Current Grants Projects

Grants Recently Awarded (since 2000)

University of Maryland Libraries

Mellon Foundation Grant Supports Web Resources Project

Principal Investigator, Carlen Ruschoff, Director - Information Technology and Technical Services

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $156,122 to Columbia University and the University of Maryland to support the development of coherent, holistic models for incorporting web content into research library collections.

The Mellon Grant will support the Columbia University Libraries and the University of Maryland Libraries in a one-year collaborative project with three interrelated objectives: to identify actions needed to incorporate freely available web content in the libraries’ collection-building processes; to estimate the scale of institutional investment needed to pursue such a program, retrospectively and on an ongoing basis; and to suggest means by which such local investment, as well as the benefits of the resulting collections, can be shared across and among the larger research library community.

For complete press release.

National Endowment for the Humanities

Principal Investigator, Desider Vikor, Director - Special Collections and Collections Management

Co Principal Investigator, Anne Turkos, University Archivist

University Libraries have received a $700,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to create more appropriate environmental conditions for its Special Collections.

The funds, made available through NEH's "Stabilizing Humanities Collections" program, will be used primarily to make upgrades to the HVAC systems in Hornbake Library, where many of the Libraries' most valuable collections are housed. The grant has also been designated a "We the People" project, a special recognition by the NEH for model projects that advance the study, teaching and understanding of American history and culture. The NEH grant was matched by funds from the University Provost.

The proposed project will address needed upgrades to the aging heating and cooling infrastructure of a building that has been re-purposed in recent years to serve as the major repository for the special collections held by the Libraries. The immediate goal of the project is the acquisition and installation of the necessary machinery and related systems that will directly provide stable humidity levels required of special collections materials, as well as upgrading lighting controls, air filtration, and environmental control for the facility.

Rural Development Publication Digitization Project, Subcontract on UMAB Cooperative Agreement

Principal Investigator, Lauren Brown, Curator of Archives and Manuscripts

UM Libraries will provide technical assistance to the Rural Information Center, National Agricultural Library in digitizing rural publications for full-text access on the Internet. The agreement, from February 1, 2004 to September 30, 2006, has a total budget of $122,000.

Microfilming the Prange Newspapers/Newsletters

Principal Investigator: Eiko Sakaguchi, Curator - East Asia and Gordon W. Prange Collections

NEH 1999-2001 (PA 23372-99; $300,000 of which $200,000 in outright funds and $100,000 in third-party matching funds) To continue microfilming the Prange newspapers/newsletters. Approximately 250,000 frames were filmed with these funds.

NEH 1995-1997 (PS 21105-95; $531,095 of which $181,095 in outright funds and $350,000 in third-party matching funds) To continue microfilming the Prange newspapers/newsletters. Approximately 800,000 frames were filmed with these funds.

NEH 1986-1990 (RC 21167-86; $115,000 of which $50,000 was outright grant and $65,000 was a Treasury match) To process and arrange 10,300 volumes relating to the history and development of Japanese education during the Occupation. 500 titles received full cataloging on OCLC. The remaining were entered into a Japanese database in Tokyo. Printouts of the database were cataloged as a finding aid to the education-related holdings.

NEH 1977-1980 (RC 276-77-735; $117,097) To sort, arrange, process and prepare 4,200 preliminary cataloging records. 2000 monographs were fully cataloged.

The Preservation and Microfilming of the Papers of Katherine Anne Porter

Principal Investigator, Beth Alvarez, Curator, Archives and Manuscripts

NEH 1997-1999 (PA 23034-97; $158,413) To microfilm the Katherine Anne Porter papers.

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD

Principal Investigator: Lauren Brown, Curator of Archives and Manuscripts

Through this cooperative agreement with the National Agricultural Library (NAL), "Processing, Preserving, and Improving Access to the Historical Record of Agriculture," the UM Libraries and the National Agricultural Library holdings will be reviewed. Papers, publications, artifacts, and collections will be selected for preservation then organized. Once organized the materials will be made accessible to the public through the creation of Web based finding aids.

The agreement, from September 28, 2001, to September 30, 2004, has a total budget of $828,912.

