FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
September 28, 2006
Institute of Museum and Library Services and National
Endowment for the Humanities Partner to Spur Innovation
Washington, DC--Dr. Anne-Imelda
M. Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, and Dr. Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities, announced today that they
will dedicate $1.5 million to Advancing Knowledge: The
IMLS/NEH Digital Partnership. Through this new partnership,
IMLS and NEH are joining together to help teachers, scholars,
museums and libraries take advantage of developing technology.
These new digital tools will aid in the discovery and
dissemination of new knowledge about our past and our
culture. The announcement was made at the ninth meeting
of the National Museum and Library Services Board.
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| Dr. Radice and Dr. Cole sign the
partnership agreement. Click image for larger view.
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The NEH and IMLS partnership creates a new
funding opportunity—Advancing Knowledge: The IMLS/NEH
Digital Partnership. These grants will bring together
museum, library, archives, and IT professionals with humanities
scholars to spur innovative projects. In addition, IMLS
and NEH will work together to encourage libraries, museums
and cultural institutions to take part in NEH Digital
Humanities Start-Up Grants.
Dr. Radice noted that, “We are eager
to get this partnership with the National Endowment for
the Humanities underway. Libraries and museums connect
people to information and ideas. These grants will be
a catalyst for innovation and new collaborations.”
Dr. Cole said, “Our partnership with
the Institute of Museum and Library Services will combine
our agencies’ talents to find new ways for digital
technology to advance humanities scholarship and education.
The ultimate goal is to make more resources more broadly
available to more people.”
They noted that digital technology developments
to support science research are outpacing the development
of such advances for the humanities. Collaborative work
of the two federal agencies can help turn that around.
Advancing Knowledge: The IMLS/NEH Digital Partnership
will encourage digital scholarship, develop and maintain
open standards and robust tools, and create extensive
and reusable digital collections.
IMLS and NEH staff will jointly develop and distribute
the grant guidelines for the new Advancing Knowledge:
The IMLS/NEH Digital Partnership. The release of the guidelines
is scheduled for early 2007. Applicants will use Grants.gov
to apply electronically to the grant program.
NEH’s Digital Humanities Start-Up
Grants are intended to encourage scholars with new ideas
that incorporate new ways of using technology in the humanities.
The Start-Up Grants with applications deadlines in 2006
and 2007 will support the planning or initial stages of
digital humanities in research, publication, preservation,
access, teacher training, and dissemination in informal
or formal educational settings.
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