JISC Funding for Museums, Galleries and Archives

Below is an extract from a 20 page outline of JISC funding proposals -
with a strand for Museums, Galleries and Archives.

Anyone interested in more information should contact:-
Alicia Wise, JISC Collections Manager, Kings College London, The Strand,
London WC2R 2LS: tel 0171 848 2556, fax 0171 848 1777, email
[log in to unmask]

David

*  *  *  *  *
Museums, Galleries and Archives
There is a great deal of interest in the role of museums, galleries and
archives in the lifelong learning society.  Many museums and galleries
have well-established education departments, and the museums community
has mobilised itself to participate in electronic curriculum development
for the National Grid for Learning. There have been fewer links so far
between museums and HE.

Proposals are invited for collaborations between university-based
museums, galleries or archives and lecturers in academic departments.
Many university-based organisations of these types have collections that
are directly relevant to the pedagogic activities in their institutions,
but few have been able to access enough IT to make their collections
accessible to learners and teachers.

Examples of possible projects include digitisation of images/metadata
from university-based museum, gallery or archive collections. It is a
pre-requisite that the bid is made in conjunction with academic partners
who are committed to using the resulting resources in UK HE classrooms
and also with a partner who will evaluate how this is done and how
successful it is. It is also essential that the appropriate intellectual
property issues are adequately addressed. This might require some
re-negotiation of licence terms.

A "town meeting" is planned between those contemplating proposals to
this Circular and JISC representatives, to allow discussion of the
programme and proposal requirements, with opportunities for extended
discussion. The meeting will be held on 16 December, 1999 .  It is
likely to be held in London but location may actually depend on the
numbers registering. 

To register for the event, please contact Ms Aarti Ubhi, eLib Programme
Office, University of Warwick Library, Coventry CV4 7AL: tel 01203
528137, fax 01203 524981, email [log in to unmask] 

Funding Arrangements

 JISC's funds are allocated annually by the funding councils, and they
are effectively obtained by a deduction from the block grants which
would otherwise have been paid direct to institutions.  This has
consequences for the pattern and composition of the awards which can be
made and account will need to be taken of the following points when
submitting bids for funds:
(i) Although the JISC intends to continue funding successful proposals
which run beyond the current year, those funds can only be fully
confirmed on an annual basis.
(ii) Proposals may be funded on the basis of staff and incidental costs.
These may include, for example, the equivalent costs of parts of posts,
the costs of additional staff recruited to cover the regular work of
those used on a project, and costs of consumables, production and
dissemination, travel, etc.
(iii) No individual institution (as distinct from the project itself or
the community as a whole), should gain any significant incidental
benefit from support by JISC, unless it can be shown that it would be
impossible for the project objectives to be achieved in any other way.
It follows that although, for example, hardware purchase and hardware
maintenance are eligible for support, such content in proposals will
need to be fully justified. It also follows that significant elements of
institutional support may be required to counter-balance the un-doubted
advantages some projects bring. Assurance of such support may be
required , eg in terms of the relationship of the proposal to
institutional Information Strategies and Learning & Teaching Strategies.
(iv) Support will not be provided for non-direct institutional overheads
in respect of any staff employed on a project; in general these costs
are provided for in existing grants from the funding councils.
(v) JISC support will not be provided in advance of need; while such
items as staff salaries will be covered by recurrent monthly payments,
significant equipment purchases will only be reimbursed against claims.
(vi) Institutions receiving funds will be accountable to JISC and the
funding bodies for their use and will be expected to provide regular
reports (interval to be specified by the Secretariat) on progress.

Projects can run for up to three years from 1 August 2000.  Some funding
may be available in advance of this date if required.
Proposal Requirements

Proposers are asked to present clearly how:
. institutional commitment will be secured and higher management
involved;
. project management and systems integration procedures will be selected
and implemented;
. users and relevant communities will be consulted.
. technologies to be incorporated will be selected;
. dissemination of results and learning from the project will take
place;
. associated human resource development will occur; and
. monitoring, evaluation, quality improvement and review procedures will
be established.

