just want to emphasize
that applicants don't need
to be experts in these areas.
We're not expecting people to
be folklorist or ethnographers,
but to be able to engage
in the kinds of activities
that help you represent
your community
and the cultural
activity that's going on.
Just by way of example, I'll
say that the photo here is
from our Archie Green
Fellowships Program
where we give we give funding
out to support documentation
in occupational folklife, and
Kim Spicer was part of a group
of electricians,
union electricians,
that documented themselves
with a couple of folklorists
in New York, and so
again, we've seen examples
of this self-representation
throughout sort
of our collections that
we've generated recently,
and we really want to
support that more specifically
with this grant program.
One of the big questions
is eligibility,
and I see that that's one that's
already popped up in the Q&A.
So eligibility, geographically
speaking,
extends to all 50 states,
protectorates, territories,
and the District of Columbia.
So the projects must happen
in that geographic area.
This, so another question,
and I might head it off
at the pass is about
diasporic work.
We're certainly interested in
cultural activity that comes
from elsewhere, but
that's happening
in this geographically
delineated area.
As I mentioned before,
there are other --
two other sort of
eligibility considerations.
One is that there's
grants for organizations,
so the applicant may be a
nonprofit organization located
in the US territories
and subject
to the 26 USC 501(c)(3)
guidelines,
and that can include
institutions
of higher education,
colleges and universities,
as well as professional
associations,
community groups,
small nonprofits.
It's important to note that any
for-profit applicants would not
be eligible though.
Even if they're doing
work in a community,
they can't be a for-profit
entity.
Individual eligibility,
it extends to all those
who are US citizens or
permanent residents located
in the US territories
and states,
protectorates, and then DC.
If a group of individuals
wishes to work together
on a proposed project,
the application must
identify one individual
as the potential awardee, so
we can't split an award of up
to $50,000 amongst
five or six people.
It all has to go
to one applicant,
and that's because
of internal processes
and regulations in
our grants office.
Just talk briefly about sort
of beginning the
application process,
and I know this is going
to probably generate a lot
of questions, so go
ahead and pop them in.
There's a link that
Michelle has put in the chat,
and that's to the main Community
Collections grant program
webpage sort of apply page,
and that's where you'll find all
the materials and information
that will help you
complete an application.
That includes the deadlines.
The deadline for this round
of funding is August 1st,
2022 at noon, all the
required application materials,
so the links to download
files including a template
for creating your application
narrative, a budget worksheet
which we'll talk about a little
bit, a required federal form
that you need to fill out that's
kind of like a cover sheet
that captures all the
contact information
and eligibility information.
There's also a step-by-step
application process
and instructions.
There's the webinar schedule
and the registration links
for the other upcoming webinars.
There's links to commonly asked
questions, which we will --
we've generated based on the
first year of applications,
but we'll also update
as questions come
in from potential applicants
so that everyone has access
to the same information,
again, trying to make it
as equitable as possible.
There's a link to the first year
of awardees, the 2022 awardee,
so you can again, see these
great examples of the projects
that we've already funded,
and then some background
and contextual information
on the Folklife Center,
as well as the Community
Collections grant program
writ large.
This is a screenshot of that
page that you would go to,
and so you can see down here,
those are all the app files
that you'd want to download
to complete an application.
Here's the link up here
to the webinar schedule
and registration links.
And some key pointers
about some of these forms,
and the next couple of slides
are going to kind of walk us
through some of that stuff,
because we want to try
to head off some of the
complications that we ran
into last year, and we
recognize can be headaches,
but we want to try to
alleviate some of it.
So this is the page for
the grants or the section
for grants for individuals.
There's another section
right below it that's grants
for organization, so
make sure you scroll
through that whole page and
find the -- for the most part,
the application materials are
all the same, but it's best
to use the ones that
are identified
with the track you
want to apply to.
And that's right
there in the middle.
Those are all clickable links
that will download the
file to your machine.
We encourage you to
read all of the Notice
of Funding Opportunity.
That's the main document.
I'm going to go back
in a second.
That's at the top here.
So that's the foundational
document
that structures the
application process,
lists all of the requirements,
all of the eligibility
considerations.
It lists the review
parameters that we'll be --
that the panel will be using
in reviewing the application,
so you'll know how your
application is going
to be evaluated.
Read that entire document,
because that is your
most important document.
All the sections are
important, but there are a few
that we really want to
draw your attention to.
So Section A is the
program description.
It's the overall what are the
Community Collections grants
all about?
Section C lists the
eligibility requirements, again,
both for individuals
and for organizations
across those two different
notices of funding opportunity.
Section D has all
of the application
and submission information,
including all
of the different
components of an application,
as well as pointers
on how to think
about each of the subcomponents.
And then Section E lists
the application review
and the award information.
So again, that tells you how
the applications are going
to be evaluated, so you really
want to pay attention to that
when you're structuring
both your narratives
and your budgets.
