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Programs and Research : Research grant program

OCLC/ALISE Library & Information Science Research Grant Program (LISRGP)

2009 Call for Proposals

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Incorporated and OCLC Programs and Research, in collaboration with the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), announce the Library and Information Science Research Grant Program (LISRGP) for 2009 and invite research proposals.

Program description

In recognition of the importance of research to the advancement of librarianship and information science, OCLC and ALISE promote independent research that helps librarians integrate new technologies into areas of traditional competence and contributes to a better understanding of the library environment.

Project funding

The LISRGP provides grant awards of up to $15,000. Monies can be applied to the following costs:

  • Release time from teaching for the principal investigator
  • Research assistants
  • Project-related travel
  • Equipment, if integral to the research
  • Other research expenses

Staff training, general operating or overhead expenses, and other indirect costs are not funded.

Guarantees of cost sharing are not required, although institutional support of projects is anticipated. All costs must be clearly defined in the budget portion of the proposal.

Capital equipment cost should be prorated if the useful life of the equipment extends beyond the end of the project.

Project duration

LISRGP-supported projects are expected to be conducted within approximately one year from the date of the award. Projects should be planned to begin in January 2009.

Eligibility

Full-time academic faculty (or equivalent) in schools of library and information science are eligible to apply. OCLC and ALISE encourage international proposals and collaborative projects under this program. To aid new researchers, priority will be given when possible to proposals from junior faculty and applicants who have not previously received LISRGP funds. Proposals must be signed by the principal investigator, by the dean/director (or equivalent) of the school, and by an authorized official of the university.

Research agenda

A research agenda has been developed from the OCLC research project priorities and the literature. Priority will be given to those research proposals related to these general areas of study.

  • Metadata management
  • Knowledge organization
  • Content management
  • Collection and user analysis
  • Interoperability
  • Systems and service architecture

Additional information about OCLC research is available on this Web site www.oclc.org/programsandresearch/. Specific pages that may be of interest to grant applicants include:

Some examples of research questions are:

  • How do people use information sources?
  • Why do people use information sources?
  • Do people seek, understand, and use information delivered in digital format differently from that delivered on paper?
  • How and why do people use libraries?
  • How can we evaluate the effectiveness of library services?
  • When and why is virtual reference used?
  • How do users evaluate their virtual reference experience?
  • What are the costs of electronic materials and what are libraries spending annually on these materials?
  • What are the roles of information institutions in providing access to information?
  • What resources will digital resource users want and how will they use them?
  • What elements are required for a coherent preservation strategy covering resources both digital and traditional?
  • What changes need to be made to accommodate scholarly communication in the digital environment, i.e., open-access repositories, metadata systems, archiving processes, etc.?
  • What is needed to educate librarians and information professionals who are able to provide resources and services to information users?

Proposal review procedures

Proposals are evaluated by a panel selected by OCLC and ALISE. Occasionally, proposals may be distributed to additional expert reviewers selected by OCLC and ALISE who may advise the panel. The panel's recommendations are forwarded to the vice president of OCLC Programs and Research, for final review and funding decisions. The decisions of the vice president of OCLC Programs and Research are final. When a decision to award a grant has been made, a research project monitor is assigned by OCLC Programs and Research. The research project monitor serves as the point of contact for the LISRGP recipient during the duration of the project.

Reviewers consider the following criteria, among others, when evaluating proposals:

  • Does the proposal meet the formal criteria as laid out in the Call for Proposals? Proposals not meeting formal criteria will not be further evaluated and will not be funded. This includes length of proposal, margin and font-size specifications, presence of requested signatures, eligibility of requesting institution, presence of budget and description of role of all investigators.
  • Is the project clearly described, the problem well defined, and the research objectives clearly stated?
  • Is there sufficient review of literature?
  • Is the proposed methodology appropriate and are the investigative procedures clearly explained?
  • What is the significance of the proposed research to either the library and information science community as a whole or to OCLC specifically?
  • Are sufficient resources available? Do the people proposing the research appear capable of conducting the research? Is institutional commitment to support the project apparent?