Agreements with partners from outside of the community and financial
arrangements (e.g. funding from commercial organisations) which can be
seen to offer overall benefits to UK HE and economies in the deployment
of JISC funds will be encouraged, but will need to be shown formally
with the breakdown of the total project cost.  Such arrangements should
not be at the expense of the main objectives of the service. Where
appropriate, JISC may suggest approaches to other bodies for joint
funding, but for logistical reasons direct application to two or more
funding bodies is not encouraged. The lead organisation must be a UK
HEI.

Proposals should be about 10 pages and should include the following:
(i) scope and purpose of the project set out clearly with precise
objectives and an explanation of how these will be met;
(ii) details of the proposed implementation plan, including 
· staffing requirements
· software 
· hardware
· standards
(iii) details of associated institutions in the consortia (if
applicable) outlining:
· proposed roles
· staffing details of each partner, including mini CVs of key staff
· other resource implications
· written commitment from institutions
(iv) project development details including
· project start date and length
· project management arrangements
· key dates for meeting objectives
· review mechanisms
· systems development methods
· arrangements for formative evaluation including user and community
feedback
(v) financial details including
· cost of project presented in academic years
· total budget profiled over life of project
· staff costs
· equipment costs (if appropriate)
· travel and subsistence (if appropriate)
· other costs attributable to the project
· other sources of funds (if applicable)
· evidence of "exit strategy" or "business plans" for project, or other
evidence of a plan for continuation
· strategy for future sustainable funding (if applicable)
· arrangements for dissemination of any products and reports
· evaluation of the project

JISC is interested in the possibilities and implications of involving
current research students and recent learners in these projects.

Projects receiving funding will be expected to adhere to JISC guidelines
in relation to steering groups, project planning, standards, annual
reporting and evaluation.

Selection criteria will include:
a) Understanding of requirement
b) Impact on the DNER and 
c) impact on the learning and teaching environment  in UK HE;
d) project management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
arrangements,
e) dissemination arrangements,
f) track record,
g) appropriate rights clearance,
h) proposal feasibility and technical matters,
i) institutional support and exit arrangements, and
j) value for money.
 
Responses must be received no later than close of business (5:00 pm) on
24 January 2000.

Ten copies of each full proposal must be provided.  Each hard copy
should be accompanied by a completed version of the cover sheet attached
at Annex A and any letters of support. Faxed, emailed or late proposals
will not be accepted. Submissions should be addressed as follows:
 Ms J Harrison
 Joint Information Systems Committee
 Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane
Bristol BS16 1QD

Checklist for Compiling a full JISC Proposal
The following checklist may be helpful in compiling a proposal to JISC.
· concentrate on meeting programme objectives
· demonstrate knowledge of problems facing HE and potential of IT in
alleviating these
· show that outcomes will provide benefit to HE learning community
· provide a range of relevant performance indicators and project
evaluation
· show potential for scaling up into full services for wide use across
HE community
· include continuation plans where appropriate
· demonstrate evidence of project management
· indicate the active support of participating institutions senior
management
· show awareness of the work of other related initiatives, services and
developments
· include detailed financial costings NOT including institutional
overheads

Further Information
General enquiries about this circular should be addressed to
Alice Colban, JCEI Secretary or Joanna Harrison, Assistant JCEI
Secretary, JISC Secretariat, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol,
BS16 1QD: tel 0117 9317257/7252, fax  0117 9317255,  email
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] Chris Rusbridge, eLib
Programme Director or Elizabeth Graham, eLib Development Coordinator,
eLib Programme Office, University of Warwick Library, Coventry CV4 7AL:
tel 01203 528137, fax 01203 524981, email [log in to unmask]
Alicia Wise, JISC Collections Manager, Kings College London, The Strand,
London WC2R 2LS: tel 0171 848 2556, fax 0171 848 1777, email
[log in to unmask]
 





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