Digital Forsyth: A PartnershipBudgeting in a Collaborative Grant

Susan Sharpless SmithState Archives/SHRAB ConferenceNovember 4, 2011

Forsyth County Public Library

C. G. O’Kelly Library, Winston Salem State University

Old Salem Museum and Gardens

Z. Smith Reynolds Library/Coy C. Carpenter Library,Wake Forest University

In the Beginning…

• A 2004 brainstorming meeting among 3 Forsyth County Libraries– A desire to identify collaborative projects to

• Improve services to the community• Increase opportunities for ongoing interlibrary interaction

– Outcome: Everyone has historic photo collections and they are high demand items by our users

Next Step?

• Scarce digitization experience• No collaborative history• No money or equipment or staff

LSTA Planning Grant!

Project Mission

Project VisionUsers will turn to Digital Forsyth as the definitive online repository of cultural heritage resources held by Forsyth County institutions.

Through digitization, Digital Forsyth, a collaboration of cultural heritage institutions in Forsyth County, North Carolina, facilitates access to cultural, historical and scientific heritage photograph collections, thereby increasing interest in and knowledge of the past and informing future generations.

Digital Forsyth Application

• Planning grant recommendations became our framework for NC ECHO application– Multi-year grant: what that really means

• Include a projection of planned expenditures for the three-year period

• Important to understand allowable vs. ineligible• Actually need to apply separately for each year

Preparing the Application• Read the application guidelines!

Carefully. More than once.– Who can apply? Who needs to be the lead?– What is the maximum grant request allowed? Is it

different for collaborative projects?– Are matching funds required? How much? Where are

they coming from? What is allowed?– How can the funds be used?– What is the basis for selecting projects to be funded?

Digital Project Budget Preparation

• Forecast the entire 3-year project• Built around training needs and production goals

(for Year One)• Equipment Needs (Server, Workstations, Scanners, Printers,

Software)• Training staff• Staffing Needs (Scanning Technicians, Metadata

Technicians)• Supplies

Year Two Budget• Additional Hardware/Software, Furniture

for 2 Partners as Production increased• Hourly wage increase for scanning

technicians• Site went public

– Domain name– Printers for image requests (designed for cost

recovery)– Marketing

Year Three Budget• Added new partner: Old Salem

– Most non-wage $$ went to outfitting their production environment, training, etc.

• New Temporary Staff: Metadata QC Coordinator• Marketing• Story Writers• Curriculum Development (Teacher Workshop)

Budgeting for Collaboration

• Granular breakdown by– Institution– Item/Quantity/Cost– What is covered by

LSTA/by Library

Budget Administration• Centralized Budget Administration

– WFU handled all purchases and expenditures• FAS set up account & deposited the amount of grant award• Expenditures were paid from it• Reimbursement requests sent quarterly to State Library and

checks deposited to offset

– All temporary staff were WFU employees• Submitted time through WFU System• Checks issued from WFU• Worked and were supervised at partner institutions

Budget Revisions

EOY Reconciliation

The Future?• The problem of sustainability

– Grant support ends with the grant.– WFU pledged to keep the project live in “perpetuity.”– Already, server and storage discs are

decommissioned. The project lives in the Amazon cloud as part of WFU’s digital collections.

– What’s the “real” cost once the grant is done? We don’t really know at this point.

• Source to consult: Sustainability and Revenue Models for OAR’s

Take A Tour

Digital Forsyth:

http://www.digitalforsyth.org/

Contact Information

Susan Sharpless Smith

Associate Dean

Z. Smith Reynolds Library

Wake Forest University

smithss@wfu.edu