>> Marya McQuirter: Thank you
so much for joining us today.
My name is Marya McQuirter,
and I am program director
for Connecting Communities
Digital Initiative,
and we're so glad
that you joined us
for our first CCDI grant
for higher education
institutions webinar
for our round two notices.
I do want to inform
you all first
that this webinar is
being recorded and also,
that if you have questions,
please do post them
in the Q&A feature
instead of the chat.
It's important, particularly
have a lot of questions
that they all be centered there,
and also, if we are unable
to get to all of the
questions, then we have it
in one easy place when
we post these to the web,
to the website, or to the blog
that we make sure we get all
the questions that you all had.
I want to introduce
the other folks
who are joining me
here on the call.
Again, my name is
Marya with CCDI.
I'm also joined by Erika Gault,
who will be co-hosting
the webinar with me.
She's also with CCDI.
We also have Miriam Grinberg,
who will stay off video,
at least for now, And she's
with contracts and grants.
We have a Sahar Kazmi, who will
be providing webinar support
for us today, Lori Kearse,
who also will probably stay
off video who's also with CCDI.
She'll be dropping in links for
you all throughout the webinar,
and then I've already
mentioned myself,
and then we also
have Hope O'Keeffe,
who also stay off video at
least until the questions,
who is in the Office of
General Counsel and helps
with legal and ethical issues.
And if you have any additional
questions once this webinar is
over, please do go to LOC,
our email, LOC-grants@loc.gov,
and Lori has already put
that in the chat for you
for any questions
that you might have.
And then at this point,
I'm actually going
to jump off video myself so that
I can just focus on the slides,
and then when we come
back to questions,
I'll come back on video.
Okay, so next slide.
Okay, great, Sahar, thank you.
So, we have quite a bit
to cover in this hour,
but this is what you
can expect from us.
First, we'll provide
an overview of the
Of the People program and CCDI.
Then we'll share more about the
reason you are all here today
for CCDI's higher
education grant opportunity.
After that, we'll talk about how
to apply for this opportunity
and provide examples to
inspire your applications,
and then finally, we
will break for questions,
and if you all want to follow
along, Lori will put in the chat
in terms of how to
get to information
about this higher
education grant opportunity.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so Of the People: Widening
the Path is a multi-year
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 more stories.
This funding opportunities
initiative is funded
by the Mellon Foundation.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so Of the People: Widening
the Path has three different
programmatic arms.
CCDI is one of those
programmatic arms,
and we are under the
Digital Strategy Directorate.
The other two are Internships
and Fellowships Program,
and also the American
Folklife Center.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so the Internships
and Fellowships Program offers a
range of different internships,
and one of those is the
Junior Fellows Program,
and that gives undergraduate
students
and graduate students
experience working with analog
in Digital Collections
and Services
at the Library of Congress.
Currently, those applications
are closed, but you can check
in the fall for what the
opportunities will be for 2023
and Lori has already dropped
that in the chat for us.
Okay. Next slide, please.
Okay, in addition to
CCDI and the Internships
and Fellowships Program,
the American Folklife Center
also offers its own set
of grants called Community
Collections grants,
and American Folklife Center
is offering 10 of these grants
to individuals and
organizations, and those,
like ours in CCDI,
are currently open.
Those applications are open
until August 1st of this year,
and Lori has dropped in the
chat if you are interested
in what those grant
opportunities look like.
What's different about Community
Collections from CCDI is
that money is given
to communities
to document their cultural
life and experiences
from their own perspectives,
and then whatever they
create is then digitized
and then deposited within the
Library of Congress collections.
So, that's the difference.
People are creating
their own projects,
and then those are
getting documented
or included in LOC collections.
Next slide, please.
Okay, and so now I'm going to
pop it over to Erika to talk
with you about our grants.
>> Erika Gault: Thanks, Marya.
So, the -- for this round,
we're offering two grants.
The first one is for libraries,
archives, and museums for up
to $50,000 to support three
local cultural heritage
organizations by
enabling storytelling
across a range of platforms.
A few things to keep in
mind about this grant.
You'll notice here it says
it must center the lives,
experiences, and
perspectives of one or more
of the following groups: Black,
Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino,
Asian American and Pacific
Islander and/or other
communities of color.
You'll see a link
there in the chat.
Also, keep in mind, if you
are a land, library, archive,
or museum at a higher
education institution,
you should actually apply for
the next grant that I want
to talk about, the
Higher Education Grant.
These land grants are
intended for public libraries,
non-profit libraries,
archives, and museums only.
Next slide, please.
The grant for higher education
minority-serving institutions
also offers $50,000 to support
up to three higher
education institutions
by enabling storytelling
across a range of platforms
for a period of 12 months.
