Dianne dahlitz m&g (nsw) 16 march 2012 batemans bay pp
1. Community
Heritage Grants
2012
Presentation by CHG Coordinator,
Dianne Dahlitz
Show me the money!Access to funding
Museums & Galleries NSW
Batemans Bay NSW 16 March 2012
2. What are Community Heritage Grants?
• Aim to preserve and provide access to
heritage collections of national significance
held by community groups
• Grants of up to $15,000
3. Who can apply?
• A not-for-profit organisation;
• That owns or manages a collection of national
significant material;
• That is accessible to the general public
4. 2011 NSW RECIPIENTS
• Australian Golf Heritage Society Inc
• Australian Turf Club (Australian Jockey Club Heritage
Society)
• Campbelltown City Council Library
• Coonamble Heritage and Historical Museum
• Deaf Society of New South Wales
• Eleanor Dark Foundation Ltd
• Goulburn and District Historical Society Inc
• Lady Denman Heritage Complex
• Leichhardt Women's Community Health Centre Inc
• Macleay River Historical Society Incorporated
• Marrickville Council
5. NSW 2011 RECIPIENTS cont.
• Mosman Regional Art Gallery and Cultural Centre
• National Trust of Australia (NSW)
• New England Regional Art Museum Ltd
• Newcastle Maritime Museum Society In
• Singleton Public Library
• Sulphide Street Railway and Historical Museum
• Sydney Legacy
• Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church (Diocese of
Wagga Wagga)
• Tumut and District Historical Society Incorporated
• Veech Library, Catholic Institute of Sydney
6. What types of projects receive funding?
• 2 Types of Project
– 1. Collection Preservation Projects
– 2. Training
9. Significance Criteria
• Historic, Aesthetic, Scientific/ Research,
Social/Spiritual
• Provenance, Rarity/Representative,
Condition/Completeness, Interpretative
capacity.
• Significance 2.0 - A Guide to Assessing the Significance of Collections
(2009) - 2nd revised edition (online version) which can be found at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/significance2-0/
• Significance - A Guide to Assessing the Significance of Cultural Heritage
Objects and Collections (2001) which can be found at:
http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/5
11. National Significance- Section 4 of the
Application Form
• A significance statement is about the
importance of your collection, or items in it
• Only tell us about the collection you are
applying for funding for, e.g. do not describe
the whole collection here, if you are applying
for the photograph collection
12. Tips for answering Section 4 –
National Significance
• Make sure your answer refers to the collection
material you are seeking funding for
• Provide as much information about this material as
you can
• Identify rare or unique items
• Detail items about significant Australians
• Relate your answer to the significance criteria
• Attach supporting documents
• Refer to the 2011 Assessment Report on the website
13. Preservation Needs Assessment
• Stage 2 of the 3 stage process
• Assesses physical condition
• Assesses housing and storage facilities
• Makes recommendations – basis for further
funding applications
14. Conservation Activities & Collection
Management
• Prioritised recommendations from PNA
• Most at risk and most significant items
– Rehousing collections
– Conservation treatments
– Reformatting – including digitisation
– Cataloguing or collection management software
18. 2.Training
• Collection care and handling
• Cataloguing
• Disaster Preparedness
• Collection Management
• Assessing significance
• Partnerships with other groups
20. What are the assessors looking for?
• Evidence of national significance
• A clear description of the collection, who
owns it and how it is used
• A project that is feasible & good value for
money with a well supported budget
• Projects that will enhance access to
collections
• Training projects that will reach many people
and collections
21. BUDGET (Section 7.5)
• Important to get this right – just include in the
budget table items relevant to the project for
which you are applying for a grant.
• Standard fees for SA and PNA - $4,000 (plus
travel and accommodation)
• Quotes…if not applying for standard fee, for
purchasing equipment , treatments or training
workshops
• Applicant’s contribution – Cash or Inkind?
• GST – Registered/Not Registered?
22. Assessment Process
• 1. CHG Coordinator
– Confirms eligibility
• 2. Significance Assessor
– National significance
• 3. Preservation Assessor
– Feasibility
– Value for money
• 4. Expert Assessment Panel
• Comments from both assessors
• Overall application
23. What do you get?
• Grant of up to $15,000
• Opportunity to undertake projects that will
help preserve your collections
• Intensive Preservation workshop in
Canberra (first grant)
25. TIPS!
• Type your application
• Describe your collection, but be concise – dot
points and lists are good
• Answer all relevant questions
• Attach supporting documents e.g. previous
assessments, photographs, letters of support
• Sign your application and submit it on time
26. How to apply
• Applications can be downloaded from the
website and posted to:
– CHG Coordinator, NLA, Canberra ACT 2600
• or emailed: chg@nla.gov.au
• or complete online at www.nla.gov.au/chg
• Ph: 02 6262 1147
Editor's Notes
Hello all…and thank you for attending. Today I would like to tell you a bit about the Community Heritage Grants, who can apply and for what type of projects…and give you some tips towards submitting a strong, and hopefully successful application.
