In research, documents and artifacts must be discoverable online to have the broadest impact. Continuing to recognize this need, the Grants Program for Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences is now in its 11th year of funding projects to create digital collections that are accessible to all researchers.
Faculty and graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences are invited to express initial interest by Feb. 15 and submit full proposals by March 15. Materials for digitization can come from personal collections, the library or other institutions.
“This program remains a rich collaboration between the library and the College of Arts and Sciences, and it has led to the availability of rich, interdisciplinary content to catalyze the scholarly world at Cornell and beyond,” said Tre Berney, chair of the program’s advisory group and director of Digitization and Conservation Services at Cornell University Library.
Since its founding in 2010, the grants program has supported 48 projects, providing funding and the expertise of the library’s digitization experts, conservationists, metadata specialists and curators. Five projects were selected from a dozen applications last year; recently completed projects include a collection of pamphlets on nuclear fallout and a collection of postcards of female and male impersonators from the 1900s.
“The grants program has been central to my academic and professional development,” said Dusti Bridges, a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology, who is working with anthropology professor Kurt Jordan on creating a digital collection of Seneca Haudenosaunee archaeological materials, circa 1688-1754. Their project draws from the technical expertise of the library and the wisdom of the Seneca Haudenosaunee community.
“Since our initial consultation with community partners, I’ve sought to consider carefully the place of this project within the discourses of archaeology, colonialism and the historical disregard of ownership and rights to heritage of descendant indigenous communities,” Bridges said. “The incredible resources of the library and the digital collections program have allowed us to develop a website that incorporates the recommendations and wishes of our community partners.”
More information on how to apply is on the Digital Consulting and Production Services (DCAPS) website.
