LFSA CRSA Libraries Research Fund (LRF)
Libraries Research Fund
LRF Guidelines
The Libraries Research Fund is provided by the KU Libraries Administration for the purpose of furthering the research activities of all library faculty and unclassified professional staff for whom research is a part of their professional assignment. This fund is to be used to cover incidental expenses connected with conducting research, to supplement other sources of research funding, and to assist librarians who have research opportunities which may result in out of pocket expenses. The Committee on Research & Scholarly Activity will review proposals and make funding recommendations to the Libraries' administration. Following are general and descriptive (not prescriptive) examples of how the funds can be used.
General principles regarding the distribution of the Libraries Research Fund: These funds are primarily intended to support small projects that cannot be funded from other sources. These funds can be appropriately used as seed money to begin a research project prior to its being developed far enough to be eligible for funding from other sources (e.g., General Research Fund). At the committee’s discretion, requests may be funded in full or in part. Recipients of these research funds will be expected to file a report to the Committee on Research and Scholarly Activities explaining how the funds were used. Recipients of funding are required to spend the money within the fiscal year in which the award is made; funds which remain unspent at the end of a fiscal year do not carry over into the next year. An individual can reapply the following year for new funding.
Some examples of what the Libraries Research Fund can be used for:
• To complement GRF funding or other outside funding sources to cover legitimate costs not covered by those grants.
• To cover legitimate "out of pocket" expenses directly related to a research project.
• To pay for offsite photocopying costs.
• To pay for the production of slides, overheads, or other aids used to support the presentation of a scholarly paper.
• To obtain copies of documents from other locations.
• To defray costs for publishing legitimate scholarly publications (e.g., journals that require a publishing fee).
LRF funds cannot be used to cover travel costs, but may be used for conference registration or other costs directly associated with delivery of research.
Questions should be directed to any of the CRSA committee members. For further funding opportunities for projects involving faculty members, see information on the General Research Fund (GRF).
LRF guidelines approved by Dean Kevin Smith, 2018.
LRF Recipients
Examples of past funded LRF applications are accessible to KU Libraries faculty and staff via sharepoint (KU Login required): Funded LRF Applications
Fiscal Year 2022-2023
Jaime Groetsema Saifi and Gwen Geiger Wolfe, "How the Work Gets Done: Local Activism Through Kansas Conservation Societies." Funds to cover guestbook and other out-of-pocket expenses associated with installing the above titled exhibit in Spencer Research Library's North Gallery cases, $57.
Michael Peper, “Supporting Student and Faculty Researchers Through a Systematic Review Service.” Funds to cover registration for the Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section (KLA-CULS) conference, $110.
Jill Becker, “Addressing Plagiarism in the Introductory Communication Course: A Librarian-Designed Intervention.” Funds to cover early bird registration for the Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section (KLA-CULS), $95.
Samantha Bishop Simmons, “Navigating Ethical Stewardship and Partnership Development in Creating OERs from Local Zines: A Digital Humanities Pilot Project.” Funds to cover registration for the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) conference, $619.
Gwen Geiger Wolfe, "KU Common Book 2022-23 Subject Guide Online Usability Study." Funds to purchase incentives to participate in study, $250.
Lars Leon, "Enhancing our Connected ILL Community Through Shared Learning: Discussion and Actions." Funds to cover conference registration for Kansas Library Association Conference, $245.
Fiscal Year 2021-2022
Andi Back, "Art Libraries Society of North American Annual Conference Registration". Funds to cover Art Libraries Society of North American Annual Conference Registration, $310.
Lars Leon, "[Issues impacting ILL Systems]". Funds to cover hybrid Kansas Library Association conference registration, $145.
Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Lea Currie, “After the Big Deal – Ithaka S+R project”. Funds to cover interview transcription, $1150.
Michael Peper, “Specialized Software to Improve Systematic Review Methodology.” Funds to cover a license for Covidence software for 12 months, $635.