And most of you in the room
are probably most interested
in this one, and we'll get
into in a little bit
exactly what you can find
on the application.
Next slide, please.
One of the most important
things to mention it feels like
and may feel like it
goes without saying
but we should say it,
please make sure you
read the entire notice.
It has four sections.
Section A is your
program description.
You'll see that that
then skips to Section C,
eligibility requirements,
Section D, application
and submission information,
and Section E,
application review and award.
Next slide.
So, how do you get
to the notice?
Please take a look at that
link there that Lori is placing
in the chat, and if you look
on the Of the People website
at that link, you'll
see, represent,
one of the first tabs there
or the fourth tab there.
Next slide.
And if you look at the menu to
the left, once you click there,
you'll see CCDI grant for
higher education application.
Click there.
Next slide.
And scroll all the way down
the page, and you'll notice,
you'll see the notice under
commonly asked questions.
Next slide.
Next slide, please.
And I'll turn it now back to
Marya to talk in more detail
on what you can expect
in the application.
>> Marya McQuirter:
Thank you so much, Erika.
So, now when you
open the notice,
here's what the first pages
of the higher education
notice look like.
You'll see on the left
side is the title page,
and what's most important
there is the Notice
of Funding Opportunity Number,
that one whenever, generally,
whenever you communicate with
us, you do need that number,
and then on the opposite side
is the table of contents.
And so, you can see there that
it's pretty full, the notice is,
you know, 23 pages long, and
as Erika noted, it is important
for you to read the whole
thing, but the Sections A, C, D,
and E are the ones that
are most important.
Next slide, please.
In here, you see we have
highlighted what those sections
are, where those are, in terms
of the table of contents.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so now we're going to jump
into the notice in
a bit more detail.
Next slide, please.
So, the program description
for the higher ed grants,
as Erika mentioned, it is
similar to the libraries,
archives, and museums one,
again, awarding three grants
for up to $50,000
each in support
of higher education
institutions,
and we will provide
financial support
to enable higher education
institutions to use the Library
of Congress digital
materials to create projects
that center folks of color,
institutions of color,
and organizations of color.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so in terms of
program description,
the kinds of projects
that we're interested in,
we'll get into more detail in
terms of some samples later,
but we're really interested
in institutions thinking
about designing and implementing
a range of projects,
which can include
curricula or course material,
multimedia productions,
digital and or analog exhibits,
interfaces, or public
publications, and we're going
to repeat this, because
it is really important.
It's essential that you
all ground your projects
or proposals in digital
materials from the Library
of Congress and as well that
these proposals engage students,
staff, and or community members.
We do encourage you to
think, think creatively
and then also want to note as
well, which I noted before,
but it bears repeating
again, that for CCDI grants,
the funded projects
will not be incorporated
into library collections
or hosted
on library technical
infrastructure.
Next slide.
Okay, so eligibility.
This is in Section C, so, again,
this is something
important to look at.
You are eligible --
in terms of figuring
out whether you're eligible,
you must be a two-year
or four-year higher
education institutions
such as Alaska Native and
Native Hawaiian-serving,
American Indian Tribally
Controlled Colleges
and Universities, Asian American
and Native American Pacific
Islander institutions,
Hispanic-serving institutions,
historically Black colleges
and universities,
Native American-serving
Non tribal institutions,
and predominantly
Black institutions.
Quite a mouthful, but
this gives you a sense
of what we're looking for.
You also must be a non-profit.
You must be based in any of
the 50 US states, the District
of Columbia, or territories
and commonwealths,
including Puerto Rico,
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and
the US Virgin Islands,
and you must have proposed
that the project also be
conducted within those places.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so with the help of Miriam
Grimberg, who we mentioned is
on this call, we've created
some documents to help guide you
as you complete your
application.
So, here you see an application
checklist, and if you go
to the higher education,
excuse me, application page
under commonly asked questions,
you'll also find the application
checklist, which leads you
through all of the
documents you need to complete
for your application,
and one of the ones
that I really want you all to
focus on now is the top one
where it says registered
with SAM.gov.
Registering with
SAM.gov is required.
The registration is free,
but once you, you know,
have looked through
the notice to determine
that you're eligible
and you're interested,
I would say immediately go
to SAM.gov and register,
and the reason I say that
is, because it can take
up to three weeks to
become active in the system.
So take care of this now, and
then you can go and, you know,
talk to your collaborators,
you know,
look at digital collections,
refine your proposal,
but please do focus in on
registering with SAM.gov.
Next slide, please.
