Professional Instruction Award
Call for Applications
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 Professional Instruction Awards for NN/LM GMR Full Members. Up to $1,500 is available for costs associated with the activity. A minimum of two awards will be offered in the 2010/2011 contract year (May 2010-April 2011)
If you have questions regarding this award or require assistance with the application, contact
Irene Williams, Network Services Coordinator.
Email the GMR
or send an email to 
. To contact the GMR by phone, call 1-800-338-7657 and press one (1) for the Regional Network Office.
Awards will be announced on GMRLIST and in The Cornflower, the GMR blog.
A list of previous Professional Instruction Award Recipients is available.
Purpose
The purpose of the award is to support a network member in the sponsorship of a workshop, technology fair or forum, or other professional educational activity that will assist network members in developing their skills and knowledge, and enhance their abilities as participants in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM).
Requirements
The applicant must be a Full Member of the NN/LM GMR. The instructional activity must be held in the region and should be at least 4 hours in length. The activity must be open to other GMR network members and should offer MLA CE credit. Library associations or consortia that include network members may apply as an organization if they have a tax identifier number.
The instructional activity should be focused on enhancing the knowledge and skills of health sciences librarians and/or health information intermediaries, such as health educators and community health workers. The knowledge and skills gained should enable the participants to better manage health information services and resources; to use technologies to enhance access to health information resources; or, in general, to improve their ability to contribute to the goals of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
Sample instructional topics include:
- Web usability and/or design
- Disaster planning
- Library management
- Library/communication technologies
- Outreach strategies
Other topics and activities will be considered.
For needs assessment and/or evaluation plans, applicants should follow the guidelines established in
Measuring the Difference: Guide to Planning and Evaluating Health Information and the three
supplemental planning and evaluation booklets published in 2006 found on the
NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Resource Center 
website.
If other training materials are used, they should be registered in the Clearinghouse.
Period of Performance
The period of performance for the award should begin at the time of approval of the award and end approximately one month after the activity/event funded by the award. All projects funded in Year 5 of the contract must be completed by April 30, 2011.
Technical Application Instructions
The respondent should complete the Professional Instruction Award Application 
. Submit the completed application and supporting documents (e.g. resumes, letters of support, biography of instructors and meeting information) attached to an email addressed to . Supporting documents may be in Word or PDF format. Include "PI" and your LIBID in the subject line of the email.
Applications should be submitted at least two months in advance of the activity. You will receive immediate electronic acknowledgement that your application was received by the GMR, and your application will be reviewed within two weeks of its receipt.
Cost Application Instructions
Total cost must not exceed $1,500.
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.
For IT/Computer Hardware, please include the following as part of your cost proposal/application process:
- For IT/Computer Hardware under $3,000, submit catalog pricing. List equipment type (printer, scanner, etc.), brand name and model number.
- For IT/Computer Hardware of $3,000 or more, submit three (3) vendor
quotes (preferably valid for 60 days, minimum of 30 days). Quotes may include General Service
Administration (GSA) price lists (Reference: http://www.gsa.gov
). Vendor quotes are
necessary to determine price reasonable for purchase of over $3,000 or more. The absence of competitive quotes
must be documented and justified. An institutional policy that outlines preferred vendor requirements
is an example of such documentation.
are requested, the following statement must
appear in the budget justification:
The recipient of the funding agrees that there is a legitimate purpose for the personal appeal items and use of the items by the Subcontractor(s) will be managed in accordance with policy. Items will not be used in a way that would discredit the NN/LM, the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or the applicable Institution.
The funds may be used to support:
- Fees and travel expenses of instructors and/or presenters
- Conference room fees and related facility expenses
- Equipment and other technology expenses related to conducting and/or recording the instructional activity
- Instructional handouts
- Mailings and other expenses related to promoting the activity
Funding is not available for indirect costs.
Application Review Process
Applications are reviewed by the GMR staff. Questions and comments may be sent to the applicant for clarification and revision of the application. The merits of each application will be carefully evaluated based on responsiveness to the CFA. Applicants must submit information sufficient to evaluate their applications based on the criteria listed below.
Evaluation Criteria
IDENTIFICATION OF NEED
Application describes why the instructional activity is needed and documents how the need was identified.
30 points
METHODOLOGY AND TECHNICAL APPROACH
Planning and arrangements for the instructional activity are described in sufficient detail to predict the likelihood of success for the event. Learning objectives and evaluation strategies for measuring the learning objectives are included.
35 points
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS OF SPONSORING ORGANIZATION AND INSTRUCTORS
Documentation is provided about previous experience of the sponsoring organization to conduct instructional activities. Qualifications of the instructors and/or presenters are described sufficiently in the proposal. Resumes and letters of commitment are included.
35 points
Total Possible Points: 100
Reporting Requirements
Quarterly and final reports are required and will be entered and submitted to the Online Contract Reports (OCR) System: https://outreach.nlm.nih.gov/. Contact Jacqueline Leskovec, portal administrator, at leskovec@uic.edu for additional information on the OCR and/or to obtain an account for a funded project.In addition, recipients are encouraged to report on the project experience in The Cornflower, the GMR blog, and agree to allow the NN/LM GMR to republish reports and materials.
.
Additional Requirements
Publications Resulting from NN/LM Funded Projects
As of April 7, 2008, final peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PMC (PubMed Central) upon acceptance for publication. The NIH Public Access Policy (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/policy.htm ) ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PMC (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ ) upon acceptance for publication.
To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm ) requires that these papers are accessible to the public on PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication. The NIH Public Access site should be consulted for additional information: (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/policy.htm ).
Development of Training Materials
Successful applicants are expected to use or adapt existing training materials before developing new materials. Consult the Medical Library Association (MLA) Educational Clearinghouse, http://cech.mlanet.org prior to developing materials. Training materials developed as part of the award should be submitted to the MLA Educational Clearinghouse.
508 Compliance
The Department of Health and Human Services synopsis of Section 508 accessibility requirements, requires that all Federal agencies are obligated to make all electronic and information technology (EIT) that they develop, maintain or use compliant with Section 508. EIT purchases made on or after June 25, 2001, are subject to Section 508.
Federal regulations and guidelines (e.g., Section 501 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) require equal access for individuals with disabilities. Therefore, Federal agencies are required, upon request, to provide information and data to individuals with disabilities through an alternative means of access that can be used by the individuals.
The National Library of Medicine is a part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Recipients of National Library of Medicine funding through the NN/LM must also meet these requirements.
Credit Statement
The awardee shall acknowledge the support of the National Library of Medicine whenever publicizing the work under this award in any media by including an acknowledgment substantially as follows:
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, under Contract No. HHSN-276-2011-00005C with the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Availability of Funding
The following statement is required to be included in this solicitation to comply with regulations for annual appropriation of federal funds:
All awards issued under the NLM Contract with University of Illinois at Chicago are subject to the Government's availability of appropriated funds in compliance of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.232-18, Availability of Funds. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise until funds are made available to the Contracting Officer for this contract and until the Contractor receives notice of such availability, to be confirmed in writing by the Contracting Officer.
All awards spanning more than a 12 month period of performance are subject to FAR Clause 52.232-20, "Limitation of Costs"; FAR Clause 52.232-22, "Limitation of Funds", under the NLM Prime Contract.
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