September 2008 National Leadership Grants Announcement

Arizona  |  California  |  Connecticut  |  Florida  |  Hawaii  |   Illinois  |  Indiana  | Maryland  |  Massachusetts 

Michigan  |  Minnesota  |  New Hampshire  |  New York  |  North Carolina  |  Ohio  |  Oregon  |  Pennsylvania 

Tennessee  |  Texas  |   Vermont  |  Virginia  |  Washington 

Arizona

University of Arizona, School of Information Resources and Library Science - Tucson,
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $539,686; Matching Amount: $327,615

Contact: Jana Bradley
Director and Professor
520-621-3565; janabrad@email.arizona.edu

Project Title: "Improving Student Learning of Advanced Digital Technologies in an Online Laboratory: A Research Approach"
The University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS) proposes to collaborate with the University of Arizona Library, the Harvard University Herbaria, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the University of Arizona University Information and Technology Services (UITS) group to study project-based, hands-on learning using on-line laboratory environments as a way to enhance the teaching of advanced digital library technologies. The results will be applicable both to the library and information science curricula and to post-graduate on-the-job training and professional development. The research agenda will focus on methods of instruction and evaluation of different kinds of hands-on learning experiences and on methods of replicating and sharing learning environments and on-line laboratory resources among library schools, libraries, and other institutions.

California

University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science - Berkeley, CA
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $499,455; Matching Amount: $501,443

Contact: Ms. Gretchen Walker
Director of Community and Visitor Programs
510-642-5439; gwalker@berkeley.edu

Project Title: "Check Out Science! Supporting Science Learning at the Library and at Home"
The University of California, Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, the Berkeley Public Library, and the Oakland Public Library will partner in a three-year project to promote interest in, and positive attitudes toward, science in children aged seven to ten and their families. The project will build on an activity many parents are comfortable doing with their children--reading library books together—to increase students' exposure to science learning experiences and promote positive attitudes towards science learning in children and their families. The science team will develop, promote, circulate, and evaluate Check Out Science! kits featuring a book with authentic science content and a hands-on activity for families to read and do together.

Salinas Public Library - Salinas, CA
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $713,899; Matching Amount: $1,109,668

Contact: Ms. Elizabeth Martinez
Library Director
831-758-7391; elizabma@ci.salinas.ca.us

Project Title: "Cultivating Knowledge: Life and Literature in Salinas"
Cultivating Knowledge: Life and Literature in Salinas is a two-year project of the Salinas Public Library, the National Steinbeck Center, and a partner council of other Salinas organizations. The project will explore the area’s cultural past, present, and future through a series of integrated activities and events focused on reviving Salinas’ civic life, promoting lifelong learning for both children and adults, and supporting community development efforts. It will also preserve unique aspects of Salinas’s history; digitize key documents for online access; and collect new personal and organizational histories that comprise the untold story of the city.

San Diego Zoo - San Diego, CA
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $776,862; Matching Amount: $483,176

Contact: Dr. Allan Pessier
Associate Pathologist
619-231-1515 ext. 4510; apessier@sandiegozoo.org

Project Title: "Infectious Disease Control and Bioresource Banking for the Amphibian Extinction Crisis"
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums designated 2008 as the Year of the Amphibian in response to the global threat to amphibians within zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens, and in the wild. This project will address the current global crisis by studying the diseases that have caused the decline in the amphibian population, and develop and refine tools to maintain and support amphibian survival colonies and cell culture lines within institutions. The San Diego Zoo will partner with the Atlanta Fulton County Zoo to gather healthy animals and their genetic structures for preservation until further research finds the causes of, and the treatments for, these amphibian diseases. The zoo will establish a lab and scientific protocols to support the survival of amphibian colonies within zoos and aquariums across the country to counteract the diseases and the possibility of extinction facing this class of animals.

San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Studies - San Jose, CA
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,826; Matching Amount: $20,042

Contact: Dr. Anthony Bernier
Assistant Professor
408-924-2501; abernier@slis.sjsu.edu

Project Title: "Making Space for Young Adults in Public Libraries"
San Jose State University will systematically collect and analyze data regarding Young Adult (YA) spaces in libraries. The University will initiate planning for a full research project, which will include a broad dissemination of findings, helping library professionals design effective YA spaces that are developmentally appropriate and responsive to how today’s youth prefer to use public spaces. This project will make it possible for library school students in YA courses to effectively engage in the topic of space and its connections to services, programs, and building relationships with young adults. Ultimately, this research will help libraries create successful YA spaces that will improve the use of library resources by youth and increase their involvement in library services.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden - Santa Barbara, CA
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $23,778; Matching Amount: $11,249

Contact: Mr. Andrew Wyatt
Director of Horticulture
805-682-4726 ext. 155; awyatt@sbbg.org

Project Title: "A Planning Grant: Assessing the Need for a Model Irrigation Project"
The Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens will research the viability of centrally controlled automatic irrigation systems for botanical gardens across the country. This process will include working with the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii; the North Carolina Botanical Garden; the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden in California; and the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum. These four project partners, each in different climate zones, will help assess the needs of botanical gardens and develop a comprehensive prototype for gardens of all sizes, collection types, and budgets. The potential model irrigation system for the botanical garden community would reduce staff time devoted to irrigation, increase plant hardiness, and conserve water.

