NEH Preservation Grants at Kalamazoo College

Michigan Archival Association Annual MeetingStacy Nowicki, Ph.D., J.D.

June 20, 2013

About Kalamazoo College

The Kalamazoo College Archives

Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions

Grant Application

• Narrative (5 pages)• Staff résumés• Budget (1 page)

• Samples on the NEH website!

Grant Application: Narrative Questions

• What activities would the grant support? • What are the content and size of the collections? • How are the collections used? • What is the nature and mission of your institution?• Has your institution ever had a preservation or

conservation assessment? • What is the importance of this project to the

institution?

NEH Grant #1: Preservation Assessment

• Asked for an expert to assess our collection – Eric Alstrom, MSU

• Outcome: Assessment Report

NEH Grant #2: Filling Recommendations

• Purchase preservation supplies

• Focus on scrapbooks, blueprints

The old way

The new way

NEH Grant #3: Filling Recommendations (Again)

• Focus on A/V materials

NEH Grant #4: Filling Recommendations (Yet again)

• Narrowed focus to Images

Tip #1: Make your collection nationally significant

Your collection is a microcosm of national history

• Daily life in a growing Midwest town

• Experience of small liberal arts college life

 

Tip#2: Tell a story

• NO: “Pictures of students and faculty”

• YES: “These images record the social history of the College, including athletic events, social events, buildings, and campus life from the 1950’s to the 1990’s.”

Tip #3: Answer “so what?”

NO: “This grant will improve preservation and access”

YES: • We will improve our knowledge of our collection

and therefore give better service• Better storage makes collections more

accessible and therefore more used• Our materials will last for the long term

Tip #4: Don’t reinvent the wheel

NEH website includes:• Narratives of funded

projects• Sample budget

Ask funded institutions for their applications

Questions?

Stacy Nowicki

Stacy.Nowicki@kzoo.edu

269-337-5750