So again, read all
of the document.
A Community Collections grant
application package consists
of basically a project
narrative,
a budget plan worksheet,
a budget narrative,
and the SF-424 form.
There's also a checklist to
help you track all of this
in the whole package
you download.
And this is, again, laid out
in Section D of the Notice
of Funding Opportunity.
We just want to emphasize
that all these materials
are available
on the Community Collections
grant webpage, and so that's
where we're housing
them this year.
For those of you who may have
attended a webinar last year,
or may even thought
of applying last year,
the materials were
housed on grants.gov,
but we're housing them on our
website of loc.gov this year,
because the application
process doesn't really involve
grants.gov, so the materials are
there as a backup, but really,
this is the best place to
go, the link that's been put
up in the chat of the
People Apply page.
I want to highlight something
here about the SF-424 form.
There's a different
one for individuals
and for organizations, but
the same process is going
to apply right here.
This form caused significant
headache last year for people.
You might click on it and
it would open in a browser
and you couldn't fill it out.
What we're recommending is
that you save it to a desktop
or a laptop machine and
open it in Adobe Acrobat,
which is a free program,
and fill it out there rather
than trying to fill it out
through a browser-based plugin.
You know, federal forms
are not always compatible
with everything in the
world, and so we're trying
to save people some
headache here,
so this is a step-by-step
process of how to do it.
So again, the yellow arrow
points to where that form is
on the webpage, the
screenshot we've already seen.
You'll see that there's
a note underneath it too
that describes this process, so
this is what it would look like.
So you right click on it,
you save the link "as".
It'll download to your machine,
and then you would open
it in Adobe Acrobat.
So open that SF-424 form,
fill it out and save it,
and that's what you would email
in as part of your application.
We recognize this can
be a cumbersome process,
but it's a necessary
process for any applicant
to a federal grant,
so again, Open With.
There's the form.
That's the command.
That's the application
we recommend you use,
and so that's the SF-424 form.
There's also another
thing to think about,
and this is most important
for organization applicants,
although it does -- it can apply
to individual applicants
as well.
sam.gov is a federal system
that anyone who's getting money
from the federal
government through contracts
or grants needs to
register with.
Last year on April 4th,
they change their --
what they call their unique
entity identifier system
from a DUNS number --
I don't recall what
that acronym stands for,
but it doesn't matter
because it doesn't
exist anymore to --
a unique entity ID or a UID,
which is generated by sam.gov.
So you would log in, create
a free account on sam.gov,
and you would then generate
your unique entity ID.
Even if you're only
considering applying
and you think you
might want to do it,
we're recommending getting
this process started soon,
even before you start
constructing your grant
narrative and thinking about
your budget and your project
because it could take a
couple of weeks for you to end
up with a UEI or a
unique entity ID.
It's not essential
to do it right now,
but it's probably a good
idea just to get this stuff
out of the way even if
you're thinking of applying.
You may apply to
other federal grants,
and you might need
this in the future.
You may already have a UEI or
are in the process of shifting
from a DUNS number to one if you
are an organizational applicant,
so we're just trying to
signal this kind of stuff.
We are by no means
experts in these systems.
We're the program office, but
we've learned through working
with applicants over the
past year that this is some
of the stuff that can really
be a hurdle for people,
and given the nature of
this grant of really wanting
to have community
self-representation,
we recognize that a lot of
people might not be familiar
with applying to these kinds
of grants, so we want to try
to signal the things upfront
that might be important to know,
so you don't stumble
on this, you know,
a day before the
application is due.
Which, getting back to
the deadline component,
that is August 1st, right?
That's when your
application must be in.
It must be in by noon.
We recommend trying to submit it
the day before and not waiting
until noon because the
submission process is via email,
so that email address
afc-grants@loc.gov is
where you will submit
all of your materials.
That's also where you're
going to send questions
and I'll get to that
in a second.
So August 1st, work back
from that to make sure
that you're starting to look at
the commonly asked questions,
reading through the NOFO,
seeing what your project --
how you might want to shape
your project to align best
with the requirements listed
in the NOFO, how you're going
to be able to describe it
and think about budgeting.
You might want to review this
webinar recording or even sign
up for another webinar.
You're not limited
to attending one.
We're trying -- we're
going to structure them all
in very much the same exact way
and give the same information,
but you might benefit from
revisiting some of it.
So the next webinars are on June
22nd, so in a couple of weeks,
and then on July 8th, a few
weeks out from the deadline
for applying, so just
keep those in mind.
Again, those are all listed
on the main webpage we've
been pointing you toward.
Again, review those commonly
asked question materials.
Some of them are very general.
Some of them are very specific,
and we will keep updating
those throughout the
application period.
You can send questions in,
your specific questions in to
that afc-grants@loc.gov email
address until July 15th.
