Dear all: A variety of things to be aware of from NSF, as it goes through a major internal reorganization. ********************************** 1) Since this is a transitional year in NSF for Digital Libraries, with the DLI-2 funding cycle ending and efforts well underway to create a new program beginning in September of 2004 (FY 2005), there is no announcement specifically labeled as Digital Libraries this year. Many other IIS, CISE and domain programs are relevant and are possible sources of support. For example, NSF/CISE/IIS has recently announced new proposal solicitations of possible interest to the Digital Libraries community. These reflect the new organizational structure of the Division and can be found at: http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/index.cfm?div=iis ************************************* 2) 2004 NSF NSDL Program Solicitation Announced As the NSDL funding moves forwards, the new focus on stewardship, collection development, and responsiveness to users may make our skills in DLF institutions even more relevant. Note in particular the new Pathways track, the largest of the tracks and the one with the largest individual grants: Pathways: 3 to 4 new awards, up to $3,000,000 each; Services (Selections): 4 to 6 new awards, up to $1,000,000 each; Services (Workshops): 4 to 6 new awards, up to $750,000 each; Services (Other): 6 to 8 new awards, up to $750,000 each; Targeted Research: 4 to 6 new awards, up to $500,000 each NSF ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT January 2004 -- In FY2004 NSDL will again support projects in the Services and Targeted Research tracks, but will replace the Collections track with a Pathways track. Within the Services track, two particular types of projects will be strongly encouraged: (1) selection services and (2) usage development workshops. * Pathways projects will assume a stewardship role for the educational content and/or the services needed by a broad community of learners. * Selection services projects will focus on increasing the amount of high-quality STEM educational content known to NSDL. * Usage development workshops will promote the use of NSDL and its resources by various communities of learners. These three elements reflect an appropriate expansion in emphasis for NSDL from its initial (and necessary) collecting of educational resources, materials, and other digital learning objects, towards enabling learners to "connect" or otherwise find pathways to resources that are appropriate to their needs. Simultaneously, these projects will develop both the capacities of individual users and the capacity of the larger community of learners. In addition, the workshops will permit the study of user information-seeking behavior and user interaction with specific NSDL content. The full solicitation is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf04542 Related Link: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf04542 Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (optional): March 14, 2004 Full Proposal Deadline(s): April 14, 2004 David Seaman Executive Director, Digital Library Federation 1755 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036 tel: 202-939-4762 fax: 202-939-4765 e-mail: [log in to unmask] web: http://www.diglib.org/