The Community Heritage Grants program aims to identify Australian cultural heritage collections which are publicly accessible, locally held and nationally significant. Cash grants of up to $15,000 are provided to assist in the preservation and access to these collections. Organisations may apply for more than one project provided the combined value is no more than $15,000 and all projects can be completed within one year. CLICK
Organisations that may apply include archives, art galleries, community groups, genealogical societies, historical societies, indigenous and multicultural groups, museums, professional organisations, public libraries and religious groups. Each year we receive many applications, in fact, many are from organisations from all areas of NSW. In 2010 of the 70 funded projects 20 were from NSW. Some of these are:
There are 2 types of projects that are supported: 1 Collection Preservation and Training. Collection Preservation actually encompasses 3 types of activity…CLICK
The assessors encourage organisations to take a 3 step, phased approach to applying for funding for Collection Preservation projects. The 3 steps are 1. Significance Assessments, when you have had this done, you can then apply for 2. Preservation Needs Assessments, and the recommendations from this will support your application for 3. Conservation Activities & Collection Management, for example, preservation work, environmental control/monitoring equipment, shelving and housing materials, the purchase of cataloguing or collection management software, and digitisation of collection items. …CLICK
You should apply for a significance assessment first. A significance assessment helps explain the meaning and value of a collection and provides further information for its management and interpretation. Your collection must be assessed as being of national significance if you wish to apply for further funding. A significance assessment of your collection involves a consultant historian, archivist, curator or appropriate consultant examining your collection as a whole, researching the history of the collection, identifying the main themes and scope of the collection, comparing your collection to other similar collections and assessing the significance of the collection against the significance criteria. They will then make a number of prioritised recommendations about collection management and interpretation. …CLICK The Port Macquarie Historical Society received a CHG grant in 2008 for a significance assessment of their collection, which was conducted by Roslyn Russell.
What is the significance of “Significance” Significance refers to the values and meanings that items and collections have for people and communities. An assessment is based on 4 primary criteria developed by the Collections Council of Australia - historic, aesthetic, scientific/research and social/spiritual and the degree of significance is determined against comparative criteria: provenance, rarity or representativeness, condition or completeness and interpretive capacity.
While we ask for information about your collection, it is just not a description that we are looking for. Tell us about the nationally prominent people, places and events that are documented in the collection.
Write only about the collection you are applying for funding for…you will be asked about the whole collection in Section 5….here the assessors only want specific information about the collection that will be affected by the funding. If you are applying for the whole collection, tell us about its significance, by detailing any rare items, any items relating to significant Australians…e.g. drawings done by Henry Lawson ….as a boy!
A preservation needs assessment of a collection is usually the second stage of the process. After you have had a significance assessment conducted you are then encouraged to apply for a preservation needs assessment. This assessment looks at the physical condition of your collection and the suitability of current housing and storage facilities. Recommendations made in the PNA will form a basis for development of a prioritised conservation program, and provide information to base your next application for treatments and housing funding.
Recommendations from your PNA will be the focus for applications for funding for Conservation Activities & Collection Management, the third step in the process. Recommendations might be for overall management and preservation of the whole collection, or at risk or significant items may be identified for urgent action. Some of the activities funded are: rehousing collections (including purchase of shelving, archival quality storage, display cases and special cabinets such as map or plan for large paper based materials, reformatting including digitisation of archives and photographs, and the purchase of cataloguing or collection management software.
CHG received many applications from organisations keen to digitise their collections, in particular photos. This is commendable and CHG is keen to assist with these projects. However, we also want you to think about what this actually means, think about what will happen to both the original and the digital material, how you will manage both into the future. Many organisations that have strong volunteer communities are keen to undertake digitisation in-house. We recommend you research outsourcing, as this can often be more cost-effective and ensure completion of the project within the time-frame. Similarly we encourage applications for the purchase of cataloguing or collection management software…but would like you to have a look at several options, before choosing one suitable for your collection, and the organisation’s long-term ability to manage the software.
Be mindful that in-house digitisation can be very time consuming, especially with fragile material that will need to be preserved beforehand and handled appropriately during the digitisation process.
Applications for funding to run training programs are encouraged. The training programs can include collection care and handling, cataloguing (and the use of software), disaster preparedness and assessing significance. Indeed if you are applying for a significance assessment, we encourage you to talk to your potential assessor about running a session to train staff and volunteers on assessing the significance of the collection. Applicants submitted in partnership with several organisations are looked on favourably. If the training can reach a large group, or area many benefit. Applications from professional bodies, such as M&G NSW are encouraged to apply to run training programs that benefit a range of organisations. For example, training course for staff and volunteers of local galleries and museums in disaster preparedness.
What are the assessors looking for: Evidence of national significance A clear description of the collection, who owns it and how it is used A project that is feasible & good value for money with a well supported budget Projects that will enhance access to collections Training projects that will reach many people and collections
Your application will need to pass through 4 levels of assessment….on to the winners platform. When your application is received I will confirm that all is OK, that relevant information is complete before sending to firstly, the Significance Assessor who will assess the collection for national significance and then on the Preservation Assessor to assess the feasibility of the proposed project. Applications that pass through these stages…and it is usually a large percent (only those whose collections have only local significance are rejected at this stage) are then assessed by the expert panel….comprising the 2 external assessors, and historians and conservation specialists from the NMA, NAA, NFSA and NLA. One long day is spent examining each application, and making decisions against available funds.
As well as a grant of up to $15,000 first time winners will be invited to attend a 3 day (all expenses paid – travel and accommodation) intensive preservation workshop…where historians, conservators and preservation staff from the partner institutions will conduct workshops, give behind the scenes tours of works areas and provide advice and suggestions on how to successfully complete the project you have been funded for.
Applications are now being called for. I have hard copy of the Guideline and forms with me today, or you can download copies or apply online from our website www.nla.gov.au/chg