Bay Area Discovery Museum - Sausalito, CA
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $40,000; Matching Amount: $39,853

Contact: Mrs. Mary Jo Sutton
Director of Exhibitions
415-339-3920; msutton@badm.org

Project Title: "Enriched Outdoor Learning Environments"
The museum will partner with Marin County Head Start to create a model for developing outdoor learning environments for underserved youth, aged five and under. The learning environments will bring children back to the outdoors to learn about the natural world and foster environmental stewardship, and may become an aid in the fight against childhood obesity. This planning project will assist the museum in gaining a better understanding of these environments, with the goal of developing a future model of collaboration and exhibit tools for the early learning field.

Connecticut

Yale University - New Haven, CT
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $749,990; Matching Amount: $351,958

Contact: Ms. Youn Noh
Digital Resources Catalog Librarian
203-432-4526; youn.noh@yale.edu

Project Title: "Improving Search and Discovery of Digital Resources Using Topic Modeling"
Yale University will investigate how topic modeling can be used to improve search and discovery for users of digital collections. Digital collections may contain hundreds of thousands of images. With limited descriptions associated with these images, Yale is seeking automated ways to connect users to the information they need. The project team will apply topic modeling to three important classes of digital library resources: full-text books, images, and tagged objects. They will build prototypes of user interface applications that will implement topics and test the prototypes to assess the value of topic modeling for users. They will also develop software and tools for topic modeling, which will be made available on the project Web site and in a workshop that will be developed and delivered on how to integrate topic modeling into digital libraries.

Florida

Florida Center for Library Automation - Gainesville, FL
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $392,649; Matching Amount: $392,764

Contact: Ms. Priscilla Caplan
Assistant Director, FCLA
352-392-9020 ext. 324; pcaplan@ufl.edu

Project Title: "Towards Interoperable Preservation Repositories (TIPR): A Demonstration Project"
The Florida Center for Library Automation and its partners, the Cornell University Library and the New York University Libraries, will develop a proof of concept for the exchange of information between digital preservation repositories. In order to ensure a persistent, long life of digital data, information stewardship organizations running heterogeneous, geographically dispersed digital preservation repositories must be able to exchange copies of archived information with each other. Practical repository-to-repository transfer requires agreed-upon transfer protocols, enhancements to repository software applications, and a common standards-based transfer format capable of transporting rich preservation metadata and associated digital objects. Building on prior work, this project will define a transfer format, modify three different open source repository applications to import and export information packages in this format, and test a carefully developed set of use cases to verify the usability and flexibility of the format.

Orange County Library System - Orlando, FL
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $120,603; Matching Amount: $123,784

Contact: Mr. Christopher Gardner
Assistant Manager, Computer Resource Center
407-835-7384; gardner.chris@ocls.info

Project Title: "Citizenship Inspired: Preparing for Naturalization through Collaborative Learning"
The Orange County Library System will create a multifaceted learning experience called Citizenship Inspired, which allows users seeking U.S. citizenship to take the required courses, making use of learning and communication methods that best suit their own situation and needs. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in one-on-one learning, learning in groups, live online learning, or self-paced online tutorial learning. Citizenship Inspired seeks to build a community of learners who will work through the series of classes together. The library will use social networking tools to support the continued collaboration of these communities outside of formal learning. The primary outcome is the successful naturalization of participants in its program. This project will provide a model for similar programs in other public libraries across the country.

Florida State University College of Information - Tallahassee, FL
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $415,673; Matching Amount: $207,557

Contact: Dr. Melissa Gross
Associate Professor
850-644-8119; mgross@fsu.edu

Project Title: "Attaining Information Literacy: Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Non-Proficient Students"
The research partnership between the College of Information at Florida State University, Chipola College, and Tallahassee Community College, will investigate student perceptions of information literacy education and identify ways to ensure that all students develop essential 21st century learning skills as an integral part of their educational experience. Research findings will provide important input for the design, development, and implementation of information services and resources, especially those aimed at reaching students who do not have proficient information literacy skills. The information literacy services and resources developed in this project can be tailored to the needs of other specific education environments. This project promises to serve as a basis for improving student learning in both traditional and distance learning environments, and will inform understanding of the development of information literacy skills in other populations, such as children and senior adults.