Angela Rathmel, “Academic Libraries Organizational Knowledge Management – Survey.” Funds to cover a subscription to ACRL Metrics, $352.
Sarah Goodwin-Thiel, “Virtual Stories of Research – a Pilot Project.” Funds to cover registration for an online podcast storytelling workshop, $695.
Karna Younger, “Research Sprints Longitudinal Evaluation.” Funds to cover interview transcription, $345.
Fiscal Year 2019-2020
Andi Back, "Reimaging Unique Collections Through Digitization." Funds to cover registration for the ARLIS/NA Annual Conference, $310.00*.
Chris Banuelos, "As Time Goes By: Public Television and the Post-Retirement Experience." Funds to cover poster printing, $75.00.
Josh Bolick, "Open Texbook of Scholarly Communications Librarianship." Funds to cover travel and per diem for a writing retreat, $364.00.
Josh Bolick, "Scribbling in the Margins of the Scholarly Communication Notebook to Build a More Global Community of Open Educators." Funds to cover registration and per diem for ORE20: Care of Open conference, 1,033.00*.
Karen Cook, "George Bellas Greenough's Legacy as a Geological Map Designer." Funds to cover digital reproductions, $210.00.
Marcella Huggard, "A History of the Menninger Foundation Archives." Funds to cover digital reproductions, $300.00.
Lars Leon, "[Best practices to support effective interlibrary loan within the state of Kansas]." Funds to cover registration for the Kansas Library Association Conference, $225.00.
Lars Leon, "Collectively Building Resource Sharing Staff skills with community-wide effective Training & Development." Funds to cover registration for the Colorado Resource Sharing Conference, $145.00*.
Sara Morris, "A Stroll Through the Woods or Navigating the Jungle: Journey Mapping LibGuides." Funds to cover registration for The X Factor: Enhancing the Library Experience Conference," $100.00*.
Brian Moss, "The Impact of Open Access on African Scholarship." Funds to cover registration for the Mid-America Alliance for African Studies (MAAAAS) Conference," $60.00.
Angela Rathmel, "Communities of Practice: Exploring New Ways to Mentor and Support." Funds to cover registration for the Kansas Library Association Conference, $225.00.
Angela Rathmel, "Conducting Research in Acquistions." Funds to cover registration for the 2020 ALA Annual Conference, $365.00*.
Angela Rathmel, "Toe to Toe 'Troubleshooting vs 'Reference Interview': Comparing Commmunicative Behaviors in the Ring." Funds to cover registration for the Electronic Resources and Libraries Conference, $425.00.
Marianne Reed, "[Panel Discussion about staffing of digital publishing programs]." Funds to cover registration for the Library Publishing Forum Conference, $400.00*.
Samantha Simmons, "An Ensemble Cast: Librarian and Faculty Collaboration Toward Information Literacy Integration." Funds to cover audio transcription, $42.53.
Erin Wolfe, "NLP for genre analysis: Expanding the canon of environmental literature." Funds to cover registration for the Digital Library Forum Conference, $450.00.
Karna Younger, "[Research Sprints Longitudinal Evaluation in a partnership with the University of Minnesota (UMN) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Research Sprints on partnering faculty's teaching and research]." Funds to cover transcription service, $1,200.00.
* Funds ultimately not used and/or refunded due to COVID-19 related cancelations.
Fiscal Year 2015-2016
Whitney Baker. "Disaster Response: The Human Element." Funds to cover registration costs, $255.
Fran Devlin, "Tablets for Library Staff: Tools, Toys, or Troubles." Funds to cover some of the expenses of attending the Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey, CA, October 28, 2015, $200.
Jon C. Giullian, "Assessment as it Relates to Collection Development in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies." Funds to cover registration costs for the 2015 ASEEES Annual Convention, $130.
Sarah Goodwin Thiel, a research project "to develop a workshop for both librarians and scholars that will introduce new ways to engage more effectively with their communities." Funds to cover travel and registration costs at the Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN), 2015: Action Research Across Disciplinary Settings, Braga, Portugal, $500.
