>> Erika Gault: Good afternoon or good day from wherever you are joining us. It is a pleasure to have you here for our Libraries, Archives, Museums webinar. My name is Erika Gault. I serve as a program specialist in the CCDI unit, Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. And I'm joined today by my colleague Olivia Dorsey, and we'll be tag teaming on this presentation today. Also we have with us today, Miriam Grinberg from our contracts and grants, and she'll be answering some questions if you have any around those topics. And running our communications, our Zoom today is Sahar Kazmi, and also Lori Kearse, who will be assisting, providing information throughout the session. Our director for CCDI is also with us today, Maria McQuirter, and also Hope O'Keefe from the Office of General Counsel, who will also be assisting us in fielding questions. Next slide please. So to give you a sense of what you can expect over the next hour, first, we want to give you some background on -- of the people, and a little bit about CCDI. And you'll also receive an overview Libraries, Archives, Museums opportunity, this grant opportunity. And what you're all here for, we'll talk mostly about how you can apply and provide some examples for inspiration of what your project could look like if you're wondering how this might apply to your institution or the kind of work that that most interests you. We have a lot to get through in this time, as you can probably tell just from these bulleted points, but we'll be sure to leave time at the end so we have time to answer as many of your questions as you would like and talk a little bit about the application a bit more also. Next slide please. So Of the People: Widening the Path is a multi-year initiative that creates new opportunities so that the library of Congress can tell a more inclusive American story. Of the People has three programmatic arms. Next slide please. That includes Internships & Fellowships Program, the American Folklife Center, and the Digital Strategy Directorate. Next slide. The first of those, the Internships and Fellowships Program consists of internships for our junior fellows, and we're in the midst of that at this moment. If you're interested in these programs, please be on the lookout for the next cycle of that. Applications are currently closed, but they open again August 1st of this year. If you'd like to learn more, the American Folklife Center is also hosting a webinar about these grant opportunities. And Maury Kay [phonetic] will put those links in the chat for you. Next slide please. The American Folklife Center Community Collections Grant supports cultural documentation by communities. This entails public participation and the creation of archives, of archival collections. In addition, AFC will offer training on cultural documentation methods. And this application also opens August the 1st, and they'll be hosting a number of informational webinars coming up if you're interested as well. And you should also see a link in the chat there. Next slide. So we're also offering for this round, not only the grant that you're here to find out more about, but under digital strategy directorate, we have two others. In this cycle, we have the Higher Education Institution Grant, and that deadline is September 30th, 2022, and that's due by 12:00 p.m. And that offers up to $50,000 to support three minority-serving higher education institutions in the development of a digital project. And these must center the lives of communities of color. And then I'll turn it over to Olivia to talk more about links. >> Olivia Dorsey: Thank you, Erika. So for the Libraries, Archives, and Museums Grant opportunity, similar to the higher education opportunity were offering up to $50,000 to support three local cultural heritage organizations by enabling storytelling across a range of platforms. And these funds will support the creation of projects that make significant and meaningful use of the library's digital materials. And again, these should also center the lives, experiences, and perspectives of communities of color. Now we would like to note that if you are a library archive or museum at a higher education institution, you should apply for the higher education grant that Erika mentioned previously. These Libraries, Archives, and Museums grants are intended for public libraries, nonprofit libraries, archives, and museums. And the application deadline for this opportunity is September 30th, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard time. Next slide please. For all of these opportunities, so for the higher education and the Libraries, Archives, and Museums' opportunity, we highly recommend reading the entire notice. Now the notice is a document that provides additional information about the opportunity, and contains all the necessary information to apply for it. And while all of the sections within the notice are important, we've highlighted four sections that tend to stand out in this notice here. So you have section A, which includes the program description; section C, which provides information about eligibility; section D provides application and submission information, and section E provides the application, review, and award information. Now while all of the sections are important, you may want to read these first. So definitely make sure to read the entire notice, but you'll want to start with these sections here. Next slide please. So how do you get to this document? How do you get to the notice? Well, what you'll want to do is go to the Of the People website. And from there, you're going to want to go to the "represent" tab which is highlighted in the screenshot here. Next slide please. And then from there, if you take a look on the left-hand side, in that menu, you'll see the CCDI grants for Libraries, Archives, and Museums' application link. You'll want to click on that. Next slide please. And then if you scroll down the page, you'll see the link to the notice under the first question under "commonly asked questions". We've highlighted that there. Next slide please. If you scroll further down the page, you'll also find a notice under "resources grant program information". Next slide please. So when you actually open the notice, this is what it looks like. So I want to bring your attention to a couple of different sections here. On the first page under