Those will be reviewed by
the grants officer who's not
in the Folklife Center because
it's in a different part
of the library, passed
along to us for any answers
that we might be able to
provide if they're not sort
of technical questions
about the grant process,
and then we'll get
those answers up on
that commonly asked questions
page, so we'll keep adding
to that, so there should
be new material on up
through probably several days
after July 15th once the
final questions have come in.
So we just want you to know and
just remind you that, you know,
once you start an
application, you're not just
on your own in a vacuum.
There's a lot of resources
we've tried to put out there
to including in the commonly
asked questions, sort of links
to videos about how to fill out
the SF-424 form or how to think
about writing a federal grant
proposal, resources we found
that other federal
agencies have created
that apply to this very process.
We're going to get
into some of the --
now that we're out
of the mechanics,
into some of the inspirational
components about, you know,
what might a project look
like that could be funded
from this current program?
And so I'm going to turn it
over to my colleague, Michelle,
to take on this part of it,
and we'll keep monitoring
the questions and get
to our Q&A period
in a little bit.
>> Michelle Stefano: Thanks,
John, and hi, again, everyone.
So I have the fun part to
discuss, possible project ideas
to get you all to start
thinking about your proposals
if you so wish to apply.
So in terms of basics, or
if you will, parameters,
or if you will, the
grant programs ethos
for the main priorities,
obviously,
we've been emphasizing that
its ethos, its mission is
to support community-led
cultural documentation projects.
However, we know that in
terms of who would be applying
and project leads, if you will,
those lines can be blurred.
For instance, a project
applicant may not be necessarily
so clear cut of the
community, so to speak,
but have very strong
relationships
with the proposed
project community,
and so our highest
recommendation is
to discuss those relationships,
and demonstrate those
community links
to best align your
proposal, your application
to the mission of
the grant program.
Similarly, and equally, another
priority of the grant program is
to support actual on-the-ground
documentation, activities,
and to help remove barriers to
doing cultural activities --
excuse me, cultural
documentation activities,
such as helping to support the
costs of travel, equipment,
and this is in the NOFO as
well, so I should stop myself,
but the program mission, the
grant program mission is less
so about supporting
projects that wish
to make finished
products, if you will,
such as Final Cut-edited films,
choreographed performances,
as you see the examples
in front of you.
So it's more about all that
documentation that may go
into an eventual edited film,
if that's how you see it.
However, it's less so about
those finished products.
Also equally, a priority
of the program is
to emphasize documentation of
cultural activities of today,
which is what is meant
by contemporary culture,
including cultural traditions,
expressions, and practices,
so of course, we know
living traditions
and expressions have histories,
and it's quite possible
in project proposals that, for
instance, within interviews
with community members, they
may discuss the histories
of particular traditions
that they're the experts of,
how they learn them,
etc., but we're --
this program is geared a little
less towards supporting full-on
oral history projects,
so projects where --
that are focusing on people and
places and events of the past.
So next slide, please.
Okay, so in terms of
example project ideas
and what I'm discussing now,
or the ideas aren't limited
to what I'm discussing,
but many --
there's a broad scope
of possibilities,
but they're generally focused,
the project should be focused
on what we like to call
folk life or again,
living cultural traditions,
practices, expressions,
activities, and so what we
mean by that in the context
of the grant program, are
shared cultural traditions
and activities within cultural
communities or social groups,
example traditions,
examples of folk life.
It could be musical traditions,
dance, food ways, and of course,
these traditions can
be interconnected,
as well as cultural --
bodies of cultural knowledge
that are manifested through
particular practices,
but also what we tend to
call material culture,
such as decorative
arts or crafts-making,
and so that's the general idea
of what projects we'll
be focusing on, again,
these contemporary
cultural activities.
Now, the traditions and cultural
forms don't necessarily have
to have long histories,
however that is defined.
They could be emergent.
They can also be artistic
practices, but again,
through that more community,
shared lens of artistic
practices, such as related
to recent social
justice movements.
Projects can also work to
capture community leader,
community members' perspectives
on keeping traditions alive,
for example, how they're
passed on issues related
to their cultural activities
and their own efforts,
and we don't want to discount
the importance of place
with respect to living
cultural heritage
and how traditions develop
and change over time,
as well as coming at gatherings.
So this is also -- these -- you
know, important community spaces
and places can also be captured
and focused upon
within projects.
Next slide, please.
And so just a very simple
idea here just to throw out,
this would be a project
that is focused
on an important community
event or series of events
such as festivals, celebrations,
rituals, and ceremonies,
and in terms of thinking about
the documentation activities
that could be undertaken,
for example,
interviews with the
facilitators of these events
or festivals could
be undertaken,
as well as interviews
with participants
who may not be necessarily
involved
with organizing the event,
but very important
to making it happen.