Okay, and the second thing that
we want to put your attention
to on the higher education
application page is the project
narrative template,
which will --
which you will need to use
for the proposal cover page
and also the proposal details
of your project narrative,
and you will find more details
about the project narrative
on page eight of the notice.
And I, again, want to
just put your attention
to the cover page
information that we have here.
You see that it asks
for that Notice
of Funding Opportunity Number,
which is on the title page
of the notice, your
working title, your name
and contact information.
You will see that it asks for
that SAM number, and also,
you put the date there.
All right, next slide, please.
Okay, and also on that
higher education page,
you'll find the budget
plan worksheet templates.
You will need this to use this
to develop your budget plan,
and please note that there
are multiple components
to your budget materials, and
you'll find more information
on page 10 of the notice.
Okay, next slide, please.
Okay, so, in addition, the
last forum that we wanted
to bring your attention
to is SF424,
and there's a PDF available
under that commonly
asked question section,
and this is a required form
for organizations applying
for federal assistance.
Okay, next slide, please.
Okay, so another important
question is, how will we --
what will we be looking for?
What are our criteria in
terms of selecting proposals?
And so, one set of evaluation
criteria is advancement
of program goal.
So, when we, you know, pull our
panel together, our panelists,
who will be reviewing
the applications.
There'll be three questions
that we will ask in terms
of the advancement
of program goals.
One does the project
center the lives experience
and perspectives of one or more
of the following groups: Black,
Indigenous, Latinx, Asian
American or Pacific Islander,
and/or other communities
of color?
And here I do want to take a
moment to make sure that you --
we put in that and/or advisedly,
so that if you're interested
in doing a project that simply
focuses on Asian Americans,
that's perfectly fine.
If you're interested
in presenting --
offering a proposal that
looks at both Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders,
that is fine as well.
So, you can do one, two, you
can do all, but there's --
we saw some proposals last
year, which I think people felt
like they had to include
projects that included all
of the different groups,
that is you can do that,
but you don't have
to do that, okay?
Secondly, again, will the
project make significant
and meaningful use
of digital materials
from the Library of Congress?
And in third, will the project
facilitate teaching and learning
with digital library
collections for students, staff,
and or community members?
Next slide, please.
Okay, so, feasibility.
So, there are four main
questions that we have here.
Does the Library have
the digital materials
and collections needed
for a successful project?
This is very important,
again, as we keep repeating,
because it's very important.
It is essential that you all
take the time to, you know,
go and look at the digital
collections of materials
that the Library
has and make sure
that your project is
grounded in those.
And so, the second
part of that question,
has the applicant applicant
identified and provided links
to the digital materials
and collection?
So, our expectation
is that you will come
up with a topic [inaudible] come
up with an idea, and you will go
to the link for digital
collections,
which we will provide
a little bit later,
and then you will start
to explore those
different collections,
and then the way you will show
us that you've done that is
that you actually have
identified those digital
materials and collections
and provided links
in your proposal material.
Secondly, has the applicant
addressed whether those digital
materials and collections
are legally available
for their proposed uses?
So, you're asking
maybe, well, how do we --
how can we determine that?
When you go to
loc.gov/collections
and you find a digital
collection
that you're interested in
and you go to that page,
in addition to an image and
metadata, subject headings,
et cetera, if you scroll down,
there will also be a
rights and access section.
So, you want to click
on that section,
and there will be
information there.
If you still aren't sure at
that point, you can always reach
out to a librarian via the Ask
a Librarian service, and, again,
we'll give the link to that
a little bit later, okay?
And then third, has the
applicant addressed whether they
have the permissions
and clearances to share
and use materials from
their own collections
or other collections
included in the proposal?
Okay, so what does that mean?
So, in addition to whether
you have permissions in terms
of Library of Congress material,
if you are at a higher education
institution and you want
to work also with collections
in your university archive,
you have to make sure you
have permission and clearance
to use those materials.
In addition, say, you are
working with a local institution
or organization and they have
some kind of archival materials
or records, you want
to make sure as well
that you have permission
and clearance to use those.
And then finally,
does the institution
and any collaborators,
consultants,
and/or service providers
possess the skills necessary
for successful completion
of the project?
All right, next slide, please.
Okay, and then this
is the final criteria.
The reasonableness of costs
and likelihood budget will
support project execution.
That's quite a mouthful.
So, the first question
we'll be looking
at does the applicant's
proposal indicate
that the project
can be completed
within a 12-month period?
Here's another mouthful:
Are costs allowable
under the cost principles
found in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E?
Again, that's a mouthful, but
if you go back to the notice,
you -- we will -- we do have
a link, thank you, Miriam,
we have a link to that,
and so that information
will be very clear for you.
There is also cost
sharing that's allowed.