Hawaii

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning - Honolulu, HI
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $40,000; Matching Amount: $0

Contact: Ms. Jane Barnwell
Director, Resource Center
808-441-1320; barnwellj@prel.org

Project Title: "Palau Digital Library Planning Grant"
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) and the Republic of Palau Ministry of Health will work together to develop a plan for the creation of a regional, health-focused digital library. This project will undertake a systematic planning process for a digital project that will address specific health planning and policy information access challenges in the Republic of Palau, a Pacific Island Nation 500 miles east of the Philippines. The goals of this planning grant are to conduct an assessment to identify and categorize key information needs, identify existing resources available for the project and the required personnel expertise, and draft a project plan including promotion and evaluation components. Evaluation activities will assess the effect of the proposed digital library project on its intended beneficiaries.

Illinois

Lincoln Park Zoo - Chicago, IL
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $623,202; Matching Amount: $269,673

Contact: Dr. Lisa Faust
Research Biologist
312-742-7227; lfaust@lpzoo.org

Project Title: "Improving zoo cooperative breeding programs through retrospective analysis and management changes"
Species Survival Programs (SSP) and Population Management Plans (PMP) are key tools for members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and related institutions to maintain and monitor self-sufficient animal populations in captivity. SSP’s and PMP’s ensure the survival of future generations of animals housed in zoos and aquaria through breeding recommendations for captive populations, and guarantee genetic diversity and health in the offspring of these populations. This project will conduct a retrospective analysis of the SSP and PMP to assess their appropriateness and effectiveness. The Lincoln Park Zoo will research past recommendations, plot the individual patterns in these plans that assure population success, and make recommendations to improve future SSP/PMP procedures.

Indiana

Indiana University's Digital Library Program - Bloomington, IN
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $481,987; Matching Amount: $482,573

Contact: Ms. Jennifer Riley
Metadata Librarian
jenlrile@indiana.edu

Project Title: "Testing the FRBR Conceptual Model through the Variations System"
Indiana University (IU) proposes to use the Variations digital music library system as a testbed for the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) conceptual model. The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control report, released in January 2008, challenged the library community to create a model for testing the transformative promise of FRBR. In response to the challenge, Indiana University will “FRBRize” records in the Cook Music Library’s entire sound recording and score collections and make them available for evaluation and testing, both in a search interface designed to make the most of the FRBR model and as raw data for testing in other environments. IU will release the source code for the FRBRized discovery system and perform usability testing on FRBR end-user and cataloger interfaces.

Maryland

University of Maryland - College Park, MD
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,955; Matching Amount: $39,942

Contact: Dr. Trudi Hahn
Professor
301-405-2047; thahn@umd.edu

Project Title: "Strengthening the Public Library?s Role in e-Government: A Preliminary Investigation"
The College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland and the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama will work collaboratively with libraries in Maryland and Alabama to create a model to strengthen public libraries’ capacity to work effectively with government agencies, particularly in times of disaster or crisis. During the planning process, the team will conduct preliminary research regarding the libraries’ existing resources, identify communities’ assets and needs, and create an initial model to strengthen the libraries’ potential for expanding and enhancing the public’s access to vital information resources. Public libraries in Maryland and Alabama were chosen as partners because they can serve as exemplars of the range of different types and sizes of public libraries and they exist within a variety of governance structures and relationships with their state and local communities.

University of Maryland - College Park, MD
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $996,750; Matching Amount: $216,243

Contact: Dr. Judith Klavans
Senior Research Scientist
301-405-7913; jklavans@umd.edu

Project Title: "T3: Text, Tagging and Trust to Improve Image Access for Museums and Libraries"
The University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and College of Information Studies will partner with the Indianapolis Museum of Art and 12 other museums to conduct research on new methods to improve user access to online museum images. This project will design and test a multi-institution image database containing search terms derived from several sources, including texts associated with exhibition catalogs, and terms contributed by online viewers, a technique known as “social tagging.” The project will build on two previous projects, including the IMLS-funded “Steve” project, which created a database of user-contributed tags and investigated methods of labeling and categorizing these terms to make objects easier for the public to find. The new project will combine these data sources and apply automated computational linguistics techniques to identify and filter terms to allow users to expand or narrow their queries through the application of disambiguation techniques of text-mined terms and tags.

Massachusetts

Children's Museum, Boston - Boston, MA
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $840,713; Matching Amount: $947,903

Contact: Ms. Geraldine Robinson
Vice President, Early Childhood
617-426-6500 ext. 227; robinson@bostonchildrensmuseum.org

Project Title: "The Countdown to Kindergarten Exhibit"
The Boston Children’s Museum will develop an exhibit based on the strategies learned and developed in the Countdown to Kindergarten project funded by a previous NLG grant. Building on the lessons learned in the first project, which has been replicated by many other museums, this project will expand the school readiness initiative to Boston area parents of children aged 0-5, and will help families prepare for the crucial first year of formal education. In addition to targeting parents, the children’s museum will reach out to preschool teachers, Head Start programs, and community groups. This project will offer an exemplary learning environment for adults to understand what school readiness means and their role in preparing their children for kindergarten.

Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College -
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $40,000; Matching Amount: $12,948

Contact: Dr. James Hanken
Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology
617-495-4576; crinaldo@oeb.harvard.edu

Project Title: "Retooling Special Collections Scanning in the of Mass Digitization"
The Harvard University Botany Libraries and the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, along with the partner institution libraries of the American Museum of Natural History, the Field Museum, the Missouri Botanical Garden, The New York Botanical Garden, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Internet Archive, will plan a cost-effective and efficient large-scale digitization workflow with enhanced metadata for biodiversity library materials designated as “special collections.” The partners propose to identify solutions for digitization of special collections materials by developing and comparing various technological, economic, and process models.

Michigan

University of Michigan University Library - Ann Arbor, MI
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $578,955; Matching Amount: $655,898

Contact: Mr. John Wilkin
Associate University Librarian
734-764-8016; libnlggrant08@umich.edu

Project Title: "Copyright Review Management System"
The University of Michigan Library will create a Copyright Review Management System (CRMS) to increase the reliability of copyright status determinations of books published in the United States from 1923 to 1963, and to help create a point of collaboration for other institutions. The system will aid in the process of making vast numbers of these books available online to the general public. Nearly half a million books were published in the United States between 1923 and 1963, and although many of these are likely to be in the public domain, individuals must manually check their copyright status. If a work is not in the public domain, it cannot be made accessible online. The CRMS will allow users to verify if the copyright status has been determined.

University of Michigan School of Information - Ann Arbor, MI
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $649,941; Matching Amount: $333,857

Contact: Dr. Karen Markey
Professor
734-763-3581; ylime@umich.edu

Project Title: "Building the Games Students Want to Play"
The University of Michigan' School of Information and the Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University will design, develop, test, and evaluate a computer game, Bibliobouts, to teach incoming undergraduate students essential information literacy skills . Five institutions – Chicago State University, Troy University Montgomery, Saginaw Valley State University, the University of Baltimore, and the University of Dubuque – will field test and evaluate Bibliobouts. Project evaluation will determine if gaming is effective for teaching incoming students information literacy skills, and whether or not students retain and apply these skills appropriately. If this project demonstrates that students want to play Bibliobouts and effectively learn important literacy skills, then several stakeholders in the educational enterprise will benefit. The game, research results, best practices for game design and development, and game play strategies for effective information literacy education will be made publicly available. This game will integrate Zotero, a dynamic scholarly communication citation tool developed by CHNM with initial funding from the IMLS.

Minnesota

Hennepin County Library - Minnetonka, MN
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $271,391; Matching Amount: $117,499

Contact: Ms. Jennifer Nelson
Partnership Coordinator
jrnelson@hclib.org

Project Title: "Media MashUp: public libraries, youth and 21st century literacy"
Hennepin County Library, in partnership with the Science Musuem of Minnesota, the Wilmette Public Library (IL), the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Seattle Public Library, and the Memphis Public Library, will develop a best practices framework for innovative technology program implementation. The project will evaluate literacy skills developed by youth participating in the creative technology workshops, called Media MashUp. Participants’ projects and their reflective responses to their work will be evaluated for evidence of 21st-century literacy practices, such as higher-order problem solving, collaboration, and risk taking. These literacy outcomes are in demand by employers and reflect significant shifts in the role of education and technology in society over the last 20 years. This project will investigate the implementation process of innovative technology programs at libraries, address libraries’needs relating to program implementation, and establish best practices.

Minnesota Historical Society - Saint Paul, MN
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $243,363; Matching Amount: $167,099

Contact: Ms. Irene van Bavel
Central Collection Services Manager
651-259-3248; irene.vanbavel@mnhs.org

Project Title: "Extended families: immigrant oral histories online"
The Minnesota Historical Society will digitize and make available oral histories of recent Tibetan, Hmong, Somali, Indian, and Khmer immigrants. This rich collection will represent a unique source of contemporary history through the experiences of the newest Americans, in their own words. The Society will work with the communities, local school systems, and the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota to develop complementary resources and curriculum packets that will enhance the value of the collections to researchers, K-12 teachers, and the immigrant communities themselves. The project will develop a successful model for institutions to make their collections more useful through collaboration with their audiences and the application of technology. Through these activities, they will extend the reach of the collections to a broader audience, support community building, and sustain cultural identity.