the title "Of the People: Widening the Path, Connecting Communities Digital Initiative - Libraries, Archives and Museums", you'll see notice of funding opportunity, and then a string of numbers and characters here. You will want to -- if you're communicating to us with questions about the application, and as you're filling out the application itself, you'll want to have the string of numbers and characters ready for that process. Now so this is what the notice looks like. On the second page, you'll see the table of contents for each section. And on this slide, you'll see several sections that we've highlighted previously. So again, the program description, eligibility, and additional information. And these are the sections that we recommend you take a look at first. Next slide please. And so now we'll jump into the notice in a little bit more detail. Next slide please. So in the first section that I called out, the program description, it provides additional information about the program and what our goals are with the program. So the library wants to expand the connections between the library and diverse communities, and strengthen the use of Library of Congress digital collections and tools. So the library is seeking to award a grant to support the creative and wide ranging use of library collections and the connective powers of technology to serve Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander, and other communities within the United States and sharing stories about America's past, present, and future. And so here you'll see additional information regarding how many grants we're offering and the amount. Please note that for the notice of the United States in terms of eligibility includes all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, territories, and commonwealths. Next slide please. So moving more into the program description. First off, we'd like to emphasize that your projects do not have to be digital projects. The key is that your project uses digital collections and materials that center the lives, experiences, and perspectives of communities of color. And we also encourage you to think creatively so you're not limited in terms of various ideas you may have regarding your project. Next slide please. In terms of eligibility, there are four main points that we want to raise and bring to your attention. For the Libraries, Archives, and Museums Grant opportunity, you should be a library, archive, or museum. You should be a nonprofit. And just to provide a little bit more information about that piece, there is no eligibility restriction to 501(c)(3)s. The limitation in terms of being a nonprofit is simply to nonprofits, government entities, and tribal organizations. For point three, you should be based and any of the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and territories and commonwealths including Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands. And finally, you should propose a project to be conducted within the United States, or US Commonwealth or territory. Next slide please. So with Mariam's help from contracts and grants, we've developed some documents to assist you in the application process. And so I'm just going to go through a few of those documents here. One of those documents is the application checklist. And the way that you get to that is by going to the Libraries, Archives, and Museums' application page under commonly asked questions. And as you'll see on the slide here on the left, it's the second bulleted item. And what this checklist does is it leads you through all the documents that you need to complete as part of your application. Over here on the right, you'll see a screenshot of what that checklist looks like. And I want to bring your attention to the first point under the checklist. So as part of preparing your application and submitting it, you must make sure that you're registered with SAM dot-gov in order to push your application through the process. So please note that registration for SAM dot-gov is free, but it may take a few weeks to become active in the system. Next slide please. The next document that I'll go over is the project narrative template. Again, it's found on the Libraries, Archives, and Museums application page under the application checklist, which you'll see highlighted over here on the left. You'll need to use this template in order to create the proposal cover page and the proposal details portion of your project narrative. So over here on the right, you'll see that template located here. I want to bring your attention to under coverage at the very top, it says "notice of funding opportunity number". That's where you'll want to put that string of characters and numbers that you find on the first page of the notice. So that's what you want to have that handy. For more detail on the project narrative, you can turn to page eight, section D.5.1 of that notice document. Next slide please. Another template that we have for you is the budget plan worksheet template. So you'll use this to develop your budget plan. There are multiple components to your budget materials, and you'll find more information about that on page 10, section D.5.2 in the notice. Now the budget plan worksheet is located over here on the right. There's a screenshot here just indicating the different budget categories such as personnel salaries, wages and fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, and other. Please note that the budget plan is separate from the budget narrative. So you have a budget plan worksheet and you have a budget narrative. And the point of the budget narrative is to draw a clear connection between the expenses and the proposed project activities and objectives. This is also distinct from the project proposal narrative. And also if you take a look in the chat, Lori has posted a link to the per diem rates that you'll want to use when completing this portion of your application. Next slide please. Finally, you'll want to fill out the SF-424 form. And this is a required form for any organizations applying for federal assistance. So we have a screenshot over here over on the right, and it's located on that same libraries archives and museums page under the budget plan worksheet template. Next slide please. So now I'm going to go through a little bit of the evaluation criteria that we take a look at when we're reviewing