Arts and Sciences faculty can apply for digital grants

Since its start in 2010, the Grants Program for Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences has helped to digitize a range of Cornell collections, from Nepali texts to images of gems and amulets to glacial photography.

College of Arts and Sciences faculty are invited to submit new proposals to digitize Cornell collections to make hidden treasures freely available around the world. This year, for the first time, graduate students in the college are also invited to apply. The deadline for expressing initial interest is Jan. 31.

The program, funded by the College of Arts and Sciences and coordinated by Cornell University Library, has helped more than two dozen faculty members place collections online in support of learning and research.

Cross-disciplinary collaborations have also involved faculty from other colleges, including Agriculture and Life Sciences and Human Ecology, for the digitization of historic photographs of Alaska and Greenland, and the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection, respectively.

Eligible collections may include those already held by the library, belonging to individual faculty members or other institutions. Library staff can work with faculty members to prepare proposals and help with technical plans.

“Through the use of innovative methodologies, this program expands our digital primary material collections for research and teaching and also contributes to the burgeoning field of scholarship in the digital humanities,” said Associate University Librarian Oya Rieger, co-chair of the digital grants program.

“The success of the program lies in the collaboration between Arts and Sciences faculty and the library,” said Eric Rebillard, professor of classics and a program co-chair.

Full grant proposals are due March 11. More information about the grants, applications and eligibility criteria can be found here.

Melanie Lefkowitz is a staff writer and editor at Cornell University Library. 

This article also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.