National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services Invite Grant Applications for New Digital Innovation Program, "Advancing Knowledge"

WASHINGTON (December 20, 2006)–The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invite applications to a new digital humanities grant competition sponsored by the two federal agencies. The new grant program, "Advancing Knowledge: The IMLS/NEH Digital Partnership," seeks applications for innovative, collaborative humanities projects using the latest digital technologies for the benefit of the American public, humanities scholarship, and the nation's cultural community.

"The NEH partnership with the IMLS, which is one of five new programs launched under the Endowment's Digital Humanities Initiative, should accelerate the development of new technological tools and applications to the study of the humanities," said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. "Our ultimate goal is to make more education and scholarly resources more broadly available to more people."

"This partnership and this new grant competition hold great promise for our nation's libraries and museums," said IMLS Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice. "Libraries and museums connect people to information and ideas; these grants will spur innovation and new collaborations, and they will advance the role of cultural repositories in online teaching, learning, and research."

Chairman Cole and Director Radice announced in late September that the two federal agencies together will dedicate $1.5 million to Advancing Knowledge. In announcing the partnership, they noted that digital technology developments to support science research are outpacing the development of such advances for the humanities. Both agree that the collaboration of the two federal agencies can help turn that around. Through this new partnership, NEH and IMLS will help teachers, scholars, museums, and libraries take advantage of developing technology. Successful projects funded through this partnership will explore new ways to share, examine, and interpret humanities collections in a digital environment and develop new uses and audiences for existing digital resources.

Grants awarded through Advancing Knowledge will bring together museum, library, archives, and IT professionals with humanities scholars to use innovative approaches in digital technology to provide new perspectives on humanities collections, offer new interpretive contexts, and allow existing resources to be widely shared. Nonprofit institutions interested in applying can find guidelines online at www.neh.gov. The deadline for applications to the Advancing Knowledge grant program is March 27, 2007, and applications must be submitted through www.Grants.gov. The first awards will be announced in late summer.

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute helps create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. It works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organization to enhance learning and innovation; sustain heritage, culture and knowledge; and support professional development.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities. NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge, and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, museum exhibitions, and programs in libraries and other community places.