applications. So they're split up into three sections. And the first one is advancement of program goals. So here are the questions that we're considering as we review applications, such as does the organization demonstrate experience working with the community or groups on which the project is centered? Does the project center on the lives, experiences, and perspectives of one or more of the following groups: Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American, or Pacific Islander, and other communities of color? And will the project makes significant and meaningful use of digital materials from the Library of Congress. And you can find more information regarding our evaluation criteria on page 16, section E1 of the notice. Next slide please. We also take a look at the feasibility of your projects. So as far as feasibility of successful project outcomes, we're considering does the library have the digital materials and collections needed for a successful project? Has the applicant identified and provided links to the digital materials and collections? Has the applicant addressed whether those digital materials and collections are legally available for proposed uses? For example, are there restrictions on the usage of materials. One thing we'll point out as well is as you're forming your applications, you definitely want to make sure to do your research on the library collections that you want to use. And if you go to the "about this collection" page on the library's website, there's a section that indicates the rights and access restrictions of those materials. So keep those in mind as you're evaluating possible collections to use with your projects. And then we're also considering things such as has the applicant addressed whether they have the permissions and clearances to share and use materials from their own collections or other collections in the proposal, and does the organization and any collaborators, consultants, and/or service providers possess the skills necessary for the completion of the project. Additionally, I'll mention that going back to the access and rights restrictions on collections, if you ever have any questions or you're unsure about those restrictions, you can always reach out to a librarian through the "ask a librarian" service. We will provide a little bit more information on that later on in this presentation. Next slide please. Finally, we're looking at the reasonableness of cost and likelihood budget will support project execution. So does the applicant's proposal indicate that the project can be completed within a 12-month period? Are costs allowable under the cost principles found 2CFR 200 Subpart E? And sorry for the government kind of legalese there. Lori has posted in the chat a link to what exactly that means as so you can find additional information there. If cost sharing, does the proposed cost share comply with relevant standards to CFR 200.306 standard provision cost sharing matching for US entities, and are costs reasonable and effective for project completion? I will note here that cost sharing is not required for this application. Next slide please. Now when you've completed your application, please make sure to submit your application to LOC-grants at LOC dot-gov. We do not accept applications through Grants dot-gov, however the notice is available to view on Grants dot-gov if you would like to view it there. So make sure to submit your applications to LOC-grants at LOC dot-gov. Next slide please. Now regarding any support or assistance needed for your application, you can always e-mail us at LOC-grants at LOC dot-gov with the subject heading "Notice". And in that notice number, Of the People: Widening the Path Connecting Communities Digital Initiative-2022, and we'll answer your questions there. We're also going to be linking the questions and the answers to those questions on our website as well. We'll accept any questions about the application process through noon Eastern Standard Time on September 23rd, 2022. Next slide please. So we wanted to provide a few examples just showing you some of the possible projects that you could submit an application for. However, as we mentioned previously, we highly encourage you to be as creative as possible when submitting your applications. So just a few of them here. For example, a project -- or a museum proposes to research movies set in their locale from the Library of Congress's Moving Image Research Center, and reproduce the movie posters for an exhibit. A local museum proposes to collaborate with a documentary filmmaker in order to collect visual and manuscripts materials from the library's collections relating to a particular group, and incorporates oral histories and verbal traditions from group members into a film. So those are just a few examples, and we look forward to seeing what other ideas you all come up. Next slide please. We also wanted to highlight our Inaugural Libraries, Archives, and Museums Grant recipient. And I have the pleasure of working closely with Kenton County Public Library, and they're based in Covington, Kentucky. The members of their project team are pictured here, and include Ann Schoenenberger, who's a digital librarian at Kenton County Public Library. Free [phonetic], who's one of the artists and residents. She's also a cultural strategist and public folklorist. And then finally on the right is Jameela Salaah, and she is the program manager of Youth and Family Development at the Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington. And their project is called "Crafting Stories, Making History: the African American experience in Covington, Kentucky". And for their project, they are preserving the legacies of African Americans from the historically Black East Side neighborhood to deepen community pride and public understanding of its people, place, culture, and its impact. They're using digital collections about Kentucky from the library to inspire residents to create works related by and for them. The group's project will allow community members to connect across generations in meaningful and creative ways. And some other project activities include digital and traveling exhibitions, intergenerational listening sessions, quilting, and more. And at this time, I'll pass the mike over Erika to share more about the library's collections. >> Erika Gault: Thanks, Oliva. So if your head