Improve Public Opportunities to use Archival Collections | P18AS00448

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00448

The grant opportunity titled "Improve Public Opportunities to use Archival Collections" (Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00448) is a National Park Service effort under the U.S. Department of the Interior to strengthen access to important archival materials related to cultural and natural resource work. Offered as a discretionary cooperative agreement within the Natural Resources funding activity category (CFDA 15.945), the project is designed to support a hands-on, archives-centered educational experience that directly benefits both students and the long-term usability of specialized government records. The opportunity was created on July 19, 2018, with an original closing date of July 28, 2018, and anticipated a single award with a funding ceiling of $38,098.

At the core of the project is a collaboration between the University of Arizona School of Information and the Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) archives staff. The intent is to give students in archives, library, and digital information programs practical work experience that complements academic coursework. Rather than focusing only on theoretical training, the project emphasizes real archival tasks that help describe, preserve, and expand access to records documenting cultural and natural resource activities. By working directly with professional archival staff and real collections, students build job-ready skills that can translate into employment across multiple fields, including archives and special collections, libraries, museums, cultural resource management, digital stewardship, and public history.

The project objectives outline specific improvements to the management and accessibility of WACC-related records. One major goal is to catalog resource management records so their contents are clearly described and easier to retrieve, which supports staff, researchers, and the public in finding relevant information without unnecessary delays. Another objective is to reunite project records that have been accidentally separated over time, restoring completeness and maintaining proper documentation integrity, which is especially important for long-term accountability and accurate historical or scientific interpretation. The project also targets basic but high-impact preservation work by reboxing and labeling archival materials, reducing physical deterioration and making storage and handling more consistent and reliable.

In addition to physical and intellectual control improvements, the opportunity emphasizes public access. The project calls for preparing and disseminating finding aids, which are the primary tools researchers use to understand what a collection contains and how it is organized. Publishing or otherwise sharing these finding aids makes collections more visible and usable, particularly for people who cannot visit in person. Finally, the project includes digitization of records to expand opportunities for use, which can increase access for remote researchers, support educational uses, and reduce handling of fragile originals while still making the information available. Overall, the grant is structured to achieve two outcomes at once: meaningful workforce development for emerging information professionals and concrete, lasting improvements in how archival collections are preserved, organized, and accessed.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Improve Public Opportunities to use Archival Collections" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 19, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 28, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $38,098.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P18AS00448

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