Feature Stories

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) $117,567 for research on how to build capacity for data curation within disciplines. The project will be managed by the Digital Library Federation (DLF). The project will consist of three interrelated activities. The first will be an environmental scan of professional development needs, and of education and training opportunities for digital curation in the academy. The second will be an anthropological study of five sites where digital curation activities are under way. The third will be a report that analyzes the results of the two research efforts and includes a proposal, informed by the findings, for amending the curriculum for CLIR’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries program.

More information can be found here.

Round two of the Digging into Data Challenge, a grant competition designed to spur cutting edge research in the humanities and social sciences, was announced on March 16, 2011.  This year, 8 funders are participating enabling this competition to have a world-wide reach into many different scholarly and scientific domains.

For round two, the Digging into Data Challenge is encouraging digital library participants, not only as grant applicants, participating on research teams, but also as content providers, making their collections available to research teams. A list of current data providers is located here.

Final applications will be due June 16, 2011.

Further information about the competition and the application process can be found at www.diggingintodata.org.

The Digging into Data Challenge is being administered by the Office of Digital Humanities at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Thank you so much for participating in the 2012 DLF Forum Location Poll.

By an overwhelming majority (74 of 130 votes), Denver will be the location of the 2012 DLF Forum, which will be held Saturday November 3rd – Tuesday November 6th, 2012. Note, this coincides with Election Day (November 6th), so please remember to make plans accordingly.

Where would you like the DLF Forum to be held in 2012? We would love your input to inform the decision process for future forum dates and location. We have narrowed the selection down to 3 venues and dates:

• Atlanta,Georgia, Loews Atlanta Hotel, Monday-Thursday, October 15-18. The Loews Atlanta is the newest Midtown Atlanta hotel – open just about a year at this time. This neighborhood, just north of downtown is the most up and coming area in Atlanta.
• Houston, Texas, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Monday-Thursday, October 15-18 or 22-25. The Hyatt Regency Houston is located directly downtown giving guests access to all that the city offers.
• Denver, Colorado, The Westin Tabor Center, Saturday-Tuesday, November 3-6. This date will dovetail Educause, scheduled for Denver November 6-9. Located in renowned Lower Downtown Denver, the Westin is only a stroll away from the 16th Street pedestrian mall, Denver Center for Performing Arts, Convention Center, museums and entertainment.

The survey is now open and will be active until Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Thanks for your help!