The MIT Archives, in conjunction with four other organizations, has received a grant of $143,000 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to administer an archival research fellowship program.
The group administering the grant--which involves the MIT Archives, Northeastern University, WGBH, the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe Institute and the Massachusetts Historical Society--will award up to five projects of $10,000 each in June 2002 and June 2003 to enable fellows to conduct research and write about a topic of importance to the archival profession. Proposals concerning electronic records will be considered a higher priority than others. In 2003 and 2004, fellows will present their findings in Boston at an open symposium.
The project was conceived to give archivists, curators and information specialists the flexibility to conduct basic and applied research. Collaborative research projects will also be considered for funding. Fellowship candidates will be drawn from practitioners in archival, manuscript, historical, library, records management, information science, and other information areas as well as from professions in related disciplines.
Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, head of the Institute Archives and Special Collections, said, "Much of today's research in the archives field is theoretical. Here we are looking for projects that will have a practical outcome. The diverse types of institutions represented in managing this grant will bring in expertise from multiple collections and types of material."
Project funding is to be administered by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Application materials are available online or by calling Brenda Lawson at the Historical Society at (617) 646-0502, e-mailing her at blawson@masshist.org or writing to her at 1154 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215. The project's executive board consists of Ms. Lawson, Ms. Sniffin-Marinoff, Joan Krizack (Northeastern), Kathryn Jacob (Schlesinger Library/Radcliffe Institute) and Mary Ide (WGBH).
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 26, 2001.