In addition, there could
be audio as well as visual
and audio visual
documentation of activities,
not just of the days of the
events, but also the planning,
the community process
in facilitating
and organizing the
event, the setup,
and as well as the post-event
activities within the community.
And it goes without saying,
all the material culture that's
produced either in the lead
up to these events, or during
etc., such as the parade truck
that you see in front of you.
Next slide, yeah.
But one great resource for such
outstanding ideas, of course,
are the 2022 grant recipients,
and I will post a
link to that webpage.
It's available via the
main web page in the chat
in just a moment, and so do
take a look at the projects
that are beginning
and well underway
in some cases at the moment.
Oh, next slide.
And so as you're
starting to, you know,
solidify your proposal
ideas, what you're looking
at documenting, we also
have some suggestions
in your proposals and making
them as strong as possible,
and it's also as easy as
possible, if you will,
for the committee that will
be recommending proposals
to be funded eventually,
especially in terms
of their assessing the
feasibility of projects,
including across the
one-year grant period,
so our suggestion is to
make clear all project
and document -- excuse me,
documentation activities
for that full grant
period year we recommend.
And I should stop
myself and note
that this is discussed
in the NOFO as well.
We recommend that you discuss
the documentation activities
and as much detail as
possible at that early proposal
or application stage, but
in relation to a timeline,
so project phases, and
corresponding activities,
and we also only help
to assess projects
by knowing approximately
the amount of documentation
that is envisioned that will
be generated during projects.
Now, of course, we know cultural
documentation projects can
change while they're underway,
but again, we're looking
for the best possible
visions that you have
of how this project will proceed
and what it will generate,
so for instance, discussing we
envision 24 video interviews
with synagogue leaders.
This project will focus on four
dance battles in Los Angeles,
April, May, July and September,
with photo documentation,
and ideally 10 interviews
with dancers and artists
at each event, etc. And the
last point I want to make is
on the public program component,
which is optional as part
of the larger grant program.
So the AFC can provide -- and
we need to emphasize separate
and additional --
funding, so up to $10,000
for supporting a
public program or event
that would generally
happen towards the end
of the project grant
period year.
And so this is optional, and
so it is not required at all
to discuss this potential
public program or event
in your project proposal
narrative of this application.
You are welcome to briefly
indicate your interest
in facilitating and
eventually applying
for the additional 10,000.
So again, this is not
part of the $50,000
that you would be requesting
for the documentation project.
And once award notifications are
made, that's when discussions
on planning the public
program, the public event,
would take place with AFC staff.
So it's not required at all
to discuss this in
your application.
Instead, we encourage
you to focus
on describing the
documentation project
at the heart of your proposals.
So next slide, please.
And so we're also as this --
as now we're working with the
2022 recipients, we're very busy
with creating a more longer term
vision for this grant program,
and what that means is
creating a sense of community
within each year's cohorts
of 10 project teams split
across the years as the
grant program progresses,
and this sense of community is
really about building the space
for dialogue, exchange of ideas,
lessons learned if applicable,
but this longer term vision
in creating greater impact
in home communities,
as well as a group
as part of the grant program.
And that also includes
the fourth year
of the grant program,
through the <i>Of The People</i>
MMellon funding.
There will be -- and we're in
the early stages of thinking
about this now -- a big event in
that fourth year at the library
in Washington, DC, where
representatives from each
of the project teams from
across the cohort years would
of course be invited, and
hopefully will be able
to attend, but all
of that travel
and logistical costs would
be covered by the Library.
So again, that longer term
vision for enhancing the impacts
of this grant program is
something that's definitely
already something that
we're working towards, so.
And I think we are
at the Q&A period.
So I see there are some
questions and, John,
do you want me to field them or?
>> John Fenn: There's a few
I think I want to go over.
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah.
>> John Fenn: Most of
them have been answered
by our colleagues,
which is good.
>> Michelle Stefano:
That's great.
>> John Fenn: I just want to add
on to what Michelle has noted
about that sort of
fourth year, you know,
funding that we've built in to
kind of have a big event here
at the Library, bringing all of
the projects together to reflect
on what they all did, what
they all learned, you know,
lessons learned as well for us
as we as we venture into this,
you know, kind of new
effort on our part.
We've also built in travel
money throughout the life
of this Community Collections
grant program to get AFC staff
to come out to do site
visits and help out with some
of the documentation and some
of the questions, you know,
in training that
might be emergent
for some of the awardees.
We've tried to be as flexible
as possible to make sure
that we're available to you all.
We're always on the, you
know, end of an email or end
of a phone call or a Zoom
call more likely these days,
but also so that it's not
just here's the money,
good luck and do it.
We want to be part
of that process.
And to emphasize what
Michelle said about the cohort
within each, you know,
sort of year of awardees,
and we've already had a few
calls with the first cohort,
and they've all been sharing
and learning from each other,
and it's been very exciting.
