FROG Committee Annual Reports
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2021 - 2022 FROG (FUNDING RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES GRANT) COMMITTEE 2021-2022 ANNUAL REPORT
2021-22 Members: Jessie Tam (Chair), Jackie Magagnosc (TS), Jennifer Argueta (TS), Jennifer Garafolo (LSRD), Kevin Carey (LSRD), Heather Buckwalter (Representative-at-large)
ADVERTISING AND GRANT APPLICATION
The FROG Committee continued to promote the grant on the online discussion list of TS, LSRD & the AALL Members Open Forum periodically. The announcement also was included on the latest issues of TSLL.
We did not receive any applications for the grant.
TS-SIS HANDBOOK
The FROG Committee members gave input on updating the FROG Committee section of the TS-SIS Handbook.
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2020 - 2021 FROG (FUNDING RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES GRANT) COMMITTEE 2020-2021 ANNUAL REPORT
2020-21 Members: Jessie Tam (Chair), Michele Pope (TS), Sabrina Davis (TS), Marjorie Crawford (LSRD), Jennifer Garafolo (LSRD), Heather Buckwalter (Representative-at-large)
Grant Management
Jesse Lambertson, the latest grant recipient, continued to publish articles related to his research on TSLL this past year. To complete the terms of the grant, he submitted the receipts of his research expenses last November.
ADVERTISING
The FROG Committee members were focused on various strategies on promoting the grant:
- FROG Committee web page on TS-SIS was updated to highlight Jesse Lambertson’s research articles and status report.
- Based on the previous FROG promotional materials, the committee members have settled on an announcement with a FROG image. This announcement is included in TSLL starting from v.46, no.1. The committee members also decided to post the announcement on the online discussion list of TS, LSRD & the AALL Members Open Forums every other month.
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2019 - 2020 FROG (Funding Research Opportunities Grant) 2019-2020 Annual Report
2019-20 Members: Jessie Tam (Chair), Elizabeth Outler (TS), Michele Pope (TS), Lisa Watson (OBS), Marjorie Crawford (OBS), Heather Buckwalter (Representative-at-large)
Grant Management
Jesse Lambertson, Digital Resources Librarian at the University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library, submitted a FROG application last November and was unanimously approved by the FROG Committee members. The grant award was announced on OBS and TS online communities, as well as on their websites. Jesse has written an article related to his research on TSLL, vol. 45, no. 4 (June 2020). He also submitted a progress report to the Committee before the 2020 TS OBS Summit.
OBS & TS Websites and Grant Application
FROG webpages on OBS & TS websites were updated to reflect the latest information and procedures on grant application and fund disbursement. The Committee members discussed whether to change the grant application form from Word format to a Google form. According to Chris Siwa, Director of Information Technology at the AALL, they do not have a way to create a web form. Barbara Ginzburg, Chair of OBS Web Advisory Committee, created an application form in Word format with AALL branding.
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2017 - 2018 FROG (Funding Research Opportunities Grant 2017-2018 Annual Report
2017-18 Members: Gypsy Moody (Chair), Jesse Lambertson (TS), Kevin Carey (TS), Lisa Watson (OBS), Rachel Decker (OBS), Rebecca Domm (Representative-at-large)
Grant Management
The FROG grant agreement requires the recipient to submit a mid-year progress report including an account of the funds spent. Sarah Lin provided both of those with no prompting from the Committee and only minimum explanation of expectations. In addition, she also sent the Committee bi-monthly reports written for her local library association about the project. The final report was submitted in May and subsequently sent to the TSLL editor for inclusion in the newsletter. Sarah Lin also handled returning the unused funds to both the OBS and TS treasurers. The grant management was exceptionally easy because the Sarah Lin was very diligent.
OBS & TS Websites and Grant Application
Before AALL switched over their website, the Committee checked all of the links and information on all of the webpages where FROG is mentioned and requested updates. Furthermore, after AALL’s switch over was complete, the Committee rechecked the webpages again and reported all. During the website maintenance, the Committee found that the Google form used for grant applications was no longer working properly and that there were errors in the Word Document version of the grant application. Links to the Google form were removed from the websites and the Word Document was updated. Even with those corrections, no grant applications have been received.
