Funding for Audio Preservation

Recordings at Risk is a national regranting program administered by CLIR to support the preservation of rare and unique audio and audiovisual content of high scholarly value through digital reformatting.

NEWS!   The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded CLIR $2,807,000 to continue its regranting program to digitize “at-risk” audio and audiovisual materials of high scholarly value. The program will run four competitions between May 2019 and April 2021, awarding a total of $2.2 million.

Audio and audiovisual recordings document vital, irreplaceable aspects of twentieth and twenty-first century life, but if the current generation of professionals fails to act, vast amounts of this history will be lost. Digital reformatting is currently the best available solution for ensuring the survival and utility of recorded content stored on fragile or obsolete media such as magnetic tape, grooved discs, cylinders, or film.

Open Competitions: Audio and/or Audiovisual Media  

Recordings at Risk encourages professionals who may be constrained by limited resources and/or technical expertise to take action against the threats of degradation and obsolescence. The program aims to help institutions identify priorities and develop practical strategies for digital reformatting, build relationships with partners, and raise awareness of best practices.

Awards from the open competitions will range from $10,000 to $50,000 and will cover costs of preservation reformatting for audio and/or audiovisual content by eligible institutions working independently or with qualified service providers.

CLIR’s review panelists will assess:

- the potential scholarly and public impact of proposed projects
- the urgency of undertaking the reformatting to avoid risk of loss
- the viability of applicants’ plans for long-term preservation
- the overall cost-effectiveness of the proposals

For Complete Information and Guidelines, visit CLIR Recordings at Risk 

Interested in working with NEDCC 
on a CLIR Recordings at Risk grant project?

Contact: 
Bryce Roe, NEDCC Manager of Audio Preservation Services
978-470-1010 ext. 237

Enabling New Scholarship through Increasing Access to Unique Materials

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has generously awarded the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funds to support the Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives program.

The purpose of this program is to digitize and provide access to non-digital collections of rare or unique content in cultural heritage institutions. Its aims are to enhance the emerging global digital research environment in ways that support new kinds of scholarship for the long term and to ensure that the full wealth of resources held by memory institutions becomes integrated with the open Web. 

The application process has two phases. The initial proposal round is open, and anyone interested in applying for a grant through this program must submit an initial proposal by April. The final proposal round is by invitation only. Only those applicants whose initial proposals have been approved by the program's review panel will be able to submit a final proposal.

Eligible Formats
The range of media that can be termed special collections or archives is not restricted. Increasingly, valuable collections are composed of many formats, from paper, moving images on film or video, all types of sound recordings, ephemera, specimens, electronic files or data sets, works of art, to myriad types of artifacts. 

What qualifies as a hidden collection?
For the purposes of this program, applicants must convincingly argue that their collections are "hidden" in the sense that they cannot be exploited for important scholarly work until they are fully digitized, discoverable and accessible.

For complete grant information and eligibility requirements:
See the Digitizing Hidden Collections application guidelines. CLIR has verified that reformatting of appropriate hidden audio collections using IRENE would be eligible under this grant.

QUESTIONS?

For questions which are not answered in the application guidelines, contact CLIR program staff at hiddencollections@clir.org. During the application period, CLIR accepts inquiries by e-mail only; no phone calls, please.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives supports projects that promote access to America’s historical records to encourage understanding of our democracy, history, and culture.

Program Overview:
NHPRC  seeks projects that ensure online public discovery and use of historical records collections.

QUESTIONS about the grant?

Contact: 
Alexander Lorch 
Director, Access to Historical Records
NHPRC
202-357-5101

Program Overview:
NHPRC  seeks projects that will significantly improve public discovery and use of major historical records collections.

The NHPRC welcomes collaborative projects, particularly for bringing together related records from multiple institutions. Projects that address significant needs in the field and result in replicable and scalable approaches will be more competitive. We also encourage organizations to actively engage the public in the work of the project.

Applicants should also consult Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects program, which has different requirements and award amounts.

QUESTIONS about the grant?

Contact: 
Alexander Lorch 
Director, Access to Historical Records
NHPRC
202-357-5101

The NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government, dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.  Grants for preservation and conservation projects are managed by its Division of Preservation and Access.

The NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program supports projects that provide an essential underpinning for scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities.  Funding from this program strengthens efforts to extend the life of collections materials and make their intellectual content widely accessible. Awards are also made to create various reference resources that facilitate the use of cultural materials.

The grants can also support digital reformatting of analog sound recordings, such as those appropriate for the IRENE technology, as well as initial planning and prototyping activity that might be important in certain cases, in order to establish a clear blueprint for full implementation.

NEH HCRR Foundations Grant Category

To help in the formative stages of initiatives to preserve and create access to humanities collections or to produce reference resources, grants of up to $40,000 will support planning, assessment, and pilot activities that incorporate expertise from a mix of professional domains. These projects might encompass efforts to prepare for establishing intellectual control of collections, to solidify collaborative frameworks and strategic plans for complex digital reference resources, or to produce preliminary versions of online collections or resources.

QUESTIONS about the grant?

Contact NEH's Division of Preservation and Access at:
(202) 606-8570 or preservation@neh.gov  

The GRAMMY Museum is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for their 2020 grant cycle. With funding generously provided by the Recording Academy®, the GRAMMY Museum Grant Program awards grants each year to organizations and individuals for audio preservation projects, as well as scientific research efforts. The program’s aim is to advance the archiving of the recorded sound heritage of the Americas and to explore the impact of music on the human condition.

Grant funds have been utilized to preserve private collections as well as materials at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and numerous colleges and universities. Research projects have studied the links between music and early childhood education, treatments for illnesses and injuries common to musicians, and the impact of music therapy. To date, more than $7 million in grants have been awarded to over 400 recipients.

Preservation Projects

The GRAMMY Museum Grant Program awards grants to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of the music and recorded sound heritage of North America.

The  Preservation area has two funding categories. To determine under which category of preservation grant you should apply, please click here.
A. Preservation Implementation: $20,000 Maximum Award
B. Assistance, Assessment and/or Consultation: $5,000 Maximum Award

ELIGIBLE GRANT ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

• Preservation of original, pre-existing media and source material.
• Preservation projects which follow the recommended methodology
• Projects of historical, artistic, cultural and/or national significance
• Archiving projects including the rescue, organization of and access to pre-existing media and materials

More Information

The ARSC Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings was founded in 2004 (to begin in 2006) by Al Schlachtmeyer and the Board of Directors of ARSC to encourage and support the preservation of historically significant sound recordings of Western Art Music by individuals and organizations.

Projects for commercial as well as private, instantaneous recordings-such as providing a collection with proper climate control, moving a collection to facilities with proper storage conditions, re-sleeving a collection of discs, setting up a volunteer project to organize and inventory a stored collection, rescuing recordings from danger, or copying recordings on endangered or unstable media-as well as projects promoting public access to recordings will be considered. Collections may be based anywhere in the world (non-U.S. applicants are encouraged to apply). Both ARSC members and non-members are eligible for grants in amounts ranging from $2000 to $10,000.