IMLS Funding for Technology Projects
Dan Lukash, IMLS, USA
Mark MacAllister, North Carolina Zoological Society, USA
Lynne Spichiger, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, USA
http://www.imls.gov

Professional Forum: IMLS

IMLS staff and current IMLS grantees will present information on how IMLS grants can provide funding for technology and needs and ideas at your museum. The specifics of the application process and details on submitting competitive applications will be presented by IMLS staff.

Current IMLS grantees will provide first hand information about developing, submitting, and implementing an IMLS project. Grantees presenting at the session will also demonstrate and describe their projects.

Attendees will gain benefit in two ways: 1) They will gain insight on funding sources for their technology project, 2)They will see new web technology/products funded by IMLS grant funds.

Grantee - Mark MacAllister, Coordinator, On-Line Learning Projects,North Carolina Zoological Society, Asheville, NC

Project- Field Trip Earth: http://www.fieldtripearth.org

A project involving school educators that directly connects wildlife conservation researchers in the field with kids in the classroom.

Grantee - Lynne Spichiger, Ed.D., Project Manager, 1704 Website, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association/Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, MA

Project - Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 Website www.1704.deerfield.history.museum

This website uses a technologically innovative tab design and pyramidal content structure that allows us to present a controversial historic event from the perspectives of all the groups present: Mohawk, Huron, Abenaki, French and English.

The tab approach allows users to move easily among different perspectives, facilitating comparison of the perspectives and enabling us to tell the story from conflicting points of view, without losing the coherence of the narrative. The pyramidal content structure enables us to tell the stories in small, understandable, compelling segments, supported by fuller context. This allows us to capture the casual user's attention and then provide a rich context to satisfy his/her deeper interest.