Future of the Grant
Because no applications have been received, the FROG Chair broached the subject of the viability of the continuance of the grant. The Committee and the OBS and TS Chairs TS had several email exchanges about the viability of the grant moving forward. The decision was made to keep the grant going and redouble the Committee’s efforts in adverting with the hope of increasing awareness of the grant.
Advertising
The Committee came up with hashtags, crafted text and created images for tweets and facebook posts. Communicated with AALL HQ about the parameters for approval of those items to be tweeted and posted by AALL HQ to the whole membership. AALL HQ created a bit.ly, which after the website change had to be recreated, to be used in the advertising. AALL HQ tweeted and posted the content created by the Committee. The Committee requested the inclusion of FROG information on both the OBS and TS posters and brochures. A new FROG logo was brainstormed and finalized. The Committee received approval for the purchase of SWAG stickers for Annual Meeting, which will include the new logo and bit.ly.
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2015 - 2016 FROG (Funding Research Opportunities Grant 2015-2016 Annual Report
2015-2016 Members: Kerry Skinner (Chair), Christina Tarr (OBS), Virginia Bryant (OBS), Fredrick Chan (TS), Julie Thomas (TS), Karen Selden (Representative-at-large).
New grant guidelines update
The committee systematically updated all of the OBS and TS webpages and brochures to reflect the new name of the grant and the new grant guidelines.
New member title
The “ex-officio” member’s appointment and roll were unclear to the grant committee members as well as the executive boards of OBS and TS. After a review of the origin and history of this position, the committee with approval of the boards opted to change the title of the member from “ex-officio” to representative-at-large. Going forward, the representative-at-large will be appointed by the chair of the FROG committee to serve one term.
Advertising
In an effort to broaden our advertising and to attract grant applicants, the committee explored the possibility of “piggy-backing” our advertising on other announcements regarding research opportunities from both within the SISs and AALL and also from other organizations such as SLA. Because the grant now has a rolling deadline, it makes sense to advertise more frequently than just before deadlines and also to try to link the grant with other information that promotes research.
Boilerplate language
In order to help facilitate ongoing advertising and to empower each member of the FROG committee to advertise the grant when an opportunity arises, boilerplate language was constructed for the advertising. The idea is that when a committee member sees a TS/OBS research or “experimental” opportunity arise, they will be able to easily and quickly construct advertising to accompany or piggy-back on that information.
Advertising and grant applications
The grant now has a rolling deadline running on the same fiscal year as the SISs. The committee advertised the grant a number of times this year. Unfortunately, we did not receive any applications for the grant.
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2014 - 2015 OBS/TS Joint Research Grant / FROG (Funding Research Opportunities Grant) Committee
2014-2015 Annual Report2014-15 Members: Kerry Skinner (Chair), Christina Tarr (OBS), Ellen McGrath (OBS), Fredrick Chan (TS), Julie Thomas (TS), Hollie White (ex officio, Dec. 2014-June 2015), Chris Long (ex officio, July 2014-Nov. 2014).
Revamping the Grant
In July 2014 the committee forwarded a proposal to revamp the grant in an effort to make it more accessible. The OBS and TS boards approved the proposal and a task force to revamp the grant was formed.
Revamp the Grant Task Force
Task force members: Ellen McGrath (Chair), Christina Tarr, Fredrick Chan, Chris Long, Kerry Skinner, Julie Thomas, Hollie White.
The task force met from in the fall of 2015 and collaboratively worked to rework the grant and application process. The Task Force’s full report, final grant guidelines and application form can be found on the OBS/TS Joint Research Grant, My Communities library. The grant revision was approved by both the TS and OBS Boards. The OBS and TS websites were updated with the new grant guidelines and application form.
