NEH Preservation Grants at Kalamazoo College Michigan Archival Association Annual Meeting Stacy 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