It is not required, but it is
allowed, and so you can also go
to that 2 CFR 200 link to
find information about that.
And then finally, are costs
reasonable and effective
for project completion?
Just make sure that it
makes sense in terms
of what you're proposing
that what you're budgeting
for also makes sense.
Okay, next slide.
Thank you, Miriam,
for those links.
Okay, so very, very important:
applications must be emailed
to loc-grants@loc.gov, okay?
Some of you who've submitted
federal grants may be accustomed
to submitting applications
through grants.gov,
but for this we are not
accepting applications
through grants.gov.
So, please do email them to us,
however, the notice is available
to view on grants.gov
at the represents page
that Lori has been sharing.
So, you can view
the notice there,
but we are not accepting
applications there.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so support and assistance.
This is one way that
we are offering help
to you all through this webinar.
It will also be recorded
for later access,
probably in a couple of weeks,
it'll be uploaded
to the website.
We are also offering
support documents,
like we mentioned before,
the application checklist,
the project narrative template,
and those we will
be available --
are available online and
will be updated as well,
and then we will be
offering a two Q&A period
that you can reach out to us and
ask us, email questions to us,
again, with the notice
number in the subject line,
and we are accepting
those emails
through new Eastern Standard
Time on September 23rd.
So just a week before the
application is due you can
continue to ask us questions.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so what kind of
proposal can you do?
What are we open to?
Again, creativity is
kind of our mantra,
but in the notice you'll see
a list of examples as well,
but here's just two that I
wanted to share with you that,
you know, you could propose.
The first one is a free online
primary source collection
or course pack on a
particular topic designed
for use by multiple courses.
So, that's one idea.
A second one is the
creation of a podcast series
that showcases unique finds from
Library of Congress materials,
from university or
community materials,
and that invites
students to produce, plan,
and provide commentary
or conduct interviews
during each episode.
And again, I want to reiterate
that we are open to in terms
of final products or
final deliverables,
we are open to analog
projects, digital projects,
as well as hybrid projects.
Next slide, please.
Okay, so exploring the library's
questions, right, these are two
of our most asked questions.
What does the Library have,
and how do I access
what the Library has?
And so, Lori just
dropped this in the link
to find the digital collections
that we have
loc.gov/collections.
That's your key source.
Next slide, please.
Okay, and so you will
notice up in the top right,
you'll see in small letters,
you'll see digital collections,
and then there's a search box,
and I put in the term
Indigenous, and I came up,
when I put that term in, it
came up with 13 collections.
One of the things, we
definitely have much more
about Indigenous folks, and one
of the things of what I wanted
to say to you is that you need
to also think openly and broadly
in terms of the range
of terms that you use.
This, Indigenous, when I
put this in the search box,
that's what came up, but
I also could have put
in Native American, American
Indian, and obviously,
the specific groups as well.
So again, don't just be
satisfied with that one search.
You know, be open and be broad
in terms of the possibilities,
in terms of search terms
and subject headings.
Next slide, please.
So, here's an instance where
I put in the term Hispanic
and came up with 19 collections.
Again, this is not the only
place where you would see people
who come under that
heading Hispanic,
and one of the things I wanted
to mention also, before I put
in Hispanic, I put in
Latinx, L-A-T-I-N-X,
and I came up with nothing.
And obviously, there's --
the Library has a wide range
of materials on, you
know, Latinx/Hispanic,
but that is not a term
that offered any results.
So again, you have to, you
know, don't get satisfied
with just one search term, you
know, keep pushing in terms
of the range of terms
that you could use.
Next slide, please.
Okay, and so another really
excellent way of finding
out what the Library has is by
using the Library's LibGuides
or library guides, which
provide an overview
of the Library's holdings as
it relates to a specific topic,
and Lori has already put into
the chat the link to that,
and you'll see at the top that
there are already 81 subjects,
81 LibGuides and counting.
And so, I'm just
looking here now.
Some of the topics we see
agriculture and horticulture,
that's one, and then
on the bottom right,
if you're interested
in queer studies,
we have it as LGBTQ+ study.
So, there's quite a bit for
you to explore, and, again,
when you go into
these LibGuides,
please note that there will
be analog collections as well
as digital collections.
So, make sure in terms of
the proposal that you zero
in on those digital collections.
Next slide, please.
All right, we're
getting close to the end.
So hopefully, you -- if you
haven't started already --
I see there's one question
in the chat that's great,
and I think there's two
more slides, and we're done.
So, I had mentioned this earlier
in terms of, say, for example,
you go to the rights and
access page about collections
or materials that
you're interested in
and you're not quite satisfied
with what it says about rights
and access to those materials,
then ask about loc.gov is an
excellent place for you to,
you know, to get more
information from a librarian.
