Jen Serventi (Digital Humanities, NEH) & Josh Sternfeld (Preservation & Access, NEH)

I. Josh/P&A
Leverage projects to begin small
Getting groundwork laid out, right people involved
Move to larger and larger grants

HCR
Collection of primary resources you want to describe
Digitization for digital repository
Focuses on collections (as does the entire division)
Spend a lot of time talking about sig. of collection for grant
What can your collections be used for?
Reference resources: databases,
Collections and resources cannot have overly interpretative angle
Collections need to be neutral, used for different kinds of purposes
Up to 350,000 for up to 3 years
Come talk to NEH about partnerships with multiple institutions

R&D
Larger questions and topics on pres and access
Developing digital tools that can enhance access
Preservation areas of specialization AV, born-digital, sustainability (conservation)
Up to 350,000 for up to 3 years
Most successful: best standards and practices
Can look scientific by nature, or more tool development

II. Jen/Office of DH

a.
More startup focused
Bring people together to idenitify a challenge
Brainstorm, meetings, moving toward next bigger stage
Inkling of innovation solution

b.
Prototyping, with knowledge always more work to be done
Use funds to discover whether or not project really should even continue
Identify challenges and roadblocks
Begin looking toward solutions
“Successful failure” = white paper on what went wrong, or why this project is not worth continuing (all proj. must produce white papers)

c.
Inst. for Advance Topics in DH
To position yourself as leader in topic of DH
Seed grant program to bring people into DH
Introduce methodologies and approaches
Go one to apply for other grant programs at NEH
Good for faculty and staff without robust DH programs on campus

Tips & Strategies
1. Consult one of us (they read drafts! up to 6 weeks prior to deadline)

Review process
– Interested? Come talk to us.
– Submit app.
– Bring in relevant peers for review
– Grades tallied
– Goes to Council (26 appointees)
– Funneled up to Chairman for final choice
(upwards of 8-9 months; startup 5-6 months)

Interoperability big!
Addressing project to your field and colleagues, not the NEH staff
Write for general educated audience (but not bloated with tech. jargon)
First time applicants, look at resources provided on NEH site
Recommends applying to multiple programs (but not identical apps!)
Will pass along results of panel comments from review process whether successful or un
Sustainability = buzzword important to NEH
Talk about mechanisms to promote sustainability
Same with scalability
Have multiple writers doing different sections of app. narrative
Make friends with office of sponsored projects/whoever submits your grant apps
Strategies for putting together a work plan (Ask Jen!)
Key: use collection as test bed