Digital Scholarship Seminar

NITLEJanuary 2011

Summary

• About the Endowment– Our grant-making divisions, partners, and

initiatives• About the Office of Digital

Humanities– Goals of the Office– Topics and methods of successful projects

• Application & Writing Strategies– Tips and Strategies

NEH Grant-making Divisions & Offices

Challenge Grants

Office of Digital Humanities

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Office of Digital Humanities – grants to support innovative start-up technology projects, training in digital humanities methods, and collaborative (national / international) technology projects.

Office of Challenge Grants – matching grants for infrastructure (buildings, endowments).

Division of Research Programs – grants to scholars and institutions for research projects (individual & collaborative).

Division of Education Programs – grants for seminars for teachers, curriculum development, & learning resources.

Division of Public Programs – grants for museum exhibits, library programs, & media projects (e.g. documentary films).

Division of Preservation & Access – grants for preserving and providing access to humanities materials; digitization; development of reference materials.

Office of Digital Humanities (ODH)

• In 2006, the NEH launched the Digital Humanities Initiative (DHI) to help coordinate efforts in supporting and promoting digital humanities scholarship, teaching, and learning.

• In March of 2008, DHI was made into a permanent NEH office under the new name “Office of Digital Humanities” (ODH).

Recommendations from ACLS Cyberinfrastructure Report

(2006)• Federal funding agencies and private foundations

should establish programs that develop and support expertise in digital humanities… (Our Cultural Commonwealth, p. 6.)

• Universities and university consortia should develop new and support existing humanities and social sciences computing centers. (p. 6)

• NSF, NEH, IMLS, the Mellon Foundation, and other funding agencies should support the development of tools for the analysis of digital content. (p. 7)

• The NEA, NEH, and IMLS should work together to promote collaboration…. (p. 7)

Core ODH Grant Programs

• Start-Up Grants– Developing innovative practices (analysis,

communication, education)

• Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities– Developing expertise

• DFG/NEH Bilateral Digital Humanities Grants– Developing collaboration– Building infrastructure (data, tools, people)

• Digging Into Data– What do you do with a million….?

Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants

• Deadlines: February and September/October 2011

• Designed to encourage innovations in the digital humanities.

• Relatively low-dollar grants during the planning stages– Level 1: up to $25,000

• Proof-of-concept, initial stages, brainstorming

– Level 2: from $25,001 to $50,000• Prototyping

Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants

• Research that brings new approaches or documents best practices in the study of the digital humanities.

• Planning and prototyping new digital tools for preserving, analyzing, and making accessible digital resources, including libraries' and museums' digital assets.

• Scholarship that examines the philosophical implications and impact of the use of emerging technologies.

• Innovative uses of technology for scholarly communication, including formal and informal learning, as well as new models of publication.

T-PEN

Automated encoding; XML toolbox

Editing tools: dictionaries, unicode character sets, abbreviation guides, etc.

Digital image

12

MITH API Workshop

A two-day workshop focused on studying the integration of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) into digital humanities projects, and working collaboratively to prototype uses of APIs during a “working weekend.”

Will include DH developers, project managers, and workshop leaders

Andrew J. Torget, University of North Texas

Rada Mihalcea, University of North TexasJon Christensen, Stanford University

MAPPING HISTORICAL TEXTS:

Combining Text-Mining & Geo-Visualization to Unlock the Research Potential of Historical Newspapers

Text-Minin

g

Digital Mappin

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Profound

Insights

Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital

Humanities• Supports national or regional (multi-state) training programs on applications and approaches in humanities computing

• Brings together humanities scholars and digital technology specialists from different disciplines to share ideas and methods that advance humanities research through the use of digital technologies

• Prepares current and future generations of humanities scholars to design, develop, and use cyber-based tools and environments for researchDeadline for applications to direct: February 16, 2011

InstitutesInstitute for the Digital Humanities Adrienne Russell & Lynn Clark, University of

Denver – A series of three workshops held over 18 months for

twenty humanities faculty and advanced graduate students on the use of digital media in scholarship and teaching.

– Applications were due in December 2010

Computer Simulations in the Humanities Martin Croy, University of North Carolina,

Charlotte– A three week institute and follow up activities on the

use of computer simulations and modeling techniques in the humanities for twenty four humanities scholars.

– Applications were due in November 2010

Institutes

NINES Summer Workshops: Emerging Issues in Digital Scholarship

Andrew Stauffer, University of Virginia – A two year series of summer workshops engaging

scholars and institutional administrators in concerns relating to peer review and evaluation of digital scholarship in the humanities.

– Applications were due December 1, 2010– Next call for application will be announced in Fall 2011

InstitutesInstitute for Globally Networked Learning in

the HumanitiesJon Rubin, SUNY, Albany

– A three year institute for 60 humanities scholars and staff that includes a three day workshop, online discussion, and a capstone conference on developing international team taught courses in the humanities.

