Call for Small Grant Proposals: Create Video Content for BSA & BibSite

March 31, 2023

To make bibliographical studies more accessible to the next generation of bibliographers, the Bibliographical Society of America’s (BSA) BibSite hosting and discovery project welcomes funding proposals for the creation of short instructional videos demonstrating bibliographical analysis in action and/or the techniques and skills necessary for the study of varied material texts. All are welcome to apply; proposals from teams are welcome.

Videos should be 10 minutes or less and should speak to beginners in bibliographical studies from inter-professional and interdisciplinary backgrounds. Proposals and videos should be in English; all videos will be captioned. Caption translation into one additional language can be budgeted for in proposals with $100. Potential topics may include but are not limited to: how to read a collation formula; how to determine the format of a book; how to identify watermarks; how to identify a common binding structure; how to describe typefaces or handwriting; or, a vocabulary lesson with examples.

Awards of up to $1,000 per proposal will be made to support video creation projects. Awards can be used to fund creators’ time and necessary support (including dependent care), supplies (including camera equipment), video editing services (BSA can recommend an editor with a flat fee of $250), and scanning or still photography for projects. Supplies purchased with grant funds become the property of the video creator(s). Video creators will copyright their intellectual property by licensing their content to BSA using our BibSite user license under the Creative Commons license of their choice.

This project is made possible by a $6,000 grant from the Peck Stacpoole Foundation. 

Submit your proposal by May 31 at bit.ly/bibsite-cfp-23.

FAQ

  • Is this grant open to international applicants? Yes!
  • Do videos funded by this project have to live on the BSA YouTube Channel, or can I post them to a personal or institutional YouTube channel? What about Vimeo? As long as your video is freely accessible to the public, we’re happy. BibSite will index all grant-funded videos no matter where they are hosted. The BSA can host videos for creators on the Society’s channel, which has 1,500 subscribers.
  • How much should I budget for BSA’s recommended video editor? BSA has worked with Jana Dagdagan to record and edit videos of the New Scholars Program and BSA Annual Meeting. She has agreed to edit ~10-minute videos for $250.
  • Who should I contact with questions about captioning? Reach out to Erin McGuirl, BSA Executive Director. She can answer all of your questions about video captioning!

Fine Print
Applicants will receive notification on the status of their proposal by June 15, 2023. Videos should be completed within 12 weeks of receipt of funding; BSA hopes to make videos available by September of 2023. 

The BSA Executive Director will work with awardees to determine the best method for funds disbursement, requiring a reimbursement process only as a last resort. Funds can be awarded to individuals in any country except for Russia due to international restrictions on bank transfers.

Successful applicants (including teams) are required to become members of BSA.