Guidelines for DEMCO/TLA Research Applications

I. Purpose

The Texas Library Association offers support for research projects in order to :

advance professional knowledge;
provide data on libraries for planning and development;
provide for better libraries and improved services in libraries.

II. Priorities

Priority will be given to research proposals involving library use, resource sharing, development of reference tools, administrative problem-solving, and similar topics. Lesser support can be expected for projects with limited application, such as internal studies of individual libraries. Pilot projects and experimental programs involving several libraries will be encouraged. Studies related to thesis and dissertation requirements will receive low priority.

III. Administration

Executive Board: The Texas Library association is administered by an executive board composed of duly-elected officers and by a council. The TLA president appoints the Scholarship & Research Committee and its chair. The Board shares responsibility for allocating research grants with the committee. All other applications for funds are administered by the Board.

Scholarship & Research Committee: The Committee reviews grant applications and recommends awards to the Board. The Board makes awards and reports on grants to the TLA membership at the annual membership meeting held at the TLA Annual Conference. The Board, or a person designated by the Board, announces grants at a general session of the conference.

IV. Funds

Availability: Funding for research grants is derived from a gift from DEMCO Inc. and from the income of the TLA Foundation for Scholarship and Research account, not from anticipated revenue. The Board is responsible for determining what percentage of the account balance is to be used for grants after deducting the amount for scholarships.

Limitations:

partial funding of projects may be considered;
salary supplements in connection with grant requests, publication expenses, and editing fees should not be requested;
if equipment is rented, it should be for no longer than the duration of the project;
grants for purchase of equipment will not be made.

Financial requirements: requirements for TLA fiscal accounting must be met. Guidelines will accompany grant awards.

V. Applications

Eligibility: Applicants must be members of the Texas Library Association.

Submission: Applications should be submitted to the Chair, Scholarship & Research Committee. Copies of research proposals are required for the use of committee members. A cover sheet with background data and a detailed budget should accompany applications.

Content: The proposal document should contain the following elements:

introduction;

problem statement or assessment of need;

project goals and objectives;

research methods and procedures;

evaluation;

Budget: personnel; (not including investigator(s)) wages and salaries; fringe benefits; rental or lease of equipment or space; consumable supplies; travel; telephone; other costs.

future funding;

plans for publication or dissemination of information;

evidence of local support, if applicable.

Criteria for evaluating proposals: In assessing requests, the Scholarship & Research Committee will consider the following criteria:

appropriateness of project in relation to association goals;

education and experience of the applicant;

feasibility of the endeavor;

reasonable and appropriate budget;

evidence of familiarity with related research projects and publications;

evidence that the project investigates previously unresearched areas;

significance to the profession and to the community;

feasibility of evaluating the results.

Deadlines: In order to give the Committee and the Board adequate time for study of proposals and to ensure that the applicants are actively pursuing their research, the following deadlines will be observed:

grant applications should be in the hands of the Committee chair by the advertised deadline so that the announcement of awards can be made at the annual conference;

brief progress reports are required by October 15;

a final report should be submitted within one year of the award, but extensions will be granted for good cause;

unencumbered funds revert to the Committee on April 1 and become available for the next annual award unless an extension has been granted.

Renewals: Proposals to extend grants will compete with new proposals for funds and will be subject to the same criteria and deadlines.
Notification: Applicants will be notified in the spring following annual conference. Projects not selected will not be returned to applicants.

VI. Final report

The grant recipient must submit a final report on the completed project within one year of the award, or in cases where an extension has been granted, within one year of the extension. The report should include the following:

investigator(s) name(s);

title of the research project;

abstract;

evaluation;

final accounting for funds;

short article describing the research and results, submitted to the Texas Library Journal.

If research is published, acknowledgement of the DEMCO Inc./TLA research grant funding should be included. Copyrights, patents, or other benefits are reserved to researchers. Copies of publications should be filed with the Scholarship & Research Committee and the TLA Executive Director. An announcement that the project is completed and that the results are available from the investigator(s) will be placed in the Texas Library Journal.