SIPA Helps You Get Information Online

Need a little help getting your historic collections online?  The Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) can help you do that.  Each year SIPA offers a micro-grant program designed for state and local governments, special districts k-12 and public universities in Colorado to put more citizen-facing information and services online. This can mean online access to historic collections often found in libraries, archives or museums.  Grant awards typically range from $1,000-$6,500 but smaller or larger amounts can be requested and have been funded.  This year they will award over $100,000 in grants.

SIPA funds a variety of digital projects that have included the development of mobile apps, creation of interactive maps, and assistance with website creation.  Funding has also been awarded to projects that included digitization and increased online access of historic collections.   The 2016 funded projects included; scanning and making historic maps available online, free and open online access to digitized House and Senate Journals, conversion of videos to digital formats made available online, and increased online accessibility to a historic museum collection.  In addition to these projects, SIPA has also funded newspaper digitization projects in the past.

Mark you calendar for SIPA’s 2017 grant application timeline:

• December 1, 2017: Grant applications open
• January 19, 2018: Grant applications due by 5pm MST
• January 20 – March 2, 2018: SIPA review period
• March 5 – 9, 2018: SIPA will announce the 2017 grant awardees
• April 24, 2018: Awards are given at the annual SIPA User Conference and Grant Ceremony

If you have questions about the grant application process please refer to SIPA’s frequently Asked Questions page or email sipa@cosipa.gov.  I am also happy to offer advice on proposed historic collection projects and completing the application.  You are welcomed to contact me at ljeremias@coloradovirtuallibrary.org.