And if you can see this slide
well under where it says,
Ask a Librarian in
black in bold,
underneath are three
different tabs.
One says Ask a Specialist.
So, if you click on
Ask a Specialist,
a range of different topics will
come up, and then you'll be able
to pinpoint and find
directly or, say, for example,
as I mentioned before,
queer studies, you know,
there could be someone
who has a focus on that,
and so you can get right
into the person who has
that specialization And that
second tile is ask a general
question, and then if you
just have a general question,
then you can -- a form will pop
up, and then you can populate
that form and submit it,
and then that third tab
is browse frequently
asked questions.
So, that's a quick and
handy way of, well,
you're not sure what
you want to ask
and maybe you're curious
what other people have asked,
so you can go there.
And then I want to have you move
your attention over to the right
where it says other
ways to connect.
The Library also has a chat
feature that's available Monday
through Friday, noon to 4:00
PM Eastern Standard Time.
So, that's another way to
connect with librarians,
and here we are, we have
reached our last slide,
and so we are open to the
questions that you have, and,
again, Lori has just put in
the chat, if you're interested
in all the Q&A's that will come
up related to higher education,
you can go to that link.
All right, thank you so much for
your patience and for listening.
And Sahar, you want to see
what that first question is?
>> Sahar Kazmi: Yes.
Hey, everyone, Sahar here.
I will read the first
question, and Marya
and other folks can
respond, and as we do this,
I just want to encourage
everyone
to please place your
questions in the Q&A.
If you have anything that
comes to mind, we would love
to address it during
this next half hour here.
So, Marya, the first
question asks, can you comment
on the tension between engaging
BIPOC communities, that's Black,
Indigenous, People of Color with
respect to archival materials
and historical records,
particularly
within the Library's
collections?
So, would projects that
draw thematic parallels
between BIPOC communities and
communities better represented
in Library collections be
considered, particularly
if applications engage
heritage groups
with collections not
available in the Library?
>> Marya McQuirter:
That is -- I'm not sure.
Let me -- I'm going to make
sure I understand what you --
are you asking -- so are you
asking that if the Library
of Congress does not
have materials related
to BIPOC folks, can folks engage
with materials in
other collections?
Is that what the question is?
>> Sahar Kazmi: It sounds
like that is part of it,
but if the person who submitted
this, you can send us the host
and panelists a chat
clarifying or just send it again
in the Q&A a clarification,
and we can address that.
I think it seems like, because
they mentioned the tension
between BIPOC communities and
the Library's collections,
how to kind of draw thematic
connections between the two.
Again, please do clarify
for misunderstanding.
>> Marya McQuirter: Yeah, and if
I'm just being obtuse here and,
Erika, if you have a sense
of what they may be
asking, please do jump in.
I think that question can
be read in a number of ways,
and so I don't want
to make assumptions
about what the person is asking.
>> Erika Gault: Yes, please
clarify for us, Oliver,
but if I understand correctly,
I think about the mission
of connecting communities,
the whole hope is
that the Library can
be made more accessible
to BIPOC communities.
So, I think being one of the
largest libraries in the world,
we stand at a vantage in
that regard and pairing you
through this grant with
folks within the Library
that can make some of the
collections available to you
that you're thinking of, but
that should not deter you
to think of the Library as --
in those kinds of tensions that
you talk about in applying.
And then maybe I think you
might have said more here
that we can speak [inaudible].
>> Sahar Kazmi: Yes,
Erika, so they clarified.
Yes, Library collections
might not be representative
of some BIPOC communities,
even if the Library does have
existing collections related
to Black, Indigenous,
People of Color.
>> Marya McQuirter: Right, yeah.
The -- and maybe it's -- I'm
too grounded in the academy,
that it's a very apparent
question, and maybe I'm trying
to make it more challenging
than it is, but I mean,
if you're talking about the this
general sense that, you know,
that a lot of people think
that or some people think
that the Library mostly
has materials related
to old White men, that
is definitely the case.
And it is also the case that the
Library of Congress has a wealth
of materials, both about
individuals and groups of color
and also by individuals
and groups of color,
and I think that one could,
you know, for example,
the most popular collection,
research collection
at the Library are the
papers of the NAACP,
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People.
There is a wealth of information
here both by and about,
and I think if you're someone,
Oliver, who is very much attuned
to work that's happening
both within and outside
of the academy about the archive
and you know about notions
of silence and gaps,
that I think that even
within those silences and gaps,
that there are individuals
who are still able
to do incredible work
in terms of using collections.
I, you know, I think of someone
like Sadie Hartman
[assumed spelling],
who you may be aware of,
who is able to use archives,
archival materials that are not
grounded in the space of love,
say, for young Black women,
and even within that she's able
to use those archives to
create beautiful work.