New Hampshire

Southern New Hampshire University - Manchester, NH
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $500,000; Matching Amount: $554,592

Contact: Ms. Kathryn Growney
Dean of University Library
603-668-2211 ext. 2166; k.growney@snhu.edu

Project Title: "Creating a Better World by Sharing Research Online"
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) will establish an Institutional Repository that will provide open, world-wide access to the university’s research output. The project will initially focus on the works of the School of Community Economic Development (SCED) and the International Business Programs’ faculty and students. These collections include important field-recorded research data sets, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations, and working papers concerning low-income and marginalized communities around the globe. The systems and workflows developed for preservation, digitization, and access to these collections will be extended to include all departments at SNHU. Experiences and lessons learned will provide a replicable model for institutions of similar size and scope.

New York

Southeastern New York Library Resources Council - Highland, NY
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,600; Matching Amount: $25,164

Contact: Ms. Eileen McAdam
Project Director
845-331-7585; emcadam@hvc.rr.com

Project Title: "Voices of the Hudson Valley Digital Reformatting and Access Planning Grant"
The Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, partnering with the Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies and Museums and the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley, will develop a plan for the identification, digital reformatting, and increased accessibility of sound recordings that document the history of New York’s Hudson River Valley region. Many oral history collections exist throughout the region, but very few, if any, have been reformatted for digital access. Thus they are inaccessible and at risk of loss through the deterioration of tapes and the disappearance of outdated playback equipment. This collaboration will lay the foundation for preserving endangered recordings throughout the region.

New York University's Steinhardt School - New York, NY
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $615,405; Matching Amount: $169,671

Contact: Dr. Juan Bello
Assistant Professor
212-998-5736; jpbello@nyu.edu

Project Title: "Improving Access to Digital Music through Content-based Analysis"
New York University’s Music Technology Program and Library Services will research and develop content-based approaches to automatic organization of, access to, and interaction with digital music archives. This research concentrates on encoding musical attributes, such as harmony and rhythm, to represent and characterize similarities that exist between songs and phrases, and showing how these methodologies can provide users with innovative modes of access to music. This project has the potential to increase the scalability and reduce the cost of music analysis and markup, while increasing access and dissemination of music in existing collections. These results can improve current practices in digital libraries, bolstering their ability to preserve and disseminate culture and ehance music education and research.

Poets House - New York, NY
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $997,766; Matching Amount: $1,178,950

Contact: Ms. Lee Briccetti
Executive Director
212-431-7920 ext. 2217; lee@poetshouse.org

Project Title: "Language of Conservation: National Replication Project"
Poet’s House, a preeminent poetry library in New York City, will collaborate with ten public libraries and zoos across the United States to support library-zoo partnerships in five cities. The project teams will install exhibitions that use poetry as an interpretive tool to deepen visitor thinking about wildlife and conservation in each zoo. This project follows a year-long planning grant funded by IMLS and extends the success of an IMLS-funded partnership in New York City between Poets House and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo, which pioneered the installation of poetry in the zoo. The new project will create a set of models and tools for developing strong collaborations and exhibits by carefully documenting the process of building these partnerships and evaluating their impact on visitors, the community, and professional audiences.

New York Public Library - New York, NY
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $378,525; Matching Amount: $391,674

Contact: Dr. Joshua Greenberg
Homework NYC Widgets: A Decentralized Approach To
212-930-0542; Joshua.Greenberg@nypl.org

Project Title: "Homework NYC Widgets: A Decentralized Approach To Homework Help By Public Libraries"
The New York Public Library (NYPL) and its partners, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Borough Public Library, will create a set of digital tools for homework help that will be responsive to young people’s information-gathering tendencies, research needs, and expectations. These activities will implement the findings of a successful 2007 IMLS Collaborative Planning Grant awarded to the three library systems called, The Information-Gathering Techniques and Online Behaviors of Tweens and Teens. The suite of tools, called Homework NYC widgets, will be used by students to successfully complete their homework and will provide students with a more convenient and useful method of getting authoritative online homework assistance. The final product will be a set of tools that other organizations seeking to engage young people with library resources in a virtual environment will be able to use.

Syracuse University - Syracuse, NY
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $200,020; Matching Amount: $77,233

Contact: Dr. Marilyn Arnone
Research Associate Professor
252-249-3500; arnonemp@aol.com

Project Title: "A demonstration project to update standards for 21st century librarians"
Syracuse University will further develop the nationally recognized Web-based resource, S.O.S. for Information Literacy. S.O.S is an innovative standards-based approach to improving K-16 information literacy teaching and learning through a freely accessible teaching support system. School librarians nationwide have indicated a need for resources that are searchable on both their state content standards and the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) new national standards, Standards for the 21st Century Learner. They also need training support for effectively using these resources. This project will meet these needs by expanding S.O.S ‘s structure and contents to include the new national and state-level content standards, and provide examples of these standards in action with lesson plans, teaching ideas, videos, and other materials.

