The SE/A is pleased to announce the introduction of two new awards:

The Express Hospital Library Promotion Award provides funding to support projects that hospital librarians can use to demonstrate their value to and increase their visibility in their institution. The goals of the Hospital Library Promotion Award are to: strengthen the position of the hospital librarians by demonstrating the value and skill of information professionals; create institutional or public awareness about the library;promote librarians role in the provision of health information for patient care and patient safety; advocate for the role of the hospital librarian in institutional activities and projects such as emergency preparedness, social media introduction, management training, and more and share successful promotional campaign strategies and ideas with other SE/A hospital libraries. Full Network members working in hospital libraries can apply for up to $5,000. A minimum of three awards is planned for the current contract year. See http://nnlm.gov/sea/funding/hosplibpromo.html for information and the application form.

The Express Library Digitization Award provides funding to enable libraries to digitize historical materials or a unique collection to increase its accessibility within or without the institution. Open to full and affiliate SE/A Network members, the award provides up to $5,000 for personnel, supplies, equipment and software used for the digitization of materials. A minimum of four awards is planned for the current contract year. See http://nnlm.gov/sea/funding/librarydigit.html for more information and the application form.

For questions, contact Janice Kelly at jkelly@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

In case you missed my message before the holidays, we are now accepting applications for larger outreach projects and technology fairs for year 04 of our NN/LM contract. The application form for our larger outreach projects (and note, this is only the application you will have to submit a proposal if your application is accepted) as well as technology fairs (this is THE application) are available on the SE/A site. While we will be accepting applications until April, we encourage you to send in your applications early. This helps to strengthen our budget justification to NLM. As with your budget, it is best to have strong supporting evidence of why you need every precious dollar.

So, while you watch the football games this weekend or my beloved #1 Pitt Panthers play basketball, sit and muse about how you can address health information access issues in your community or enhance the technology skills and knowledge of the health providers or librarians in your institution or your state. Then fill out the applications found under the “Funding” link on the nnlm.gov/sea site.

We are looking forward to hearing from you. If you have questions, please call or email any of the SE/A coordinators or me.

The NN/LM SE/A has been very busy recently reading and reviewing award applications. As usual we received many more applications than we could fund, but we even with budget cuts, we did manage to fund quite a few projects. Some projects are still under review but here is a list of what has been funded through the middle of September.

Outreach Project Awards:

• University of Miami - Librarians and DOCS for Health Outreach
• Mountain AHEC – Health Information Prescriptions for Seniors outreach project
• University of South Carolina – Linking South Carolina Free Clinics to Quality Health Information
• Flager Hospital, St. Augustine, FL – Promoting Community Care through Access to Electronic Health information
• George Washington University – Health Information Partners 4
• Eastern Shore AHEC – Teen Health Initiative
• Johns Hopkins University - Current State of Access for Public Health Professionals
• University of Alabama Birmingham - Health Action Partnership

Technology Awareness Conferences:

• East Carolina University for an emerging technologies fair
• Mid-Atlantic Chapter/MLA for an electronic health record speaker/program at chapter meeting
• Southern Chapter/MLA for a technology speaker/program at chapter meeting

Exhibit Awards:

• University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library to exhibit at the “Making Connections for a Brighter Tomorrow” meeting, Greenwood, SC, August 13, 2008
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library to exhibit at the 2008 La Fiesta del Pueblo, Raleigh, NC, September 6-7, 2008
• Eastern Virginia Medical School Library to exhibit at the “Strong Roots for a Healthy Future Conference”, Newport News, VA, July 12, 2008
• University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library to exhibit at the South Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 2008 conference, Myrtle Beach, SC, October 8-10, 2008
• East Tennessee State University Medical Library to exhibit at the 2008 Tennessee Association of School Librarians, Cool Springs, TN, November 20-22, 2008
• Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine Library to exhibit at the 2008 Virginia Rural Health Association Meeting, Staunton, VA, November 5-7, 2008
• University of Alabama Birmingham Lister Hill Library to exhibit at the 2008 Fiesta fair, Birmingham, AL, October 18, 2008
• Mercer University Medical Library to exhibit at the 2008 Georgia Academy of Family Physicians 60th Annual Assembly, Atlanta, GA, November 6-7, 2008
• Three Rivers Regional Library System will exhibit at the 2008 Hispanic Festival & Health Fair, Mayo, FL, October 5, 2008
• NC State University Library of Veterinary Medicine to exhibit at the 2008 NC Veterinary Conference, Research Triangle Park, NC, , November 6-8, 2008