Naming Contest
During the spring, as the next step in the grant revamp process, the committee focused on drawing more attention to the grant’s existence and purpose through launching a re-naming contest. The contest was set up using the websites Namecontest.com and Easypolls.net and AALL members were invited to submit entries and vote for their favorite of the finalists. 50 name entries were submitted which the committee narrowed down to 5 finalists using predetermined criteria. (Contest Rules can be found on the OBS/TS JRG My Communities Library). 116 members then cast votes for their favorite name. The winning entry, FROG (Funding Research Opportunities Grant) submitted by Karen Selden, won with 34% of the vote. The prize for winning entry was a $50 Amazon gift card funded by the OBS and TS-SISs. All entrants were placed in a random drawing (Randompicker.com) for the other two prizes, a year’s membership to OBS and TS, which were won by Calmer Chattoo and Kristina Alayan respectively.
Advertising and grant applications
The grant now has a rolling deadline running on the same fiscal year as the SISs. The committee advertised the grant under the old guidelines once in the fall and used the Naming Contest as a way to bring further awareness to the new grant guidelines in the spring. Unfortunately, we did not receive any applications for the grant this year.
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2013 - 2014 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS Joint Research Grant Committee
2013-2014 Annual ReportSubmitted by: Kerry Skinner
Ross-Blakley Law Library, Sandra Day O’Connor College of LawThis year the committee updated the grant information on the OBS and TS websites and AALL Communities page with new committee information and fixing all broken links left from the OBS webpage revision the year before. We then advertised the grant in the following places with a single deadline in May.
Unfortunately, we again did not have any applicants.
It has been 10 years since there was an applicant for the grant. The committee met on March 19, to discuss the lack of applications with the grant. The committee then decided that it may be time to revisit the grant guidelines and structure in light of the changing work realities of technical services librarians.
The committee drafted a proposal asking the OBS & TS Executive Boards to grant permission to begin looking at revamping the grant. We then met a second time to discuss the proposal, the upcoming survey, and plans for the next year.
The committee solicited feedback from the members about why no one is applying for the grant by creating and disseminating a survey from June 19 to June 27, 2014. The survey was successful with 120 respondents.
The Committee forwarded the Proposal to Revamp the Grant and a Summary of Survey Results to the OBS/TS Executive Boards for their review.
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2012 - 2013 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS Joint Research Grant Committee
2012-2013 Annual ReportIn 2012-2013, the Joint Research Grant continued its efforts in advertising the grant by including advertisements on both the TS and OBS email lists, in the Presidents newsletter, in TSLL, and in various regional newsletters. To simplify the application process, an online grant submission form was created with the help of Katrina Piechnik and F. Tim Knight. Unfortunately, despite these efforts no one applied for this year’s grant.
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2011 - 2012 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS Joint Research Grant Committee
2011-2012 Annual ReportBy Hollie White
This year the Joint Research Grant Committee decided to expand its web presence by developing its own AALL Community page and attempting to implement a new online grant application submission form. The Joint Research Grant Community page was created in Fall 2011 and includes a blog to which many JRG committee members contributed. Members from both TS and OBS have joined this community.
Work to create an online grant application submission form began with the committee consulting both the OBS and TS Web editors. After that, AALL headquarters was approached to help with the project. AALL Headquarters IT staff refused to assist in the project and placed the project in the hands of the OBS Web editor. A few mock-ups were presented and refined. By early 2012, it was discovered that full implementation of an online web form would not be possible by the Spring 2012 grant deadline. This project will have to be delayed for another year with possible implementation by Spring 2013.
The Joint Research Grant was advertised in local chapter newsletters, on the TS and OBS email lists, the Technical Services Newsletter, and multiple times in the AALL President’s E-Newsletter. Again, despite these advertising efforts and the new online presence, there were no applicants for this year’s grant. Promotion and work for the Fall JRG deadline will continue this summer into the fall.
The committee has developed a survey that will help determine why people are not applying for the grant. The survey will be sent to a University-based Institutional Review Board for approval and distributed to TS and OBS member in the upcoming year.
The Joint Research Grant Committee members continue to see the value of the OBS/TS SIS Joint Research Grant as well as the research it attempts to support.
