Outreach Express Award
Request for Proposals
The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region (NN/LM GMR), under contract with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), announces the availability of Outreach Express Awards for network members.
The GMR plans to fund five awards for up to $4,900 in the 2008/2009 contract year (May 2008-April 2009).
Proposals not funded may be resubmitted in subsequent years. If you have questions or require assistance call your
GMR state contact librarian at 1-800-338-7657 and press one (1) for the Regional Network Office;
or send an email to 
.
Awards will be announced on GMRLIST and in The Cornflower, the GMR blog.
Purpose
The purpose of the Outreach Express Awards is to support a wide range of outreach projects aimed at improving access to biomedical information. Projects may be targeted to health professionals, librarians, or consumers. These awards may be used for the planning phase of a large-scale project or for follow-up analysis or evaluation of a previously funded project.
Projects should address one or more of the following outreach needs:
- Assist network members with the planning phase and/or needs assessment activities required to develop a larger scale outreach project
- Support data analysis or outcomes evaluation following a large-scale outreach project
- Increase awareness of uses of information technology for improving access to biomedical information
- Provide training in effective use of electronic health information resources, with an emphasis on National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases including PubMed, MedlinePlus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the NLM Gateway
- Assist health information professionals and health sciences librarians in providing information service or training to groups that do not have access to a medical library
- Encourage network members to share their expertise and resources with a target population not normally reached
- Strengthen the role of health information professionals and librarians in the delivery of health care
- Promote partnerships with community-based organizations to reach special populations
Priority will be given to proposals involving outreach to:
- Health professionals working in public health
- Minority communities and health professionals serving these communities
- Inner city and rural communities and health professionals serving these communities
- Senior citizens
- Low income populations
- HIV/AIDS patients and health professionals working with these patients
Eligibility
Proposals will be accepted from NN/LM GMR Full and Affiliate Members.
Proposal Submission Requirements
The respondent should complete the Outreach Express Award
Application online.
Attachments, such as resumes, letters of support and equipment quotes may be sent by fax to 312-996-2226 or attached to an email
in an electronic format. Send the email with attachments to the following address:
. Please make the name of your project the subject of the email.
The GMR staff will respond to your application within two weeks of receipt.
Technical Proposal Instructions
Applicants should follow the guidelines established in Measuring the Difference: Guide to Planning and Evaluating Health Information issued by the NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Resource Center when developing needs assessments and/or evaluation plans.
For training projects, applicants are expected to use or adapt existing training materials before developing new materials. Applicants are encouraged to consult the training materials available in the NN/LM National Training Center and Clearinghouse.
Cost Proposal Instructions
Total cost must not exceed $4,900.
Funding will be processed on a cost reimbursement basis. This award is not a grant or subcontract. Line item invoices must be submitted for reimbursement of expenditures. Reimbursement takes an average of four weeks.
Funds requested to develop print collections of consumer health materials or to purchase access to any commercial electronic health information product may not exceed 5% of the total amount of the project budget.
Allowable expenses include:
- Personnel
- Travel
- Equipment
- Supplies
- Communications
- Reproduction
- Exhibit and Training Expenses
- Other Costs
For IT/Computer Hardware, please include the following as part of your cost proposal:
- At a minimum list equipment type (printer, scanner, etc.), brand name and model number.
- For IT/Computer Hardware under $3,000, submit catalog pricing.
- For IT/Computer Hardware of $3,000 or more, submit three (3) vendor quotes (preferably valid for 60 days). Quotes may include General Service Administration (GSA) price lists (Reference: http://www.gsa.gov). Vendor quotes are necessary to determine price reasonableness for purchases. If item is over $3,000 and not competed, then a sole source justification letter is required to indicate why it is the most advantageous purchase.
Expenses for the following are not allowable:
- Indirect costs
- Library collections
Definitions and Instructions for Budget Narrative Justification
A narrative justification for each expense category in the budget is required in the online application. Use the following definitions to guide you:
Personnel:
May include professional and support personnel for the project.
Supplies:
May include paper, pens, software, and display items.
Equipment:
May include rental or purchase of equipment and software.
Communications:
May include telephone, postage, parcel and other delivery services and communication line charges.
Travel:
May include air travel, ground transportation, parking, hotel, and meals.
Reproduction:
May include costs for printing/photocopying of project related materials.
Other Costs:
May include honoraria, exhibit fees, or any others items that do not fit into one of the other lines. Please provide a breakdown of what has been included in this category.
Period of Performance
The Period of Performance should not exceed 12 months.
Proposal Review Process
Proposals are reviewed by the GMR staff and members of the Regional Advisory Council. Questions and comments from these review bodies may be sent to the applicant for clarification and revision of the proposal. The merits of each proposal will be carefully evaluated, based on responsiveness to the RFP and the thoroughness and feasibility of the technical approach proposed. Applicants must submit information sufficient to evaluate their proposals based on the criteria listed below.
Technical Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals. The criteria are listed in the order of relative importance with points assigned for evaluation purposes. Proposals will be scored against these criteria, so be certain that all criteria have been addressed.
STATEMENT OF NEED AND TARGET POPULATION
The target population is well-defined and is centered on defined NN/LM priority populations. There is a clear understanding of population characteristics, demographics, and health status. The information needs of the target population, and the barriers as well as available resources, are understood and well described. There is evidence of audience involvement in determining need. Portion of target population to be reached by the project is identified.
40 points
OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY
The goals and projected outcomes are reasonable and at least some are sustainable. Process and outcomes-based objectives flow logically from goals. Approach to fulfilling objectives reflects realistic awareness of target community, clearly indicates steps to be accomplished, and is feasible. The budget is reasonable, sufficient to accomplish the project, and well justified. The timeline is reasonable and well thought out. Strategies are presented to monitor outputs, which are measurable units of project activities/services/products/classes, and to assess outcomes, clearly describing what will be measured and how.
40 points
PERSONNEL AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
Adequate evidence is provided about the qualifications of the personnel and the organizational resources available to assure likelihood of successful completion of the project. Documentation includes appropriate letters of support and resumes of key personnel.
20 points
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE: 100
Reporting Requirements
A final report must be submitted in electronic format (Microsoft Word document) suitable for publication on the NN/LM Web site within 30 days of completion of the project. Recipients will be asked to report on the experience for The Cornflower, the GMR blog, and agree to allow
the NN/LM-GMR to republish reports and materials. Reports must be submitted to .
If this project results in a manuscript that will be submitted for publication, project directors must
follow the requirements outlined in the NIH Public Access Policy (http://publicaccess.nih.gov 
)
which mandates submission within 12 months of publication to the NIH manuscript submission (NIHMS)
system (http://www.nihms.nih.gov
) at PubMed
Central (PMC)
the author's final manuscript, resulting from activities and/or research supported in whole or in part
with direct costs from this award. PMC is the NIH digital repository of full-text, peer-reviewed
biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research journals. It is a publicly-accessible, permanent, and
searchable electronic archive available on the Internet at
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ .
If a website is developed under this award, the website must adhere to Section 508 compliance.
Resources for this compliance include the National Library of Medicine Web Applications/Site Development
Guidelines:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/web/documentation/index.html
, and
Summary of Section 508 Standards:
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=11
.
This icon designates a link outside the NN/LM GMR Web site and
indicates a non-GMR hosted resource.