North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science -
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $334,699; Matching Amount: $334,809

Contact: Dr. Jane Greenberg
Frances Carroll McColl Term Professor
919-962-8066; janeg@ils.unc.edu

Project Title: "HIVE: Helping Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Engineering"
The Metadata Research Center (MRC) at the School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the National Evolutionary Synthesis (NESCent) Center in Durham, North Carolina will use the Helping Interdisciplinary Vocabulary Engineering (HIVE) model to dynamically integrate multiple discipline-specific controlled vocabularies encoded with Simple Knowledge Organization Systems (SKOS). HIVE is an innovative approach and model designed to cater to the growing controlled vocabulary needs of curatorial and cataloging information professionals in the library, museum, and archival communities. This initiative will address the need to provide efficient, affordable, interoperable, and user-friendly access to controlled vocabularies during metadata creation activities. Continuing education for library, museum, and archival professionals will be provided as part of this project to reinforce the importance of new enabling technologies that can assist in the development and use of controlled vocabularies.

Ohio

Cincinnati Zoo - Cincinnati, OH
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $835,916; Matching Amount: $897,467

Contact: Dr. Terri Roth
VP of Conservation, Science and Living
513-569-8220; terri.roth@cincinnatizoo.org

Project Title: "Integrating genome resource banks and assisted reproduction into collection management to preserve and enhance endangered rhinoceros and imperiled"
In order to keep populations of captive animals healthy and avoid inbreeding, animals are often moved from zoo to zoo to broaden the genetic pool. Relocating animals from their original zoos can have negative side effects on the animals being moved and on the home animal populations of each involved institution, and can create financial and logistical burdens. This project of the Cincinnati Zoo, using the knowledge gained from the assisted reproductive technology developed for rhinoceros populations and small cats, will demonstrate how the use of genome resource banks can enhance the captive breeding process. The project will establish procedures for sperm banking, embryo transport, and artificial insemination of captive animal populations. The result will encourage the transferring of genetic materials rather than animals from zoos and wild populations, increase the success and efficiency of breeding captive species, and make a significant impact in the zoological field.

COSI Columbus - Columbus, OH
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $485,395; Matching Amount: $562,806

Contact: Dr. Kimberlee Kiehl
Vice President of Partnerships
614-629-3140; kkiehl@mail.cosi.org

Project Title: "Labs in Life Interface: Bringing Real Science to Public Audiences"
In this partnership with Ohio State University (OSU), COSI Columbus will bring research activities into the museum, allowing audiences to engage in science as it happens. The museum will design and evaluate interactive “experience platforms” for visitors on health topics including physical activity and nutrition. These experience platforms will operate in conjunction with OSU’s on-site research laboratories within the museum and will serve as portals for visitors to understand how data is collected and analyzed by scientists. Visitors will also learn about good health and nutrition practices, and will be encouraged to increase learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In addition, COSI visitors will be able to become part of the research studies conducted by OSU. This project will create a unique model for how science centers and research institutions can work together to reach new audiences.

Oregon

University of Oregon Libraries - Eugene, OR
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $38,844; Matching Amount: $21,094

Contact: Ms. Jodi Allison-Bunnell
Northwest Digital Archives Program Manager
406-829-6528; jodiab@uoregon.edu

Project Title: "Planning for Northwest-Wide Access to Digitized Primary Sources"
The Orbis Cascade Alliance is a combination of 35 academic libraries in the states of Washington and Oregon. One of the Alliance's programs is the Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA), a 31-institution consortium of archives in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana that currently maintains a database of finding aids for its members’ archival collections. The grant, part of a long-range planning process, will support the second stage of planning, in which the group will determine solutions to specific problems that are currently impeding the development of sustainable digital programs. The project will be a collaborative effort of the Alliance, Washington State University, Lewis & Clark College, Whitman College, and Whitworth University.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry - Portland, OR
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $249,876; Matching Amount: $114,635

Contact: Ms. Marilyn Johnson
Director of Research and Development
503-797-4536; mjohnson@omsi.edu

Project Title: "Beyond Fact"
Beyond Fact, a project partnership between the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and Multnomah County Library, will create a set of three public programs designed to engage adults in discussion-based learning and advance the science and information literacy skills that form the basis for future decision making. The project is premised on the idea that libraries and science centers are well positioned to act as sponsors of public dialogue and deliberation on a range of controversies and questions. The programs will include science book discussion groups meeting in the library system’s branches, forum events combining informal presentations and discussion, and a community-wide reading program highlighting an accessible “popular science” book.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philadelphia, PA
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $371,365; Matching Amount: $221,463