Special Contracts/Cooperative Agreements

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD

Principal Investigator: Svetla Baykoucheva, Head - White Memorial (Chemistry) Library

Through this cooperative agreement with the National Agricultural Library (NAL), "Mutual Enhancement and Availability of Scientific Information," the UM Libraries will participate in developing scientific collections, information services and science librarians at NAL and assist in collection development, reference services and development of joint publications on scientific subjects. The NAL will: make available work space, supplies and computer stations for personnel while at NAL; reimburse UM Libraries for travel, lodging and related expenses of project personnel; and NAL staff will be available to oversee the project.

The agreement, from May 1, 2000, to April 30, 2006, has a total budget of $630,340.

Subcontract to Cornell University’s NEH Grant Entitled: “Preserving the History of United States Agricultural and Rural Life: State and Local Literature, 1820-1945, Phase V, $618,857.

Principal Investigator: Ann Hanlon, Archives and Manuscripts Librarian

The University of Maryland Libraries will receive $47,686 to develop a bibliography of Maryland state materials on agriculture and rural life. UM Libraries hopes to receive a future grant in the same program to preserve these materials. The agreement runs from July 2004 to June 2006.

East Asian Studies Resources Grant, 2002-2005

This $1.94 million grant was awarded to the College of Arts and Humanities by the Freeman Foundation Undergraduate Asian Studies Program to support the undergraduate curricula pertaining to East Asian Studies. It included funding for library/non-print materials. $200,000 was given for library materials of which $130,000 was for print materials and $70,000 was for non-print materials.

(Awarded April 2003)

The Library of American Broadcasting received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to process and preserve the Women in Broadcasting collections. Finding aids will be disseminated in a variety of channels, including the Library's Web site. Along with the finding aids, a subject guide including all relevant material in the LAB will be written. The guide will also be available online. Finally, an online exhibit will be created using material from the collections. These activities will ensure that scholars, authors and students in the humanities will have access to the rich history documented in the LAB's collections, as well as knowledge of like material in other repositories.

The projected time frame is 2003-2005, and the funded amount is $97,462.

Secret Blossoms: The Art of Ability 2003

Principal Investigator: Ann Masnik, Diversity Coordinator

The grant supported a diversity event on November 25, 2003 featuring the poetry and music of disabled artists. It was funded by Maryland State Department of Education, VSA Arts in Maryland. It was held in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the Adele Stamp Union. Both Michael Collier, Poet Laureate of Maryland, and Jasmine Reyazuddin, a young alumnae who is blind and participated in "A Writer's Block," a UM Libraries diversity video, appeared in the event.

The amount received was $3,000.

Cooperative Resource Sharing, Maryland State Department of Education (Awarded July 2002)

Principal Investigator: Sharon Epps, Manager - ILL

This grant is awarded to the UM Libraries by the Maryland State Department of Education Library Development Services. In this role, the UM Libraries receive and, when available, fill from our holdings, requests when requested materials are not available from Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore) or one of the four large county library systems. This grant allows for continued financial reimbursement for UM Libraries interlibrary loan service to the MILO network.

Funding in the amount of $29,479 is renewed on a yearly basis.

The Papers of Djuna Barnes and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (Awarded April 2000)

Principal Investigator: Beth Alvarez, Curator, Archives and Manuscripts

This project, initially projected to be 2 years, received $53,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce preservation microfilm of approximately 35,000 pages of the Djuna Barnes and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven papers and make the microfilm edition available to researchers through interlibrary loan. The NEH extended the project through June 2004.

Completing the Microfilming of the Prange Newspapers/Newsletters

Principal Investigator: Eiko Sakaguchi, Curator - East Asia and Gordon W. Prange Collections

Nippon Foundation 2000-2002 ($457,290) To complete the microfilming of the Prange newspapers/newsletters. Approximately 200,000 frames were filmed in the first year of these funds. The second year of funding supported a book collection survey and cataloging of approximately 5,500 books.

Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation 1993-1997 ($1,000,000) To sort, organize and begin microfilm the 18,000 Prange newspapers/newsletters (1,000,000 frames of the anticipated 2,250,000 frames).

National Diet Library 1992-1996 Sent staff on site to work with UMCP Libraries to microfilm and prepare a finding aid for 13,000 magazine titles. The master negative was given to UMCP Libraries who then bought 59,000 second generation microfiche for public use of the collection.

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