is spinning at this point, wondering how all of this is happened, how you can achieve all of this, I think Olivia provides some excellent examples, and I want to speak in a little more detail about some of our library collections. And please keep in mind very shortly, our Q&A is coming up, so please drop your questions there so that we can answer it now at the conclusion here. So exploring the library's collections. So there's a couple of ways that you can find out more about some of our collections or get inspiration for the kind of project that you want to do with this grant. So you'll notice here, there's an example of indigenous there in the digital collections search box there. That's one way that you can find out more of what our offerings are, which are vast and can seem overwhelming. But notice that it depends a lot on just using the right keywords or understanding how LOC originates its headings. So you might put in "Indian" and get some of the same here. But you'll find number of entries this way as well using "indigenous" and perhaps even more. So if you were to click, for instance, on the thumbnail that says "Grapheal [phonetic] Collections", you will be taken to a number of prints and photographs from JC Grapheal's collection of photos that shows you just a fascinating time in the lives of indigenous folks. And you could use those images to craft your own project and to talk about it in your application for the grant. Next slide please. So you should keep in mind that we also have born digital collections. Some of these include items found in Web Archives Collection. And our manuscript division also has a great blog post on some of the library's born digital materials held in their collection. And you'll see that link there to that in the chat. Next slide. And then we also recommend using the library's lib guides, which provide an overview of the library's holdings as it relates to certain topics. So you can actually access the lib guides by going to the URL that you see there in the chat. And here you'll see that the lib guys are categorized into 81 subjects and counting. This continues to grow, and these headings are really helpful for jumpstarting both your ideas and thinking about where this work could take you. Please note that these lib guides contain analog and digital collections. But for the purposes of your proposal, be sure to select the digital collections. Next slide please. So if you have questions about library materials, the best way to connect with library staff is through the "Ask a librarian" service. And this is very helpful. You can submit a research question, and staff from any of our reading rooms will assist you. When you go to this page, there are tabs for asking specialists, asking the general question, or just browsing the questions and answers. For the first two, you submit your question into a form on the page. And the third tab includes questions that have already been asked -- that I've already been answered, rather, by our staff. The library also offers a chat feature Monday through Friday as you see there from 12:00 to 4:00 Eastern Standard Time. And you can access that service through the link that you see there "Ask dot-LOC-dot-gov." Next slide please. Okay. As promised, we want to take some time for questions. That is the conclusion of our presentation portion of this webinar. And now you have the opportunity if you have any questions at all, feel free to place those in the Q&A so that we can spend this time answering any questions that you have here. While I am relatively new, I am joined by a number of colleagues with the wealth of information. So we'd love to have your questions. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thank you, Erika. We have a question that asks: "When would the funds for this grant be granted and then received by the recipients?" >> Erika Gault: Right. Thank you. Thank you. Oliva, can you -- ? >> Olivia Dorsey: I'm going to pass this over to Maria just to make sure that I have the right answer. Yeah, Maria? >> Maria McQuirter: Sure. Thank you, Erika and Oliva. And thank you for that question. The period is, right now, is open. We hope to have them granted by the spring. It would be May at the latest. But by spring. And in terms of when they're received, the money is received, it is handed out periodically. You get some, some funds at the beginning, some funds at the middle, and then some funds at the end. And if we have some time, then Oliva, you could probably pull up the notice and we could give that more exact information. So thank you for that question. >> Erika Gault: Yes, thank you, Suzanne. >> Sahar Kazmi: Sorry about that, Erika. I was just going to chime in and read another question aloud. >> Erika Gault: Sure. >> Sahar Kazmi: So the question is: "Could funds from the grant being used to provide access to local groups to the Library of Congress digital collections?" >> Erika Gault: I'm sorry could you repeat that last part of that? It cut out for me. >> Sahar Kazmi: Yeah. So the question is: "Could funds from the grant be used to provide access to local groups to the Library of Congress digital collections?" >> Sahar Kazmi: I'm happy to take a first stab at that. So for this grant opportunity, the thing that we're looking for are projects that use the library's digital collections to create something else, and that highlight the perspectives of color. So hopefully that helps answer the question. >> Erika Gault: Yeah. And maybe if you could even add a bit more about and a specific example that you're thinking of, or I'm thinking of using the collections. Because I think of some of the work that Kenton County Library is going to engage the community. So if those are the kinds of things that you're thinking about, certainly the grant makes room for that. But if there's other things, perhaps you could say a bit more. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Erika and Oliva. And the person who asked the question, Suzanne, feel free to type in more in the chat or the Q&A. And we'll read that aloud. And in the meantime -- oh, okay. So the clarification is, for example, could we purchase PCs for a group who would not have any other way to access the Library of Congress digital collections? >> Maria McQuirter: This is Maria. I'll take that. There the purchase of equipment and supplies really had to be germane to the project itself. So for example, our current scholar in residence Mya Kay [phonetic] put in her budget to purchase on a high-powered laptop because she needs to be able to ingest movies/films that the library has in its collection, and upload and them to her Black film, Black film archive. And so she also was going to be creating a short documentary as well. And so she -- so the purchase of that equipment was germane to the completion of her project. And so if you, you know, are part of an organization, and you determine that it's needed for a group or individuals to have PCs/laptops in order to complete the project, then that is possible. But it does have to be central to the completion of the project. Thank you, Suzanne. That was a great question. >> Erika Gault: Yes, thank you. Could you speak perhaps, Maria, what happens with equipment following that period? >> Maria McQuinter: It is my understanding that are allowed to keep that equipment. I don't know if Miriam wants to chime in here, but that's my understanding that it is theirs. >> Miriam Grinberg: Yeah, I can comment on this. So it depends on the value of the supplies. But usually computers would be classified as supplies because they're under $5,000. We don't really have that many equipment costs on the budgets that we manage with the library, generally speaking, for grants. Usually grantees are able to purchase anything that falls under the supplies' category. And if you're not sure about the distinction, I can link the definitions part of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 200 to clarify. But yes, so if you purchase a computer or something, and it's under the threshold, then you would be able to keep it for your own use after the project. Equipment disposition is a little bit different, and I can provide some more information about that if you'd like. >> Erika Gault: Thank you, Mariam, Maria. Are there any other questions so far, or from anyone else? Okay. >> Female: I want -- >> Erika Gault: Okay. Oliva, if you want to take a little time to highlight some of the points from that notice? >> Olivia Dorsey: Yeah. Sure. Definitely. Oh, I think Sahar has to give me control. >> Sahar Kazmi: Sorry, Oliva. Just one sec. >> Olivia Dorsey: No worries. Thank you. All right. So I'm currently in the notice for the LAM's [phonetic] opportunity. As you'll see here, this is on page six, the expected start date is not before February 1st, 2023, and not after May 1st, 2023. And then if you go a little bit further down, I think it's on page 21 in section I, you'll find more information about the invoicing process. And so here it says up to 60% of the invoice may be requested within 30 days following the project's start, and then up to 30% within 180 days after the project start. And then the remaining 10% following receipt of the final report. And then while I'm here, I'll just highlight the various sections that I called out earlier. So section A with the program description includes these informational topics. Section C is that eligibility information. Section D is the application and submission information including information on who to contact, and how to do that SAM dot-gov registration, and the content format of your applications. And then finally section E for the application review and award. So that information is available here. I'll go ahead and stop sharing and see if there's any questions. >> Sahar Kazmi: It doesn't look like there's questions, but Miriam, would you mind please reposting your links to everyone? I think we only got those on the panelist side. >> Miriam Grinberg: My apologies. >> Sahar Kazmi: No worries. >> Erika Gault: Okay. So I see one question here in the chat. The 5,000, is that per item or cumulative? >> Miriam Grinberg: That is per item. Yes, that would not be -- so if you purchased like three computers and it goes over $5,000, it's still considered under the threshold because each of them is under 5,000. The disposition instructions would only change post-award if it is counted as equipment over the $5,000 threshold. There might be one-off purchases that could be classified as equipment that are under that threshold, but that would just be subject to library review once we see the budget. >> Erika Gault: Thank you for your question, Jennifer. You're welcome. >> Sahar Kazmi: Olivia or Erika, are there any parts of the presentation I can pull up for you to go over in more detail while we await any further questions? >> Olivia Dorsey: I can review the notice in a little bit more detail if that's helpful to folks. I can screen share again if that's helpful. >> Sahar Kazmi: Sure. Okay. So I went back a little bit, but please let me know what slide you prefer. >> Olivia Dorsey: Yeah, no worries. I think it's a couple back. Yeah, if you go back to slide 21. Yeah. This one's great. Yeah, so just to kind of revisit. I know like this is a lot of information, so it's kind of hard to keep track of like what you see create an account for, what you should be filling out, who you should be submitting things to. I will emphasize that the application checklist will have everything that you need in it as far as making sure you're on track with all of your application materials. So again, you want to make sure you're registered with SAM dot-gov. And then it also kind of runs you through the proposal narrative and what's involved in that, your budget plan worksheet, your budget narrative, the SF 4240 application, and other parts of the notice that you should read as well as you complete your application. So having this in hand along with the notice which provides more detailed information will certainly guide you to creating a successful application for submission. >> Sahar Kazmi: Thanks, Oliva. And it looks like our attendees don't have any further questions. >> Erika Gault: Well, if following this presentation, you do have questions, as we mentioned at the top, our blog posts are a helpful way to have your questions answered. Feel free to reach out to us, and we can also answer any questions that you have, and these webinars will soon be posted if you like to look back and have any of your questions answered that way. Thank you, Oliva. She's also placed the blog link here. So if there aren't any more questions, thank you so much for joining us. And we look forward to your applications. Have a good one. >> Olivia Dorsey: Thank you.