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2010 - 2011 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS JOINT RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE
2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORTThis past year the Joint Research Grant Committee has continued its work to make the grant application process easier for applicants. With both OBS and TS executive board approval, the official application deadline was changed to March 31st. A new reference form was also added to the website. To promote these changes, the December issue of the Technical Services Law Librarian Law Librarian’s Research and Publication Column featured an article on this topic. Advertising this year expanded to include a blurb in the February Spectrum as well as mentions in both the February and March President’s Newsletter. Multiple postings to both the TS and OBS listservs were also sent out.
Despite advertising efforts, no one applied for the Joint Research Grant this year. The committee hopes that with a little research and some educational programming more applicants will participate in this grant program.
JRG committee has come up with some solutions to getting more people to apply for the grant. An informal educational program on how to conduct Technical Services focused research is being held during the OBS/TS Researcher’s Roundtable in July. Other suggestions beyond educational programming include conducting an online survey with the OBS/TS members to see why people are not applying for the grant, and potentially creating a rolling deadline for submissions (i.e. if no one applies in the spring, open up a fall application process).
Hollie White
OBS/TS Joint Research Grant Chair -
2009 - 2010 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS JOINT RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE
2009-2010 ANNUAL REPORTThis year marked the beginning of change for the OBS/TS Joint Research Grant Committee. Early in the year, the committee discussed possible changes to the grant that could encourage more members to apply. It was decided to expand the grant submission process to include electronic submissions via email. Also, grant information and grant related documents were update on the JRG website.
Announcements and reminders of the grant were posted on both the TS and OBS lists. The committee also tried to expand its marketing of the grant by posting the grant announcements on other law library and SIS listservs beyond the required TS and OBS lists. The June Issue of the Technical Services Law Librarian also focused on research ideas that benefit technical services law librarianship in relation to the Joint Research Grant.
Despite these changes, there were no applicants for this year’s grant. In the upcoming year, the committee plans to expand its marketing effort, as well as, reach out with more educational programming and publications about research related to the grant.
Respectfully submitted,
Hollie White
Chair, Joint Research Grant Committee -
2008 - 2009 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS JOINT RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE
2008-2009 ANNUAL REPORTChair Ruth Funabiki convened the Committee meeting in Portland in July 2008.
Membership of the 2008-09 Committee included Richard Amelung (ex-officio), Pam Deemer (2008-10), Barbara Henigman (2008-10), Ruth Funabiki (Chair, 2007-09), Chris Long (2007-09), and Patricia Satzer (2007-09).
Both OBS-SIS and TS-SIS budgeted funds for the grant to be awarded in 2008-09. Each SIS was prepared to fund $500 for a project.
At the 2008 OBS-SIS Board meeting, there was a discussion of how to better publicize the grant opportunity. Although the Chair did not follow through on several of those plans, the grant opportunity received more mention this year than last. Information about the grant was posted on the OBS-SIS Facebook page on August 6, 2008. In addition, the grant was featured in March 2009 in Hollie White’s Technical Services Law Librarian “Research & Publications” column.
No inquiries or applications were received between the time of the announcement and the June 15 deadline for applications.
The principal agenda item for the meeting in Washington will be to once again address the question of how to best publicize and promote the grant opportunity. If publicity increases substantially without a response in the coming year, I think the SISs should consider whether the grant program should be dropped.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Funabiki, Chair
University of Idaho Law Library
PO Box 442324
Moscow, Idaho 83844-2324 -
2007 - 2008 OBS-SIS/TS-SIS JOINT RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE
2007-2008 ANNUAL REPORTFormer Chair Caitlyn Robinson convened and led the Committee meeting in New Orleans in July 2007.
Membership of the 2007-08 Committee included Richard Amelung (ex-officio), Kathy Faust (2007-08), Ruth Funabiki (Chair), JoAnn Hounshell (2007-08), Chris Long (2007-09), and Patricia Satzer (2007-09).
In March 2008, officers of both OBS-SIS and TS-SIS were consulted to verify that funds were budgeted and available to be awarded. Each SIS was prepared to fund $500 for a project. In April, the Chair contacted Committee members, and emailed grant proposal invitations to the OBS and TS membership.
No inquiries or applications were received between the time of the announcement and the June 15 deadline for applications. So, the principal agenda item for our meeting in Portland will be to address the question of how to best publicize and promote the grant opportunity.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Funabiki