And I think those
possibilities exist here
with the collections
at the Library.
So hopefully, that
answered your question.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Marya.
I have another question
that may actually tie
into another Of the
People grant.
Do you have any tips or
advice for rural institutions,
applying for this grant?
This person is in rural Indiana
and says that the history
of some of their
communities at the local
and state level is largely
unexplored and undocumented,
in particular in
southern Indiana.
Do you have any advice or tips
for that or maybe a connection
to draw with the AFC grants?
>> Marya McQuirter: Yeah,
thank you for that, Sahar.
I do think Sahar is referring to
the Community Collections grant
that is sponsored by
American Folklife Center,
and those are also open.
So, I do agree, if you think
there aren't materials out there
in there and you are at an
institution that is interested
in collecting those materials
and creating them, turning them
into a collection,
into a project,
and then having them digitized,
and then made available
in the Library of Congress
collections, I do encourage you
to check out American Folklife
Center Community Collections
grants as well.
And I also thank you,
Sahar, for finding that,
and I also think the thing
with the higher education
institutions
that maybe we didn't
make as clear is
that it is also possible to
pair what the Library does have
with what you may have access
to in your overall institution.
So, the proposal does not
have to be solely based
in the Library of Congress
digital collections,
but it does have to
be at least, in part,
based in the digital
collections.
Now, I'll give you an example.
Our inaugural higher education
grantee is Huston-Tillotson
University, and they're
based in Austin, Texas,
and so what they are --
what they've proposed
and what they're working
on is they're working with
the Harlem Renaissance era
of photographs at the
Library of Congress,
and they are pairing those
with Harlem Renaissance
era photographs in --
at their university archives.
And in addition, they are
going to be paying the student,
who will take also some
contemporary photographs
of Austin, Texas,
and then another set
of students will then
create original work,
whether it's dance or film or
art and create their own work,
and then they'll bring
all of that together
and then create analog and
digital exhibits and so
that there are creative ways
to maybe supplement, you know,
what may feel like a maybe
a lack or an absence and --
but do it in a creative way.
So, at least in some
ways, it's grounded
in the Library's digital
collections, but I wouldn't --
what I would encourage
also is to reach
out to the local history
and genealogy librarians,
and if you go to Ask a
Librarian and type in --
click on the tab for specialist
and then look for local history
and genealogy, that that may
be a question in which you say,
you know, this is where I am.
I think maybe it was rural
Indiana, if I'm not mistaken.
You can ask -- is
that where it was?
>> Sahar Kazmi: Yes, yes,
and they specifically
referenced southern Indiana.
>> Marya McQuirter: Southern
Indiana, okay, thank you,
and so my suggestion would then
be to ask a librarian and say,
hey, we're in southern Indiana
and can you tell us what
materials the Library has,
and then you'll know for sure,
because, again, it's not just,
because I work, you
know, here at the Library
that I'm touting it as a place
with a wealth of information.
We all know that there's
things that the Library has
and the things in the
Library does not have,
but I've been doing research
at the Library of Congress
since the 1980s, and
the Library has --
I'm always surprised with
the wealth of materials
that the Library has, whether
it's actual objects, you know,
magazines, photographs,
newspapers, et cetera,
as well as boring
digital materials.
So, there is a lot to work with.
So, thank you for that question.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Okay, so we
don't have any new questions,
although the person who asked
the first question did follow up
and say that was a helpful
explanation, so thanks, Marya.
Marya, if you would like, we
can go back over any other parts
of the slide to clarify some
of the maybe finer points,
unless other people
have questions.
So, if you do, please
do pop those in the Q&A.
We have a little bit of time,
but, Marya, I'll leave it to you
to determine what we do next.
I'm happy to bounce through
the slide deck and point
out anything you think is
especially notable we want
to remind folks of.
>> Marya McQuirter: Maybe going
back to the section on looking
at the notices, looking at
the notice for the section
for commonly asked questions
might be a good place to dive
in a little more, and I can
look and see where that-
As I said, yeah, maybe
the application checklist.
I think it's one
before this one.
Go back. Okay, yeah, here we go.
So, just looking in terms of the
application checklist, again,
as we said, to zero in on
Sections A, C, D, and E,
but make sure you do read the
entire notice, but in terms
of the checklist materials,
again, registering with SAM.gov.
We also provided a
complete proposal narrative,
which includes the cover page,
which we talked about before,
the project details in
a maximum of five pages,
double spaced 11 point font,
and what's in parenthesis,
that's not a suggestion,
it is a requirement.