Training Awards:

• Dr. Cheryl Dee to provide an assessment of training needs in USVI, 2009
• Mercer University School of Medicine Library to train staff, consumers and health professionals in the Satilla Regional Library System service area, November, 2008

Express Library Technology Improvement Awards:

• Atlanta Medical Center
• Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, VA
• St Thomas Hospital, Nashville

Express Outreach Awards:

• University of Maryland Health Sciences & Human Services Library – Promoting Maryland Health Go Local and MedlinePlus to Maryland Residents
• Mercer University Medical Library – Strengthening Georgia Health-Go Local through Partnerships with Public Libraries
• Duke University Medical Center Library – The Kindle: A Novel Way to Increase Access to Medical Information in Community Clinics
• University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Preston Medical Library – Tennessee Consumer Health Information Outreach: A Simplified Plan Extended to Three Regions
• University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Preston Medical Library – Connecting Tennessee’s Lonesome Docs with Medical Libraries by Promoting Library Services and Loansome Doc
• East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine Library - Tennessee Consumer Health Information Outreach: A Simplified Plan Extended to Three Regions
• Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center – Promotion of Healthy Internet Searching in Schools
• University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library – Creating the InfoAble Portal
• Chesterfield County Public Library, VA – CCPL CHIP (Consumer health information project)
• Georgia Statewide AHEC Network – Finding Reliable health Information and Health Careers Sites on the Web: a High School Outreach Project

Library Improvement Project:

• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for Hughes Spalding Hospital

Welcome Award

• Greenwood LeFLore Hospital - Diabetes Library Learning Center

Express Planning and Assessment Awards:

• Tuscaloosa Public Library - Consumer Health Information Needs and Assessment Project
• United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham – Health Services Training for Individuals with Disabilities

Express Follow-up Award:

• MaFlo’s Health and Awareness Team- Community Training

Funding is still available for express disaster recovery, exhibit, and training awards as well as Go Local projects.  Applications for express library technology improvement awards will be accepted from hospital libraries through September 30. If funding remains, we will accept applications from other Network members after that date. For more funding information see http://nnlm.gov/sea/funding/.

by Terri Ottosen, Consumer Health Outreach Coordinator

Have you ever heard one of your Regional Medical Library staff members mention a funding opportunity with us at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and wondered whether you should apply? Perhaps you know of us, but are curious to know more. A new online tutorial is available on the NN/LM SE/A web site, the first in a series called “Wishing Well”. Envisioned as an objective in the 2006-2011 contract with the National Library of Medicine, this series of tutorials is intended to serve as an introduction to the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and to instruct potential funding seekers to the specific step-by-step instructions for applying, implementing and concluding an outreach project.

Part 1 of the series, entitled “Wishful Thinking”, has been completed and is now on our web site and located at http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/wishingwell/part1/part1.htm. This tutorial is an introduction to the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Southeastern Atlantic Region and covers general funding ideas including partnership tips and how to write a good proposal. It is intended to help community, faith-based and other organizations learn about the benefits of partnering with libraries, such as, how to find a partner and how to create a successful partnership.

The tutorial was created by Mandy Meloy, Community Outreach Coordinator and Terri Ottosen, Consumer Health Outreach Coordinator to assist network members and potential network members interested in receiving funding to provide outreach to their community. This tutorial uses Adobe Captivate software and is available to anyone with high-speed Internet access. Slides can be viewed and/or listened to using a computer with speakers. Future tutorials planned are outlined below.