– Applications due April 29, 2011

Broadening the Digital Humanities: The Vectors CTS Summer Institute on Digital Approaches to American Studies

Philip Ethington, University of Southern California – A four week summer institute to explore ways digital

scholarship and new media publication can advance research in the fields of American Studies and Ethnic Studies.

– Applications due February 1, 2011

DFG/NEH Bilateral DH Grants

• Designed to spur collaborations between US and German institutions to explore topics in the digital humanities. Applicants must apply as a team.

• Initiating or intensifying contact between distinguished scholars, junior researchers, scientists, librarians, information professionals, and others working on humanities projects.

Deadline: To Be Announced

Symposia/Workshops• The "Big Digs" Go Digital (American

School of Classical Studies at Athens and the German Archaeological Institute), on the application of digital technologies to better preserve, study, and make accessible the data from large-scale, long-term archaeological digs.

• Digital Music Notation Data Model and Prototype Delivery System (University of Virginia and Universities of Paderborn and Detmold), on developing methods, standards, and software for a scholarly music notation system.

Digging into Data• Seeks to answer the question: “What do

you do with a million books?”• Apply data analysis techniques to large

collections of diverse cultural heritage resources

• An international grant competition sponsored by four leading research agencies: JISC, NEH, NSF, SSHRC (perhaps additional ones in the future)

• Applications must be submitted by teams of researchers involving at least two of the countries represented by the funders

• Deadline: To Be Announced Soon

Railroads & the Making of Modern America

• William Thomas, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NEH

• Richard Healey, University of Portsmouth, JISC

• Key point: Even institutions that don’t receive a grant may well continue to work together. These joint calls-for-proposals serve as a motivator and stamp of approval for international collaboration

US Partnerships• National Science

Foundation – Digging into Data– Tools Curation

• Institute for Museum and Library Services– Start-Up Grants – Tools Curation

• Department of Energy– Humanities High

Performance Computing

www.neh.gov/odh

Library of Funded Projects

Other NEH Grant Opportunities

• Division of Preservation & Access – grants for preserving and providing access to humanities materials; digitization; development of reference materials

• Division of Research Programs – grants to scholars and institutions for research projects (individual & collaborative)

• Division of Public Programs – grants for museum exhibits, library programs, & media projects (e.g. documentary films)

• Division of Education Programs – grants for seminars for teachers, curriculum development, & learning resources

• Office of Challenge Grants – matching grants for infrastructure (buildings, endowments)

Application Strategies

How do I apply?

Step One: Visit the NEH website (www.neh.gov) and READ THE GUIDELINES.

How do I apply?

Really— Read the Guidelines.

• Get samples and/or ask questions• Draft your application and get

someone to read it. • Submit your application by the

deadline and wait…these things take time.

Additional Stages of Review

• The Staff • The National Council on

the Humanities• The Chairman –

Jim Leach, who previously spent 30 years representing southeastern Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives & the John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University

Improve your chances for success

• Read applications for your institution

• Become a panelist or reviewer

• Ask the staff to comment on a draft application

• Ask for sample proposals

Improve your chances for success

• Panelists will only know you’re applying again if you tell them; bitter words about a previous submission usually distract from your argument and take up space

• Get a “why” or “why-not” letter with verbatim comments made by the panelists

• Reapply

NEH peer review

Some common misconceptions about peer-review

• The same panelist kills my application year after year

• Only certain schools or institutions are funded

• Panelists don’t understand my field• You have to know someone at NEH to get

a grant• My application won’t get funded because

NEH doesn’t fund new approaches or work in my field

• Only senior scholars get funded• It’s too early

Spell-Checker

Eye halve a spelling chequer;It came with my pea sea.

It plainly marques four my revue;Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word;And weight four it two say.

Weather eye am wrong oar write,It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid,It nose bee fore two long.

And eye can put the error rite, Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it;I am shore your pleased two no.Its letter perfect awl the weigh;

My chequer tolled me sew.

Sauce Unknown

Spelling andNeatnessCount!

Other Opportunities

• MacArthur Foundation – Digital Media and Learning Competition

• American Council of Learned Societies – Digital Innovation Fellowships

• Institute of Museum and Library Services– National Leadership Grants

• National Science Foundation

Remember!

We’re here to help!

Thank you!• General e-mail address:

odh@neh.gov

• Brett Bobley, Directorbbobley@neh.gov

• Michael Hall, Program Officermhall@neh.gov

• Jason Rhody, Program Officerjrhody@neh.gov

• Jennifer Serventi, Program Officer

jserventi@neh.gov

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Digital Scholarship Seminar

NITLEJanuary 2011