Award Description:
The Visual Resources Association Foundation (VRAF) Internship Award provides financial support for graduate students preparing for a career in visual resources and image management. The award grants $4,000 to support a period of internship in archives, libraries, museums, visual resources collections in academic institutions, or other appropriate contexts. The recipient will receive a stipend of $3,000 for 200 hours completed at host site. A professional development component of $1,000 supports conference attendance or attendance at the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management. The recipient will receive a one year complimentary student membership in the Visual Resources Association.

For consideration, please submit your application by Wednesday, July 31, 2014, 11:59 Pacific Time. If you have any questions about the VRAF Professional Development Grant or the application process, please contact Margaret N. Webster, mnw3@cornell.edu. The recipient of the VRAF Internship Award will be announced by Wednesday, September 12, 2014.

Award Amount:
The VRAF Internship Award will provide a stipend of $3,000.00 to the intern. Half of the award will be granted prior to the internship, with the remainder granted upon completion of the internship and receipt of a letter to the Chair of the VRAF Internship Committee signed by the internship supervisor and the intern stating that the 200 hours have been completed. If the recipient is not a US citizen, the VRAF is required by the IRS to withhold a percentage of this award.

A professional development component of $1,000 is available to support attendance at the national VRA conference, other appropriate conferences, or the Summer Educational Institute for Visual Resources and Image Management. The recipient will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts and documentation. The recipient will receive a one year complimentary student membership in the VRA. The award recipient will be formally recognized during the Awards ceremony at the VRA conference). The grant is for use between September 12, 2014 and September 11, 2015.

Eligibility:
Applicants should be students currently enrolled in, or having completed within the last 12 months, a graduate program in library or information science, art history, architectural history, architecture, visual or studio art, museum studies, or other applicable field of study may apply for this award. Applicants must have completed at least 10 credits of their graduate coursework before the application deadline, or demonstrate an equivalent combination of coursework and relevant experience.

Acceptable Uses of Professional Development Money:
A professional development component of $1,000 is available to support attendance at the national VRA conference, other appropriate conferences, or the Summer Educational Institute for Image Management. The recipient will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts and documentation. The award recipient will be formally recognized during the Awards ceremony at the VRA conference.

Application Deadline and Decision Announcement:
Applications for the 2014-2015 are due Wednesday, July 31, 2014.
The award decisions will be publically announced on Wednesday, September 12, 2014.

Guidelines and Application Procedures: http://vrafoundation.org.s119319.gridserver.com/iqndex.php/grants/internship_award/

How to Apply:
To apply for the award, please submit the following:
1. A current resume.
2. A current transcript [this does not need to be issued directly from the institution].
3. An essay of up to 300 words addressing the applicant’s professional goals, expectations of the internship experience, and any skills or background that might benefit visual resources. A brief description of the proposed project is desirable.
4. The names of two professional or scholastic references with address, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
5. Recommended, but not required: Host institution and contact information of internship supervisor.

Application materials in electronic form are preferred and should be submitted as a single PDF file to:
Margaret N. Webster
Visual Resources Consultant
Phone: 607-257-3365
Email: mnw3@cornell.edu

The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) announces the 2014 Paul Evan Peters Fellowship
http://www.cni.org/go/pep-fellowship
Applications due no later than June 24, 2014

The Paul Evan Peters Fellowship was established to honor and perpetuate the memory of CNI’s founding executive director. The fellowship is awarded every two years to students pursuing graduate studies in librarianship, the information sciences, or a closely related field, who demonstrates intellectual and personal qualities consistent with those of Paul Evan Peters, including:

–commitment to use of digital information and advanced technology to enhance scholarship, intellectual productivity and public life;

–interest in the civic responsibilities of information professionals and a commitment to democratic values;

–positive and creative approach to overcoming personal, technological, and bureaucratic challenges, and

–humor, vision, humanity, and imagination.

Two fellowships will be awarded in 2014:

• One to a doctoral/PhD student in the amount of $5,000 per year, to be awarded two consecutive years.
• One to a master’s student in the amount of $2,500 per year, to be awarded two consecutive years.

What Fellowship Recipients Say About the Award:
Jessica A. Koepfler received the Peters fellowship in 2010 and she completed her degree in 2014. She now serves as Director of Design Research & Strategy at Intuitive Company, a user-centered research, design, and development firm. On winning the award, Jes wrote, “The fellowship provided a source of funding that allowed me to commit myself to a ‘fringe’ topic like the study of values within the context of homelessness. Without the funding, I would have been beholden to a topic that my advisor was funded in rather than getting to be creative and do something I was truly passionate about. The award is also quite prestigious and put a spotlight on me early on in my program, which had the snow ball effect of people noticing me. This very likely impacted the number of great opportunities that came my way throughout my program and academic career. I am truly grateful for the fellowship and credit it with being very instrumental to me particularly in those early years of my PhD program.”

“The characteristics that have often been associated with Paul–positivity, creativity, humor, vision, humanity, and imagination–are, I hope, dimensions that I also bring to the work that I do as a scholar and as a teacher, ” wrote Phillip Edwards, 2004 fellowship recipient and currently at the Center for Teaching Excellence at Virginia Commonwealth University. Edwards credits the award with helping to broaden his professional horizons as a student: “Because of this funding, I was able to travel to conferences which I would have otherwise been unable to attend, and the interactions I had among other researchers and practitioners at these gatherings have been more valuable than I could have ever imagined.”

Cal Lee, who received the first Peters Fellowship, is currently Associate Professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he teaches classes for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as continuing professional education workshops, in a variety of subjects, including archival administration, records management, digital curation, understanding information technology for managing digital collections, and the construction of digital repository rules.

Links to the applications and more information about the Paul Evan Peters Fellowship and the application process are available at http://www.cni.org/go/pep-fellowship.