Carmen Orth-Alfie, "Information needs of Model United Nations Participants." Funds to cover registration costs at the National Model United Nations in New York City, $185.
Julie Petr, "How do Academic Librarians Prefer to Access Collections (pt. 2)" Funds to cover Charleston conference registration, $337.
Erik Radio, "Synopticity and RDF Implementation in Special Collections (poster)." Funds to print the poster, $70.
Michelle Reed, "Digital Storytelling Project on Library Anxiety." Funds to hire an independent contractor/freelance illustrator, $400.
Brian Rosenblum, Presentation of two workshops on static website creation and digital publishing at the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) / Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Funds to cover registration costs for the ACURIL conference, $325.
Fiscal Year 2014-2015
Jon Giullian. “Pathway to Peace and Prosperity: a New Model and Partnership for Teaching Interdisciplinary Research Methods in French, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures,” roundtable presentation at the 2014 ASEEES National Convention, November 20-23, 2014. Funds to cover travel costs, $600.
Erik Radio. “Information Continuity: A Temporal Approach to Assessing Metadata and Organizational Quality in an Institutional Repository,” paper presented at the Metadata and Semantics Research Conference, at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany, November 27-29, 2014. Article forthcoming in proceedings. Funds to cover travel costs, $700.
Greta Kliewer. "Building a Culture of Assessment: Local Responses to National Trends at the University of Kansas". Funds to cover travel costs, $1,000.
Betsaida Reyes. "An Assessment of Electronic Books and its Collection Development Practices among Latin American and Iberian Studies Librarians in the United States". Funds to hire a student Research Assistant, $395.
Fiscal Year 2013-2014
Jon Giullian. "Transcription of audio interviews for “Library development in the post-Soviet era: Case studies in the evolution of East European libraries.” Funds to cover transcription costs, $560.
Deb Ludwig. Understanding the impact & potential of Google Glass in the Academic Library. Funds to purchase one pair of Google Glass, $1,000.
Marianne Reed and Brian Rosenblum. Poster session during the Library Publishing Forum, at the 2014 SPARC conference in Kansas City, Missouri, March 5-6, 2014. Fund to cover poster printing, $194.44.
Scott Hanrath. “Boolean Search Suggestions in the Primo Discovery Service” presented at the Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) 2014 Meeting in Montreal, Canada, April 30-May 2, 2014. Funds to cover poster printing, $90.67.
Sarah Morris. “Learning by Doing: Using Agricultural History as a Vehicle for Service, Practical, and Exepriential Learning” at the Agricultural History Conference in Provo, Utah, June 2014. Funds to support travel, $500.
Brian Rosenblum. Presentation, “Teaching Digital Humanities in the Library,” and lightning talk, “IDRH: a Library/College/Humanities Center collaboration to support digital humanities” at the Data Driven: Digital Humanities in the Library conference in Charleston, South Carolina, June 20-22, 2014. Funds to support travel, $500.
Erin Ellis. “Positioning Academic Libraries for the Future,” presented at the 2014 International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) conference in Helsinki, Finland, May 30-June 5, 2014. Funds to support travel, $1,500.
Fiscal Year 2012-2013
Judith Emde, Scott Hanrath and Miloche Kottman, Conducting usability studies of the Libraries’ discovery tool, Primo. The funds will be used to purchase incentives to participate. $250
Elspeth Healey, “Isn’t an individual just a variant in a group?” and The Ancestral and Filial New: New Directions, Belatedness, and Publishing a Genealogy of the Moderns. Travel to conduct research. $381.60
Rhonda Houser, Adventures in Sharing Raster Data: Maps to the Online Masses. Funds to cover poster printing. $77
Roberta Woodrick, Presentation at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation in Indianapolis. Funds to supplement travel. $68
Whitney Baker, Decalcomania: History, manufacture, and preservation. Funds to cover high quality scanning. $65
Julie Petr, Library Programming for Incoming Graduate Students: What the Students Say. Funds to supplement travel. $734
Fiscal Year 2011-2012
From Idea to Publication (ALA Webinar Series) Part I-III. Archived recordings and presentation slides available to the libraries faculty and staff through joint purchase by the Libraries Organizational & Staff Development Council (LOSDC) and LFPA’s Committee on Research & Scholarly Activity (CRSA).