Contact: Mr. Andrew Lins
Neubauer Chair of Conservation
215-684-7545; alins@philamuseum.org

Project Title: "Research project to develop solvent-free clear coatings for metals"
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will conduct research to develop a solvent-free, clear coating lacquer system to protect outdoor sculptures from corrosion and degradation. This conservation research grant will build on initial studies on high performance resins by two industrial firms; the Philadelphia Museum of Art will add its expertise and knowledge of sculptural conservation. The goal of this project is to develop a new clear coating for metal that will be environmentally safe and long lasting, thus saving museums time and money, as well as reducing hazards for conservation staff. The project has a far-reaching impact within the field of conservation of contemporary sculpture and may also be a resource for historic houses and architectural sites.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA
Grant Category: Demonstration
Award Amount: $600,000; Matching Amount: $718,361

Contact: Mrs. Gladys Maharam
Deputy Director (Retired)
412-622-3129; maharamg@carnegielibrary.org

Project Title: "The Legacy of Iron and Steel Production Modernized Through Social Networking"
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP) will combine preservation and digitization activities in an innovative process to bring their historic Iron and Steel Heritage Collection online and accessible to the world. Through the use of social networking software, they will create an opportunity to grow a dynamic scholarly community around this historically significant collection. Using Web 2.0 functionality, users will be able to add personalized meaning and contribute important contextual information to items in the digitized collection. These digitized collections will be accessible as part of the Carnegie Library Internet gateway and will be made a part of the Pennsylvania Digital Library project. This project will demonstrate how public libraries can utilize digitization projects to promote their unique resources to communities far beyond their geographical location. Over 500,000 items will be made available online. Currently, these collections are inaccessible due to inadequate cataloging and poor physical condition. This project will provide a model for integration of bibliographic control and preservation activities into digital collection workflows. Carnegie Library will be working collaboratively with Palinet and the Carnegie Mellon University on this project.

University of Pittsburgh's Center for American Music - Pittsburgh, PA
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,826; Matching Amount: $8,239

Contact: Miss Deane Root
Professor
412-624-7775; dlr@pitt.edu

Project Title: "Collaborative Planning Project: Revising Resources in American Music History"
The University of Pittsburgh and the Society for American Music will bring together librarians, archivists, and scholars to develop a sustainable digital reference tool for locating source materials in American music history; this will be an updated and online edition of the authoritative publication, Resources of American Music History: A Directory of Source Materials from Colonial Times to World War II (RAMH). The planning project will focus on identifying the scope and types of materials to be included in RAMH2; researching existing standards for, descriptions of, and access to, these resources; determining tools needed to collect, store, and refresh collection data continuously; and establishing the online searching interface users will need. The University’s Center for American Music will host a planning conference in May 2009 to bring together key individuals representing various organizations and user groups to provide input.

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University Medical Center - Nashville, TN
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,981; Matching Amount: $28,893

Contact: Dr. Nunzia Giuse
Director, Eskind Biomedical Library
615-936-1402; nunzia.giuse@vanderbilt.edu

Project Title: "Planning multidisciplinary and multicenter strategies for understanding optimal health information delivery to children."
Vanderbilt University Medical Center will develop strategies for assessing children’s interactions with health information. The team of librarians, psychologists, child development experts, pediatricians, informaticians, evaluators, and educators will employ a six-month planning period to develop techniques to assess health information needs and perceptions in children. The team will use the planning period to formalize a number of research aspects, including which potential interventions offer the greatest benefit for different health conditions; the appropriate age range for study; and the optimal venues for testing assessments and interventions. To broaden thinking and factor in elements of generalizability and dissemination from the outset, project partners include the Meharry Medical College and Cumberland Pediatric Foundation, organizations that offer expertise in areas key to long-range work.

Texas

New Media Centers, Inc. - Austin, TX
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $955,275; Matching Amount: $1,099,430

Contact: Dr. Larry Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
512-445-4200; johnson@nmc.org

Project Title: "Steve in Action: Social Tagging Tools and Methods Applied"
The New Media Center will partner with multiple museums, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Denver Art Museum, to bring the “Steve Project” to a broader audience. The Steve Project is a tool that simplifies the navigation of online museum collections by allowing the viewer to “tag” an image with descriptive terms. Social tagging provides a new way of classifying works of art outside the specialized language of art history. New partners added to the project include the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition, the MINITEX Library network, and several small to mid-sized museums that work with the New Media Center. The 2008 grant will apply the research learned from the first iteration of this project to develop enhanced tools to make Steve more accessible to a broader variety of institutions and people.