Again, it's been on Zoom, but
nonetheless, there's been a lot
of energy and excitement,
and that's rewarding for us,
but it's also I think indicative
of what can happen if we try
to build community while
documenting community
in some experimental way.
I know there's been
several questions
that my colleagues Terren
and Nancy and even Alina --
thanks for joining us, Alina --
have answered, I want to just
go back through a few of them
and just highlight some things.
Beverly Tyler noted that the
timeline right now is too tight
for her organization
to get an application
in for this funding year, and
we completely acknowledge that,
and the answer is right,
some of the forms may change,
but the shape of the program
is not going to change.
So if you have a project
that you think wow,
it really matches this NOFO
this year, there's no reason
to not start fleshing out
the narrative and thinking
about budget ahead of
next year's deadline,
which will probably
be pretty similar.
We're imagining this will be
the pace for it, so next year,
August 1st might be the deadline
again, but I think the advice
to wait on using the actual
forms is probably accurate,
because in the federal world,
these things change, but again,
the shape of the Community
Collections grant program is not
necessarily going to change
in any noticeable way.
We're trying to keep it
as stable as possible,
so that then we, you
know, we have this kind
of really wonderful three-year
effort to generate collections
from a community perspective
on the cultural activity
and traditions and, you know,
deep knowledge to go back
to that Mellon mission statement
that aligns with the libraries,
so just keep that in mind,
but we fully recognize
that the capacity for
smaller organizations
and even individuals
isn't necessarily as agile
as this timeline implies.
There's some great questions
about sort of working
with a 501(c)(3) if you're
not one or if you're part
of a large organization
like a state arts agency.
This grant program is
not necessarily intended
to fund the kind of activity
that state arts agencies
or state folklife agencies do.
They do certainly
parallel stuff,
but we really want
to fund communities.
That said, what a state art
agency could do is really reach
out to their constituents
and say hey, look,
there's opportunity is here.
Maybe you can even help
structure some other application
materials, but the
application shouldn't come
from a state agency for sure.
It should come from a nonprofit
organization or an individual.
But there was a great
question, organization part
of a public media entity, does
this prevent us from applying?
It's hard to answer that
question in the abstract,
so we need to know
some more details,
but if that public media
entity is a is a nonprofit, no,
it wouldn't prevent you
from applying, but again,
the bandwidth, the constraints
of that home organization
might get in the way.
Note that, you know, with the
organizational applications,
as you'll read in the NOFO,
there is some cost
share allowed,
and so that's certainly
something to keep in mind.
That cost share is not allowed
in the individual track,
because it's intended to fund
an individual to do the work,
so there wouldn't
be any cost share,
but note that whether
you're an individual
or an organizational applicant,
there is no matching funds
required for these grants,
so unlike some other federal
support grants, you don't need
to go out and find $50,000
to match the 50,000
you're applying for.
We want to give you this
money, provide this funding
to do the project that
you're describing to us.
The question often
comes up, well,
if my project is
really $100,000,
can I apply for it as 50?
We want the projects to be
funded at the $50,000 level,
and that's according to
some internal regulations
that we have here, so
just keep that in mind
as you're constructing budgets
and written really looking
at what the eligibility
requirements are.
Seeing if there's some other --
oh, a great question
about can draft ideas
and applications be sent before?
You can -- it's hard for us to
find the capacity to read drafts
and give feedback on everyone
so that's not really
something we're able to do.
I would say that if you have
an idea, read the Section D
of the NOFO very carefully and
see if your idea fits into it.
Also read Section E which
gives the evaluation criteria.
Again, as Michelle mentioned,
those are the criteria
that the selection
panel is going
to be reading each application
against in order to make it
as equitable and
fair as possible.
So if you can speak
to those criteria,
then your idea should fly.
And there's -- let's see.
I think we've gotten many
[inaudible] someone's already
having an issue with the SF-424.
Again, it is a bug of an issue,
but it, you know, that form,
try a bunch of different ways.
Make sure you're
downloading it rather
than having your browser sort
of default to opening it.
I think, across the board,
we've all gotten so used
to things just working,
and then when they don't,
it's incredibly vexing.
Sometimes I recommend people
try a different browser
if their favorite
browser isn't working.
Different browsers might behave
differently and allow you
to actually download the
file, rather than opening it
up through some plugin.
Like I said before, we
aren't the technical experts
with the SF-424 but
take a look at some
of the tech support pages linked
on that main Community
Collections grant page.
I think there is a video
about filling out the SF-424
that may give some tips as well.
It's just so vexing that
not everything's compatible
with everything even
though we tried
to make arguments we
should use a different form,
but that's the one we're
using, so apologies for that.
I hope you can get to it.
I mean, I'm happy to help try,
but we aren't the technical
experts for the program people
on the content of the
Community Collections grants.
I think there was some
question about, you know,
applying to have edited
files versus the raw files.