Part 2, “Be Careful for What You Wish For”, is the second tutorial and it gets even deeper into the funding process and is intended for people planning a full outreach project.  This level covers the full proposal including outlines, examples, templates, and samples of good proposals to review. Wording and the elements of a good proposal such as researching, community needs assessments, and outcomes will be provided in this training.  Other topics include management of time, staff, and resources. Part of the “Measuring the Difference Guide to Planning and Evaluating Health Information Outreach,” developed by NN/LM and NLM staff, will be used. The training will cover the NN/LM funding process specifically.

Part 3, entitled, “Your Wish is Granted”, is the third part of the series and is intended for those whose proposals have been accepted and funded.  Once an award is made, an organization may ask - “Now what?”  This training covers the steps of ordering equipment and other items needed for your project, an introduction to the NN/LM staff, how to enter an Outreach Activity Reporting Form (OARF) into the system, and how to write reports.  Reporting will cover the report schedule, how to structure and how to submit the reports.  Anyone who has been awarded funding from us could benefit from taking this online tutorial.

Part 4, entitled “Was Your Wish Fulfilled?”  is the final part of the series and covers the last part of the funding process including evaluating the project, ideas for future projects, and sustainability. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the project will be reviewed for awardees. This training is suitable for Network members having completed or are near completing a full outreach project.

For details on the entire series of tutorials planned, please visit this page on our site: http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/wishingwell/

To view Part 1, Wishful Thinking, of the tutorial series, please visit: http://nnlm.gov/sea/training/wishingwell/part1/part1.htm

Year 03 express funding opportunities for SE/A network members were announced on June 12. Available for application are: express outreach, express library technology improvement, express planning and assessment, express follow-up, and Welcome awards. Also available are the exhibit and training awards. New this year is the disaster recovery award, which we sincerely hope we will not need to fund.

Please note, we have eliminated the library improvement award due to budget cuts and Go Local project funding is still available. See http://nnlm.gov/sea/funding/ for complete details.

There are various closing dates so read carefully the award description before completing the application. Also note there is some additional information concerning equipment purchases, especially mobile technology.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call 1-800-338-7657or email our office.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the solicitation of quotations from organizations and libraries to design and conduct projects that will improve access to HIV/AIDS related health information for patients, the affected community, and their caregivers.

Projects must involve one or more of the following information access categories:

• Information retrieval
• Skills development
• State-of-the-art resources
• Resource development
• Document Access.

Emphasis is placed upon the following types of organizations or arrangements for developing these programs:

• Community-based organizations (CBOs) or patient advocacy groups currently providing HIV/AIDS related serves to the affected community
• Public libraries serving communities in the provision of HIV/AIDS-related information and resources
• Health departments or other local, municipal, or state agencies working to improve public health
• Faith-based organizations currently providing HIV/AIDS-related services
• Multi-type consortia of the above-listed organizations that may be in existence or formed specifically for this project.

Standard Awards are offered for up to $60,000. Express Awards are offered for up to $10,000.

Quotations are due to NLM on Monday, June 16, 2008.

The solicitation for the 2008 AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects is posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/hiv/2008aidsrfq.html .

Previously funded AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects are posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/aids_cio_projects.html .

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the Request for Quotations (RFQ) or submission of the proposal, please contact Robin Hope-Williams, the NLM Contracting Officer, at (301) 496-6546 or email to: rhwilli@mail.nih.gov.

The national NN/LM web site funding pages have been updated. The main funding page includes Regional Funding links, NLM and NIH information. http://nnlm.gov/funding/ In addition to the main page, there are: Funding Beyond the NLM and NN/LM http://nnlm.gov/funding/grants.html and Proposal Writing Support http://nnlm.gov/funding/support.html

Find out what’s been funded in the Southeastern Atlantic region, and elsewhere by querying the NN/LM Projects Database at http://nnlm.gov/funding/database.html.