So, please do follow
that in the appendices
that you may want
include, including resumes
of the main person's proposal,
as well as any other
service providers,
a budget plan worksheet,
a budget narrative,
and the budget narrative
can be two to four pages,
double spaced, but that's
when you do in narrative form,
you mirror what's in the
budget plan worksheet.
You mirror that within
the budget narrative
within narrative form, so like
an essay about the budget,
and then we talked about
SF424, and then finally,
in terms of submission
requirements, do pay attention
to this, make sure that the
file size limits are no more
than 20 megabytes,
that you adhere
to the required file
naming conventions.
We cannot accept
applications that are zipped,
that are locked, and, again,
cannot be submitted via
any third party websites.
Again, just send us an
email, and we do also suggest
that you can, as someone
who often procrastinates
and waits till the last minute,
I do want to encourage you
to submit the application,
if you can,
at least a day in advance.
So, just in case there are any
issues in terms of emailing it
or if you find that your size
limits are over 20 megabytes
and you can make
some adjustments.
Okay, I'll stop--
>> Sahar Kazmi: Yes,
on the budget point
that you mentioned earlier,
there's a question that asks,
are there any limitations
within the budget
on public programming aspects,
so assuming programming
accompanies a project
deliverable, like a podcast,
a course packet, et cetera?
>> Marya McQuirter: There's
none that I could think of.
I don't know, Miriam, if
you want to jump in here
and say anything about this, but
there's nothing that's coming
to mind in terms of public
programming, I mean except
that we -- what is it, Miriam?
We cannot -- I think
we cannot --
we can't pay for food and drink
with the budget expenditure?
>> Miriam Grinberg:
I believe so.
I'll double check, but if
you go to the budget section
of the notice as well, there's
more detailed information
about what are considered
allowable costs,
but I think the best resource
for determining allowability,
reasonability, and that
kind of thing is just going
to the federal 2
CFR 200, I'm sorry,
I keep forgetting
the exact number,
but I will post the link
again in the chat as well.
There are basically sections
on every kind of expense
that you could have
inside of a grant proposal
and detailing whether it's
generally allowable or not.
For example, something like
gifts, buying souvenirs
for a student would not be
allowable in this kind of award,
but in terms of food and
drink, yeah, it would say
so in the notice as
well, but generally,
food and drink is not
necessarily allowable,
and a lot of federal awards
that I've seen, but, again,
I would double check in the
notice and the 2 CFR 200,
which I will drop
the link for again.
>> Marya McQuirter:
Thank you, Miriam.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Marya,
I have another question.
>> Marya McQuirter: Yes.
>> Sahar Kazmi: About
eligibility.
A person writes, although
our college is not designated
as an MSI, I believe it's
minority-serving institution,
we are the only two-year
public community college
in the country situated directly
on Native American land.
Our goal is to create new
ways to honor the culture
and availability of history
for the Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
If we were to submit an
application to the Library,
would our college need
special permission
to be eligible for this grant?
>> Marya McQuirter: Hope, do
you want to take this one?
>> Hope O'Keeffe: I think
this is certainly a situation
where no, you would not
need special permission,
but you simply need to be able
to present a project that's
competitive, but yes, of course,
of course, you're eligible.
>> Marya McQuirter: Thank you.
Thank you, Hope.
Yes, I concur, you
are eligible to apply.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Great.
Any last questions from the
folks on the line right now?
>> Marya McQuirter: Miriam,
thank you for finding
that information.
That's very helpful.
One of the things I will
say as well, because I'm --
actually, yeah, Erika did
you share that as well,
but I also want to say we will
have another webinar on Thursday
so that if, say, you're
a library, archive,
or museum that's
somewhat connected
to a higher education
institution, then you --
it'd be a good idea to check
out our Library Archives Museum
webinar that's on Thursday.
We will also have subsequent
higher education webinars
as well, and then we encourage
you as well, if you have --
if you, you know, either
personally or professionally
or otherwise know individuals
or organizations or institutions
that may also be interested
in this grant program,
I do hope that you would share
them with us, and then as well,
if you have suggestions about
ways that we can share this
out more, we welcome
those suggestions as well,
either here in the chat
or LOC-grants@@loc.gov.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Marya.
I'm just confirming,
no additional questions
at this point.
>> Marya McQuirter: Okay,
again, I hope that's
because we've all satisfactorily
answered your questions,
because you do have us here.
So, don't hesitate to ask
questions, if you have them,
because this is the
opportunity to do so.
>> Sahar Kazmi: There's
a toughy.
I don't know how well you
can answer this, Marya.
>> Marya McQuirter: Okay.
>> Sahar Kazmi: What's the
secret to getting funded?
A bit of a joke.