Publication of findings

As a condition of the grant, researchers must furnish OCLC a final project report in digital format within 60 days of the completion date indicated on the proposal cover page. The results of the research must be nonproprietary and in the public domain. OCLC and ALISE may elect to publish and distribute all or portions of the report without restriction. The final project report will be available on the OCLC Programs and Research Web site.

The report should:

  • Explain why the research is innovative or provide a framework or conceptual model referencing related research reported in the literature
  • Describe the scope and methodology employed for the research,including completed phases of the research with dates
  • Explain the data analyses and discuss the findings of the research
  • Describe outcomes or outputs of the research with dates, such as papers, presentations, or publications
  • Suggest future research based on the results of the project
  • Include a budget report

If a paper describing the research methodology and findings is accepted for publication in a journal, a cover letter briefly explaining the research outcomes and a pre-print of the published paper, or a link to the network-accessible journal, must be submitted to OCLC Programs and Research for inclusion on the Web site. Researchers must include, or cause to be included, recognition of the OCLC/ALISE LISRGP grant in all publications of research results from the LISRGP-funded project.

Application procedures

To apply, complete and submit the following items. (A printable checklist (PDF:25K/1p.) is available to assist you in assembling your application package.)

  1. OCLC/ALISE LISRGP proposal cover page (PDF:33K/1pp.). The principal investigator, dean/director (or equivalent) of the school, and an authorized official of the university must sign the proposal cover page.
  2. A research proposal that
    • Describes the nature, scope, and method of the proposed research
    • Explains why the research is innovative through reference to related research reported in the literature
    • Proposes the anticipated significance of the research to library and information science
    • Identifies methods that will be used to measure the success of the project
    • Suggests future research based on the anticipated results of the project
    • Briefly notes dissemination plans
    • Double-space the proposal with a minimum of .5" margins and a font size of at least 10-point.
  3. Detailed budget in US dollars that clearly identifies the funding requested and institutional cost sharing. Equipment and travel requests must be explicitly justified.
  4. Additional supporting materials such as curricula vitae of project staff, bibliography, project schedule, letters of support. The role and contribution of all investigators should be clearly specified.
  5. The cover page, proposal, budget, and supporting materials must not exceed 20 pages.

Submitting proposals

  1. Scan paper documents and convert digital files as necessary.
    • The preferred format for proposal submissions is .pdf (Adobe's Portable Document Format).
    • If it is not possible to provide .pdf files, the following formats are also acceptable:
      • .bmp
      • .doc
      • .gif
      • .jpg or .jpeg
      • .rtf
      • .tif or .tiff
      • .txt
      • .wps
      • .wri
      • .xls
  2. Verify the completeness of your application by using the checkboxes on the online submission form.
  3. Attach the following items to the online checklist page:
    • signed and scanned cover page
    • proposal
    • supporting materials.
  4. Submit your application electronically by clicking the button at the bottom of the checklist.
  • The deadline for submission is 23:59:59 your local time on 15 September 2008.
  • Questions or clarifications may be addressed to ResearchWeb@oclc.org, prior to 18:00:00 EDT 15 September 2008.

Application deadline

Applications must be submitted by 23:59:59 your local time on 15 September 2008. Receipt will be acknowledged. Late applications will be disqualified.

Grant recipients will be notified by the end of December 2008 and announced at the 2009 ALISE Annual Conference, 20-23 January 2009, in Denver, Colorado.

Previous recipients and final papers are available at: www.oclc.org/programsandresearch/grants/awarded.htm.

About the sponsors

OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Incorporated is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs. More than 60,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials. www.oclc.org

ALISE is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote excellence in research, teaching, and service for library and information science educators through leadership, collaboration, advocacy and dissemination of research. www.alise.org

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Updated 30 January 2008