Association for Recorded Sound Collections Preservation Grants Program

Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings

The ARSC Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings was founded in 2004 (to begin in 2006) by Al Schlachtmeyer and the Board of Directors of ARSC to encourage and support the preservation of historically significant sound recordings of Western Art Music by individuals and organizations. (This program is separate from the ARSC Research Grants program, which supports historical research and publication of studies by individuals in the field of sound recordings or audio preservation).

The ARSC Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings will also consider funding:

• Projects involving preservation, in any valid and reasonable fashion, such as providing a collection with proper climate control, moving a collection to facilities with proper storage conditions, re-sleeving a collection of discs, setting up a volunteer project to organize and inventory a stored collection, rescuing recordings from danger, copying recordings on endangered or unstable media, etc.;
• Projects promoting public access to recordings;
• Projects involving commercial as well as private, instantaneous recordings;
• Projects involving collections anywhere in the world (non-U.S. applicants are encouraged to apply).

The program is administered by an ARSC Grants Committee including the chairman, a member of the Technical Committee, a member of the AAA Committee, and an expert on classical music. Proposals must be received by December 15, 2006. Grant amounts generally range from $2000 to $10,000. Grant projects should be completed within twenty-four months. Written notification of decisions on projects will be made approximately three months after the submission deadline (please do NOT contact the committee about progress on decisions).

Acknowledgement of support:

Grantees must formally credit the Association for Recorded Sound Collections in all published materials, announcements, and websites which relate to the recordings preserved.

Grantees must give permission to ARSC to publish the complete written project report or excerpts from it in the ARSC Journal and Newsletter and on the ARSC website.

Five full sets of a written final report are to be received by ARSC within 60 days of the date of completion of the project. The report should include a summary less than one page in length, in addition to the full report (1-5 p.), which should specify results, recordings preserved, dissemination efforts, etc., and should be in the form of a Word or WordPerfect document in 12-point full font. Please include a copy of the final, actual budget (the original projected budget worksheet with actual figures inserted). Appropriate additional materials may be attached.

In order to help assure the preservation and dissemination of the products of these projects, grantees are encouraged to furnish copies of the products of their projects and are required to furnish copies of the published products of their projects to the following: ARSC and five appropriate permanent sound archives to be designated by ARSC.

Methodology and Standards

Audio recordings should be preserved following ARSC preferred methods and standards for preservation projects:

Projects should comply with the preservation guidelines published by the Technical Committee of the International Association of Audiovisual Archives (IASA) in documents TC-03 (The safeguarding of the audio heritage: Ethics, principles, and preservation strategy; Version 2, September, 2001) and TC-04 (Guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects; August, 2004). TC-03 is presented in full, online, at (http://www.iasa-web.org/IASA_TC03/iasa_tc03.htm). TC-04 can be purchased through the IASA website or, in the U.S., from Nauck's Vintage Records.

Applicants whose projects are planned to depart from the preferred methodology and standards should provide a rationale for the compatibility of their methodological approach with the goals of the project and the expectations of its users. Applicants are encouraged to outsource reformatting to a qualified company capable of complying with the IASA guidelines if they lack the necessary equipment for their tasks.

The ARSC Program cannot consider funding:

• Chapters, Board members, or officers of ARSC;
• Organizations which discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or age;
• Costs of commercial design, marketing, or publicity;
• Purchase of collections or individual recordings;
• Purchase or repair of equipment or other facilities;
• Maintenance or upgrading of computer systems;
• New recording projects;
• Endowments or fund-raising.

Guidelines and application instructions:

Applications must be received no later than December 15, 2006. Please send 3 copies of the completed application, arranged in this order:

1. Cover sheet,
2. Narrative: maximum of 4 single-sided 8.5 x 11-inch sheets,
3. Budget and support materials.

Application must be typed or printed, double-spaced, in 12-point font or larger, single-sided, on 8.5 x 11-inch white paper. Pages of application must be fastened only by paper clips. Please do NOT use binders or folders. Please do NOT condense type size and line size. Please do NOT send proposals by fax or e-mail.

NARRATIVE (maximum of 4 single-sided sheets; please number items as listed below):

1. Describe the project for which you request funds, including a specific outline of technology.
2. List the specific content of the material to be preserved. If there are copyright issues involved with the material, include a statement of status.
3. If the proposal calls for transferring sources to other media, specify those media, as well as how and where the transfers will be done.
4. List plans to preserve original sources with policies for their storage and handling. If plans involve donating source material to some other organization, please include a supporting document from that institution.
5. List principal personnel involved in this project (and include title or position).
6. List plans for accessibility and dissemination of preserved items.

BUDGET: Please use the budget format outlined below (no other format will be accepted):

Heading: ARSC Program for the Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings
Project Budget (please include a description and sub-total for each type):
Revenue sources:
Project total:
Expenses (those to be paid by ARSC should be clearly identified as "ARSC"):

1. Personnel
2. Supplies
3. Equipment (see Guidelines)
4. Travel
5. Other (please specify).List all partners (i.e., those supplying facilities, equipment, staff time, matching funds, etc.). Please note that ARSC cannot pay indirect costs ("overhead").

SUPPORTING MATERIALS (please include):

1. Two letters of support specifically for the project (these letters may NOT be written by members of the organization requesting funds or by individuals related to the project).
2. Organizations: a general description and history (1-page maximum, please).
3. A brief current biography (1 page maximum, please) of principal personnel.
4. Non-profit organizations: a copy of IRS tax determination letter.

Contact

If you wish notification that your application has been received, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Please send completed application to:

Richard Warren Jr.
ARSC Grants Program
Historical Sound Recordings
Yale Music Library
P. O. Box 208240,
New Haven, CT 06520-8240
Email: richard.warren@yale.edu