What we -- as Michelle
was emphasizing,
we really want the raw
unedited cultural documentation.
That's what we have
at the Folklife Center
in our ethnographic collections.
You know, there's sort of
more than 3,200 of them.
We aren't looking to fund
edited films or projects.
That may very well come out
of your project, though,
and that's fine,
but be very cautious
about how you're articulating
in a budget what the
money's going toward.
We want it to go towards the --
what we may call the field
work effort, you know,
the ethnographic
effort, the getting out
and doing the documentation,
rather than the production
of a finished product, whether
that's a book or a film.
We aren't shutting off the
options that those may come
out of your community
cultural documentation project,
but on the funding, it
might be complicated,
so just really pay attention to
the requirements in the NOFO.
And one of the questions says,
you know, the raw footage,
even with all its errors?
Yes. I mean, there's
all sorts of fun stuff
in our documentation, you know,
out of focus camera or shots
of the ground but
that's, you know,
that's part are the raw
unpublished materials
that we have that
have rich value
for showing things as they are.
There's a question, what is
the format of documentation?
I think that's -- yeah, there's
been an answer by examples
from Michelle, so
again, we want --
we're looking for the audio
interviews, the photos,
the videos, the field notes,
the logs, hand-drawn maps,
the stuff that's allowing a
community to document itself.
A finished website, a
book, may come out of that,
but we want the raw stuff.
That's what we are considering
cultural documentation.
Are there any other -- are there
a couple of open questions?
>> Michelle Stefano: Ooh, here's
a nice one about online cultures
and activities, which certainly
is a part of our world.
>> John Fenn: Yeah, yeah.
I mean, and I think that's
important to note, and that kind
of gets into, you know,
we aren't purposefully
defining community in any way --
>> Michelle Stefano: Right.
>> John Fenn: -- in this
Notice of Funding Opportunity.
We aren't limiting
it to a neighborhood
or a state or a county.
As Michelle identified, several
of the currently awarded
projects have community spread
throughout the United
States in big urban centers.
I think that it would be really
interesting to consider sort
of documentation of
online cultural activities
and the Folklife Center
does have some of that
in our collections, in our
web archives, for sure.
So I would not rule that out.
Again, whether it's
successful or not depends
on how you describe
it in the narrative
and what you what you
account for on your budget,
but I think this
sub-example you give
in the parentheses is
very interesting to me,
so I would love to see that,
that idea show up somehow.
Is music production supported.
That's a good one.
As Michelle said, it can
certainly be an aspect
of a project and, you know, I
think that's going to figure
into community identity
and cultural activity
in very interesting
ways, so but I would say
that the grant couldn't
be used to run a series
of music festivals, or even a
big festival, if documentation
of that community and then the
community perspective wasn't
foregrounded and part of what
comes out of the project,
so how you're thinking about
production is going to have
to kind of be aligned with
the requirements listed
in the Notice of
Funding Opportunity.
And I see some of these other
questions have been answered.
Looks like we don't have
any open ones right now,
but I do encourage people
to put any more questions they
might have into the Q&A, again,
so we can track them and
make sure we get to them.
Note that many of these
will probably be showing
up in our commonly
asked questions too.
We're going to try to keep
that thing updated with some
of these great questions
that haven't already
appeared in that.
So again, review that resource.
Get back to that email address
with questions that come
out of your review of
that, read the Notice
of Funding Opportunity
really carefully.
We -- as we tried to emphasize,
we're really excited
about this program.
We recognize that it's a foray
for the Library into a new kind
of initiative, something
that aligns
with things the Folklife
Center has done over the years,
but not in this focused way.
It's probably also a new
grant opportunity for people
who haven't seen themselves
as applying to these types
of grants, and so we
recognize that can be daunting
or a hurdle, but we
want to encourage people
to be really creative and really
think about what narratives
or stories you want
to foreground
about your home community
or communities, again,
whether that's a geographically
defined community,
or has some more sort
of maybe multisite,
multi-spatial components to it.
And again, we really want
to see exciting stuff coming
out of this because
not only is this going
to enrich our collections and
allow us to really say yeah,
we have stuff that represents
the culture as of now.
It can seed some
homegrown repositories
or it can make more
robust some materials
that communities already have
that document their history,
but now can document their
contemporary experience
and perspectives.
We aren't able to help a lot --
offer a lot of support
preserving local
library archives.
We can offer some
technical advice at times,
especially in light of a
project that might be looking
to find a home repository
for their project.
Again, applying for this grant
does not mean you have a local
repository you know you're
going to share your stuff with.
We want the collections
to come to the library
so we can steward them, but we
don't want that to cut them off
from being locally
useful as well,
so even if you don't
have a repository in mind
or even there while you're
applying, we'll be able
to give some advice
along those lines
as the project is unfolding.
Yeah, there's a great
one about the college
or university-based
researchers --
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah.