University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences - Denton, TX
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $738,075; Matching Amount: $181,240

Contact: Dr. William Moen
Associate Professor
940-565-3563; wemoen@unt.edu

Project Title: "High-Throughput Workflow for Computer-assisted Human Parsing of Biological Specimen Label Data"
The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) and Texas Center for Digital Knowledge (TxCDK) will study how computers and humans can work together to create meaningful, high-quality specimen label data for use in digitized biological collections. Digitizing these collections in a well-planned and standardized way increases their use by a wider audience, reduces the physical handling of the original object, and produces a permanent digital archive. A key challenge faced when digitizing biological collections is determining a process that yields standards-based, high-quality metadata results in a cost- and time-efficient manner. This research will establish a model for effective and efficient conversion of specimen label data into information that enhances the use of digital biodiveristy repositories. All project documents will be shared on the project Web site and through other open-access digital libraries to ensure long-term access.

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts - San Angelo, TX
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $26,610; Matching Amount: $25,460

Contact: Ms. Christy Youker
Project Director
325-653-3333; museum@samfa.org

Project Title: "The Center for Creative Energy: An Educational Bridge Between Art and the Environment."
The San Angelo Museum, in partnership with the Upper Colorado River Authority and the San Angelo Independent School District, will create a secondary school-level magnet program that will combine the studies of art, design, and environmental science. The planning grant will focus on developing measurable outcomes and evaluation tools to support and strengthen student understanding of the environment and artistic principles. This partnership is an innovative collaboration among small museums, rural communities, and underserved populations, and may produce a model educational structure of experiential learning for Texas youth.

Vermont

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center - Burlington, VT
Grant Category: Library and Museum Collaboration
Award Amount: $352,173; Matching Amount: $357,523

Contact: Dr. Phelan Fretz
Executive Director
802-864-1848; pfretz@echovermont.org

Project Title: "Voices for the Lake"
Voices for the Lake will create an online community network of and for the rural populations surrounding Lake Champlain dedicated to improving the health of the lake. With increasing population and expanding development, the once-pristine lake has been significantly degraded by invasive species, algae blooms, and pollutants that have necessitated beach closings. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 90 percent of this pollution is introduced from the watersheds surrounding the lake. The Lake Champlain Basin Science Center, in partnership with the Vermont and upstate New York public library systems and the Vermont Folklife Center, will tackle this problem with a program of public education and engagement designed to change personal behavior and reduce human impact on the deteriorating water quality of the Basin. The project will create a Web site populated with audience-created videos documenting the natural history of the area and the human impact on it, and promoting good stewardship and conservation. The team will reach over 150 libraries in eight river watersheds surrounding the Lake to engage local residents.

Virginia

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - Blacksburg, VA
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $250,000; Matching Amount: $123,236

Contact: Mrs. Annette Bailey
Digital Assets Librarian
540-231-9266; afbailey@vt.edu

Project Title: "LibX 2.0: a Community Platform for Developing and Delivering Library Services"
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will pursue further development of its highly successful LibX tool. LibX was created with funding from IMLS in 2006, and has been adopted by over 277 libraries. This project will extend LibX by building a community platform for developing and delivering library services. The LibX platform will offer library technology developers a way to extend the impact of existing services they have built and prototype new ones. It will immediately benefit a large community of librarians with average technology skills, who wish to integrate these services into their user community. Most importantly, it will benefit the libraries’ users.

Colonial Williamsburg - Williamsburg, VA
Grant Category: Advancing Digital Resources
Award Amount: $943,090; Matching Amount: $950,666

Contact: Dr. James Horn
Vice President of Research
757-565-8501; jhorn@cwf.org

Project Title: "Revolutionary City: Developing a Virtual Reality Model of Williamsburg in 1776"
Colonial Williamsburg is partnering with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia to develop 3D models of five unique historical sites within Colonial Williamsburg, and provide scanned, digitized facades of twenty-three buildings to create a complete streetscape. This high-quality 3D experience will be aimed at the general public, as well as historic researchers and scholars. The models will be interactive and will enable visitors to experience the historical sites through virtual re-creations that access the wealth of historical documentation amassed by Williamsburg scholars. This historically accurate and in-depth experience will enhance the relationship between on-site and online programming at Colonial Williamsburg.

Washington

Eastern Washington University - Cheney, WA
Grant Category: Planning Grants
Award Amount: $39,614; Matching Amount: $20,795

Contact: Dr. Patricia Kelley
Dean of Libraries
509-359-2264; pkelley@ewu.edu

Project Title: "Inland Northwest Network of Culture & History (INNCH): A Library / Museum Collaboration"
The Inland Northwest Network of Culture and History (INNCH), a collaboration led by Eastern Washington University, will develop organizational and action plans for this network and will outline the specific projects that will define the core collections and services of INNCH. The partners share a commitment to preserving regional cultural history and artifacts and to making information accessible and understandable to the public, historians, educators, rural communities, and other constituents.