>> Marya McQuirter:
There are no secrets
in the federal government.
We, again, what's most important
is that you ground the proposals
in the digital collections.
Again, we want to see
those links, we want to see
that you've actually -- it's
more digital collections
and know what you
want to work with.
It doesn't mean that once
you become, you know,
if you become a grantee, that
you, you know, can't, you know,
change your project slightly
or that you can't engage
with other digital collections,
but, again, we want to make sure
that at the proposal stage
that you are grounded
in the digital collections
and, again, that it centers,
the project centers, you know,
the lives of Black, Indigenous,
Latinx, Asian American
and Pacific Islander,
and/or other communities of
color, and, again, be creative.
We are serious about
that, that we are open
to creative ideas,
imaginative ideas.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Marya, is there
anything you'd like to add
in terms of programmatic support
for grant recipients or support
from the Library for
grant recipients in order
to help guide folks
in their application?
>> Marya McQuirter: Yeah,
that's a great question.
Thank you, Sahar.
As I mentioned, we have three
inaugural grantees right now.
I mentioned the higher
education inaugural grantee,
that's Huston-Tillotson
University.
We also have Kenton County
Public Library that's based
in east -- in Covington,
Kentucky,
and then we also have Maya Cade,
who is the founder and curator
of the Black Film Archive and
myself, Erika, and Olivia,
who also, as part of the
CCDI team, that we or each
of us are mentoring
one of those grantees.
So, that's how we're
offering support.
We meet with the grantees
regularly to make sure
that they have what they need.
We, in early July, we're
having a summer event
in which the grantees
are coming.
Most of them are coming to
the Library of Congress,
where they'll get to
meet us personally,
where they'll also get to have
research visits in reading rooms
at the Library, and we're also
introducing virtually as well.
We're setting up
visits, conversations
with Library staff, with
librarians and archivists,
who can also help them
understand collections better,
introduce them to other
collections as well,
and we're also at the same time
interested in creating a cohort.
And so, we're building
in programmatically ways
in which the grantees can be
of support to one another.
We also have six -- I
mentioned the internships
and fellowships Junior
Fellows Program.
We currently have
six Junior Fellows,
and we're creating a cohort
among those six Junior Fellows
and also with the
grantees, and then finally,
we also have a nine-member
advisory board,
and so that's also part of
that larger cohort as well.
So, it's CCDI to the grantees,
as well as the Junior Fellows
in the advisory board,
so really trying
to create a supportive cohort,
where we're all working together
to support each other and to
learn, and, you know, that's --
we're all really invested
in doing whatever we can
to help the grantees
create the kinds of projects
that they want to create.
And then I'll say
finally, by September,
we also will have a senior
innovative specialist,
innovation specialist
who will be part of CCDI,
and this person will be brought
on board to work directly
with grantees to help them
create digital projects
that they've already
proposed and also
to help them brainstorm,
help grantees brainstorm ways
that they can add a digital
component to their projects,
and so we are definitely hands
on, you know, we understand,
you know, we're grateful
and so excited that --
about helping people to work
with collections, and so we are,
you know, we are here for
you once you come on board
to help shepherd you
through the year.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Marya.
A quick question
about the application.
>> Marya McQuirter: Sure.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Will --
can drafts be reviewed
or short summaries?
>> Marya McQuirter:
Unfortunately, we do not have
that capacity right now.
That's definitely something
that we've discussed.
That's something that the
advisory board members,
when we've asked for advice,
that's one of the things
that we have, that they have
suggested, but unfortunately,
we do not have the capacity
to do that at this point.
That is a great question.
The only thing that
I can say, you know,
is you won't get information
from us, but, you know,
if there's someone else that,
you know, that you respect,
maybe someone who
is not connected
to either the source material or
even the institution, you know,
just having another pair of eyes
on it can also just be helpful
to, you know, to help kind
of shore up your proposal.
But yeah, unfortunately,
we are not able
to do that at this time.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Great, thank
you, Marya, and it does look
like that was the last
question that came in.
>> Marya McQuirter:
Okay, all right.
Well, thank you all again.
To those of you who came on
the webinar, thank you so much
for coming and sharing your
interest, and, you know, please,
if you haven't already,
check out the website.
Check out the blog as well.
Again, the -- we are accepting
Q&As via the LOC-grants email
up September 23rd noon
Standard Time and,
again, Ask a Librarian.
Again, please do take advantage
of all these different resources
that can help you make a
stronger proposal, and, again,
I also want to thank Sahar
and Miriam and Hope for coming
as well and helping
us with the webinar.
>> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks,
everyone.
Have a great day.
>> Marya McQuirter:
All right, take care.
Bye-bye.