>> John Fenn: -- who have
close ties with the community.
Yeah, that's going to
be certainly important
to demonstrate that connection
to community in the application.
We really want that,
and that's listed as one
of the evaluation criteria
in Section E of the NOFO.
So we -- to apply for one of
these, it doesn't mean you need
to be a member of a community
necessarily, but you need
to have close ties and
a working relationship,
and because we really want
that community perspective
to be foregrounded in the
documentation activity,
and in the documentation
materials that come in.
So yeah, and certainly be
potentially competitive.
And a couple of the projects --
well, one of the
projects that's funded
in the first round is a set
of university researchers
that have close ties and
in some cases are members
of the community that
they're documenting,
so there is a lot
of room in that.
Okay.
>> Michelle Stefano: I
would also add on that note
that those pursuing PhD
dissertation projects are
ineligible so --
>> John Fenn: Yeah.
>> Michelle Stefano: --
[inaudible] academia, yeah.
>> John Fenn: Yeah, so
this is not intended
to be support for PhD fieldwork.
And, yeah, we just need
to be upfront about that
because that doesn't mean
someone pursuing a PhD can't be
involved in the documentation
efforts or even part
of a community, but it's not
intended to fund the research
that will lead to a degree.
All right, we have we have no
more open questions right now,
so we can give it
a few more minutes.
Maybe I'll go back to one
of the slides that has --
>> Michelle Stefano:
John, did you --
>> John Fenn: -- an example.
>> Michelle Stefano: I
know you answered this,
but maybe you'd want to
just say it out loud,
just the timeline
for this round?
I don't know.
Sorry if I missed it.
Just November [inaudible] yeah.
>> John Fenn: Oh,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
So someone asked a
question about this.
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah, yeah.
>> John Fenn: So when
will applicants know?
And this is a great question.
We've learned a lot
from our first round.
Sometimes it takes
longer than we hope,
but the plan the Library has
helped us put in place is to try
to get awards finalized, and
that means 10 awardees selected,
all the paperwork signed, public
announcements by mid-November.
So as soon as the applications
come in on August 1st,
we do some internal
review with our contracts
and grants colleagues, and then
our selection panel gets all
the materials.
They'll go through a
pretty rigorous process
of evaluating each application
that's been deemed eligible
at that point.
Those that are not eligible
or did not make it in on time,
they'll learn pretty soon after
the deadline for applying,
and then we'll push through
with the award process,
which involves a lot
of back and forth
with the 10 selected awardees,
the potential finalists,
to make sure, you know, that
they are indeed eligible as they
as they've indicated
in their application.
There's some paperwork that
needs to go back and forth,
so responsiveness to this --
to that is going to get us
to that early November sort
of period where people are
signing on the dotted line
so we can announce
awards by mid-November.
So that's the that's
the ideal timeline.
It's not firm nor
written in stone,
but that's really
what we're hoping for,
which means that people could
start projects I think --
there is an earliest start
date listed in the NOFO,
and I don't have it
pulled up in front of me,
but I believe it's --
is it December 1st?
>> Michelle Stefano:
November 4th, 2023?
>> John Fenn: Yeah.
>> Michelle Stefano: Okay.
That's great.
>> John Fenn: Yeah.
Yeah, so, there is
something listed in the NOFOs,
like project could
not start before then,
so keep that in mind, you
know, because one thing,
access to the kinds
of activities you're documenting
are going to be important,
so if those don't start
until May, then that's great.
You can say, well, my
project will start in May.
Your project doesn't need
to be a full 12 months long,
but we want it to be
realistically timed to the kinds
of events or activities
that you're identifying
as what you want the document,
so keep that all of mind.
If all your stuff happens
in October of 2022,
then that's before the grant
period will actually begin,
so that'll be noticed
when we're reviewing them,
so just be realistic
about that kind of stuff.
And those are the kinds of
questions that you could send
into the afc-grants@loc.gov
email address as soon
as you download the NOFO
document and pour through it.
And on the topic
of that document,
I'll note that we tried
to make it as accessible
and understandable as possible
within constraints, and so it's,
you know, it is like a,
you know, we recognize it's
like an 18-page document
that ultimately is asking
for a five-page proposal on
a budget, but that's again,
because we wanted to get all
the information in there.
A lot of it is sort of
boilerplate language
that we need to have in
there as a federal agency.
So remember, think about those
segments that we highlighted.
You know, Section A
is really important.
Section C is really
important, and Section D
and E are really important.
All of them have information,
but those are the ones
that you should really focus on
in terms of getting your ideas
down onto paper initially,
and then start structuring
them into a proposal.
Keep in mind that since they --
the proposals are
submitted via email,
the Library has a known
size limit of attachments
of 20 megabytes, so that
might mean you might have
to send an application
across two or three e-mails.
