LC Ditital Library Comptetition 1997-98

Wed Aug 13 09:52:29 EDT 1997

Sent to multiple lists. Please forgive the duplication.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRESS RELEASE

Contact: 
Guy Lamolinara, Library of Congress (202) 707-9217
Crystal Ashton, Ameritech Library Services (801) 223-5330

  GUIDELINES FOR 1997-98 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/AMERITECH
  NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY COMPETITION NOW AVAILABLE 

        The Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library
Competition Guidelines for 1997-98 are now available.  The Guidelines may be
used by any nonfederal, tax-exempt, nonprofit (501(c) 3) cultural repository
in the United States holding primary sources suitable for digitizing and
making available on the Internet.  To order, view or download the
Guidelines, visit the competition's  Web site at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/. 

        With a $2 million gift from Ameritech, the Library of Congress is
sponsoring a competition to enable public, research and academic libraries,
museums, historical societies and archival institutions (except federal
institutions) to create digital collections of primary resources. These
digital collections will complement and enhance the collections made
available on the Internet by the National Digital Library Program at the
Library of Congress.

        The National Digital Library is envisioned as a distributed
collection of converted library materials and digital originals to which
many American institutions will contribute.  The Library of Congress's
contribution to this World Wide Web-based virtual library is called American
Memory.  

        This is the second year of the competition; 10 institutions received
awards last April in the first round of the program.

        For this competition cycle, applications will be limited to
collections of textual and graphic materials that illuminate United States
history and culture during the period 1763-1920.  Submission of proposals
for collections with the following subject emphases is encouraged, although
others are welcome:

   History of popular culture -- 
   for example, personal accounts or contemporary
   histories of sports or games; popular literature and
   entertainment; travel and tourism; fashion, dress,
   and design; culinary arts and leisure activities of
   broad national interest that have affected people's
   daily lives and contemporary customs. 

   History of political, social and cultural institutions -- 
   for example, records and commentaries recounting the
   development of political movements and parties; personal
   papers of figures who played a leading role in the 
   development of governmental institutions, such as the
   incorporation of new territories and regions into the
   United States; the records of people and institutions
   that helped to shape regional cultural, academic or
   philanthropic values; the development of industries and
   trades of financial institutions; and legislative and
   legal records relating to the rights of citizens to
   freedom, suffrage and equality.

        Applications will be evaluated by scholars, educators,
administrators and technical specialists external to the Library of
Congress.  Evaluators for the competition will be convened by the Division
of Preservation and Access of the National Endowment for the Humanities and
the Council on Library and Information Resources.

       The primary criterion for evaluation of an application will be the
significance of the collection for historical understanding and its utility
to students and the general public. Once evaluators have assessed these
factors, they will assess the technical and administrative viability of the
project's plan of work.  Applications from Association of Research Libraries
(ARL) and non-ARL institutions will be evaluated separately.  In the final
selection among meritorious projects some consideration will be given to
relevance to the subject emphases outlined above and to geographical location.

	Program staff will be available for individual consultations Aug. 29,
during the Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting in Chicago (check
program guide for location).  A workshop will be held Sept. 8 in Washington,
D.C., at the Library of Congress.  Call (202) 707-1087 to schedule an
individual consultation or use the on-line registration form at the
competition Web site (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award) to sign up for the
Sept. 8 workshop.

       The National Digital Library Program aims, in collaboration with
other institutions, to make millions of items freely available on the Internet.

The Library of Congress/National Digital Library Competition will allow
other institutions, such as New York Public Library, Brown University, North
Dakota State University and the Ohio
Historical Society -- four of the 10 winners in the 1996-97 cycle -- to
digitize some of their most important American materials and make them part
of the Library's on-line collections.  

      The Library of Congress is the world's largest library, with more than
111 million items, including the papers of 23 U.S. presidents.  Its
collections are in nearly every language and format -- from Chinese
woodblock prints to compact disks.  Founded in 1800 to serve the reference
needs of Congress, the Library has grown into an unparalleled treasure house
of knowledge and
creativity.

	Ameritech serves millions of customers in 50 states and 40 countries.
Ameritech provides a full range of communications services, including local
and long distance telephone, cellular, paging, security monitoring, cable
TV, electronic commerce, on-line services and more.  One of the world's 100
largest companies, Ameritech (www.ameritech.com) has 66,000 employees, 1
million share owners and $24 billion in assets.

	# # #
PR97-127
8-4-97
ISSN 0731-3527
 _________________________________________________________

   Elizabeth L. Brown, M.L.S.                            
   National Digital Library Program, LIBN/NDL/ES(1320)   
   Library of Congress, Washington, DC  20540-1320       
   ebro at loc.gov                telephone: 202/707-2235   

   Library of Congress Learning Page:                    
   http://learning.loc.gov/learn/                  
_________________________________________________________