We are fully aware
of that limitation,
and we hope that it doesn't
cause a problem for anyone,
but that's how we
recommend really kind
of getting this stuff done ahead
of the August 1st deadline,
so you don't run into
technical glitches
at the last minute trying
to submit the applications.
We certainly wish that
the Library had a platform
where you could just
sort of upload documents,
and we'd magically be in receipt
of them, but we don't right now,
and so that is a
known limitation.
I would say if your project
is related to an event
in late November 2023 --
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah.
>> John Fenn: -- yeah,
because I mean, we're in 2022,
so the application period
is going to be August 2022.
We should have awards
out by November 2022,
so I think that would
probably be towards the end
of the grant period, so
it might be kind of dicey.
It might be better suited for
the next round, but certainly,
that would be a great
question, Latika,
to send into afc-grants@loc.gov
so we can get input
from our contracts and
grants colleagues as well --
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah.
>> John Fenn: -- and
we're able to speak more
to the technical
components of it.
>> Michelle Stefano: I would
also say that, of course,
you can apply with that project
idea without knowing much
without it, but you do not have
to request the full
50,000 either.
>> John Fenn: Yes.
>> Michelle Stefano: Right?
So it could more be
proportionate to the amount
of documentation you're
proposing to do, so --
>> John Fenn: Yeah.
>> Michelle Stefano: -- it's
another way of thinking of it.
>> John Fenn: Yeah,
no, that's important.
That's why we say the awards
might be up to $50,000.
>> Michelle Stefano: Yeah.
>> John Fenn: But not all
of the current awardees
requested the full $50,000 --
>> Michelle Stefano: Right.
>> John Fenn: -- because their
projects just didn't require it,
and so their budgets were
right-sized as we might say.
They accounted for the
activity they wanted to do.
Okay, great.
[inaudible].
Yeah, so there is some stuff
that could be documented, so.
>> Michelle Stefano:
Yeah, that's great.
>> John Fenn: That sounds
exciting, Latika, so yeah,
definitely I would say,
consider this very seriously
as something you might
want to apply to.
We're right near the top
of the hour here, and so --
yes, I would say
as long as -- yeah.
So the question is, as long
as the work is conducted
with the intent of
self-representation
by a community, is it possible
for the research to later feed
into a book by a
post PhD researcher?
Yes, absolutely.
Again, we're really
interested in the documentation
and the collection that
comes out of that activity,
recognizing it and hoping
that it would be used
by the community and by people
working with the community
in a range of ways to
continue that ethos
of self-representation
and kind of contributing
to the broader narratives
about culture and community
in the US right now,
so I think that yeah,
that would be perfectly
fine with us.
>> Michelle Stefano:
And your justifications
in that question are
along the same lines
of what you would need to
describe in your narrative --
>> John Fenn: Yeah.
>> Michelle Stefano: -- really
emphasizing, as John just said,
that community-led spirit of
the project, so good thinking.
>> John Fenn: Well, in
our final minutes here,
I just want to again,
thank my colleagues
from the American Folklife
Center for co-hosting
and doing some behind-the-scenes
support
with answering the
questions and fielding those.
I want to thank all
of you for attending,
signing up and attending.
Please, again, look for the --
we'll post the link
to this recording
on that main CCG webpage once it
goes out, and I'll try to send
out an email to all the
attendees once the recording is
available as well.
I have all that information
so that you can get
access to it and review it.
Recall all the support
materials we listed and went
over several times here, because
they're out there for you
to draw on as you
construct a proposal here.
We're excited to see what
happens in the second round.
We're quite excited to
continue to run this program
for another year after
this, and we look forward
to seeing what comes
out of all of it.
So with that -- yeah, okay,
this is a great question,
one more question.
Are the materials generated
here available for free
to the community to use later?
I'm assuming that refers to
the collections materials
that are deposited
at the Library
and with maybe a local
repository, and yes,
the idea would be that these
materials eventually would be
available for all
to use for free,
so there's permission forms
that we provide that indicate
that to all the awardees.
So the idea is to really
enrich what we refer
to as the national collection,
the national record here
at the Library, so everyone can
get access to these materials.
We certainly also
acknowledge that some
of the projects might
document things
that might be culturally
sensitive or of
that should be restricted
access, and we're willing
to talk with any awardee about
stuff they might not want
to submit to the library.
That can't be a bulk of the
collection, of the project,
but we recognize that
there might be some stuff
that should really be limited
to the community, and we're,
you know, we're ethically
committed to working
with everyone on that,
so that's important.
It's not all just going
to go up on the internet,
but stuff is going to go
available for the public
at large to know what's --
who's doing what right now.
All right, well, I'm going
to stop the screen share here
and probably bring the
webinar to a close.
So, again, I'm glad everyone was
able to come join us and we hope
to see applications from
everyone by August 1st, 2022,
so take care and thanks
to all my colleagues.
>> Michelle Stefano: Thank you.