How and Why of Research (ALCTS/ALA Virtual Preconference) Part I-III. Archived recordings and presentation slides available to the libraries faculty and staff through joint purchase by the Libraries Organizational & Staff Development Council (LOSDC) and LFPA’s Committee on Research & Scholarly Activity (CRSA).
Fiscal Year 2010-2011
Tami Albin. Transcription.
Julie Petr, Amalia Monroe. Atlas-TI training.
Kim Glover. Blackboard Conference.
Kathy Graves. Title of poster will be “What Did We Get Ourselves Into? The KU Libraries and WorldCat Collection Analysis The poster will summarize the process and findings of the project. Funds used to help pay for poster for KLA/CULS poser session in October 2010.
Brian Rosenblum. Change funding.
Karen Cook. "Using Science to Study the Art in Cartography: Spectrophotometry of Colored Area Symbols on Early Geological Maps" (pdf).
Ada Emmett. Open Access Collaborations Across the Pond: Extending the successes of and enriching the methods for open access implementation and projects through international collaborations (pdf). Funds used to help support travel to IFLA Presidential Meeting Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge: Action for Europe April 2011.
Fran Devlin, John Stratton. Analyzing data in LibStats to reveal trends in academic library usage at the University of Kansas. Funds used to pay for poster printing for 2011 ACRL Conference. March 2011.
Lyn Wolz. Copyright fees for my articles to be placed in KU ScholarWorks and for illustrations
to be placed in the volume of the Missouri Folklore Society Journal I am editing. May 2011.
Tami Albin. Rosetta Stone.
Fiscal Year 2009-2010
Tami Albin. “Under the Rainbow Oral History Project.” (continuing funding) Hire students to time stamp and transcribe oral history interviews.
Shiferaw Assefa. “A Structured Approach to Agricultural Libraries in Africa.” Have a poster and handouts printed for a presentation at a conference. [No application to link to yet].
Karen Cook. “Comparing the Utility of Analog Original versus Digital map Images for History of Cartography Research” (doc). Pay for registration for a course at the Rochester Institute of Technology titled “Essentials of Color Science.”
Amalia Monroe. “Recruiting and Retaining Millennial Members in Library Associations.” Travel to present a paper at the Mountain Plains Library Association conference. [No application to link to yet].
Sara Morris. “Women as Farmers in 1970s Indiana.” Travel to present a paper at the Agricultural History Society conference. [No application to link to yet].
Brian Rosenblum. “Evaluation of Digital Repository Development in Eastern Europe.” Travel to the Ukraine for research and a conference. Funds used to help support travel on this research trip. May 2010.
Kim Glover. “Universal Design in Online Education.” Travel to give an invited poster presentation at the National Blackboard Conference. [No application to link to yet].
Fiscal Year 2008-2009
Fran Devlin, Kathy Graves. Adapting Current Spaces to Address User Expectations. Funds used to help pay for printing poster for KLA-MPLA Conference, April 2009.
Jon Giullian. Paper and conference attendance at Sofia 2008 - Globalization and the Management of Information Resources. Funds used to support travel to conference in Sofia, Bulgaria where a paper was presented. November 2008.
Brian Rosenblum. Paper and conference attendance at Sofia 2008 - Globalization and the Management of Information Resources along with research. Funds used to support travel to conference and translation assistance. November 2008.
Jon Giullian. Library development in the post-Soviet era: Case studies in the evolution of East European libraries. Funds used to support New Faculty Grant Research Funds for travel and transcription assistance. Spring 2009.
Fiscal Year 2007-2008
Jon Giullian. ALA Editions new online Guide to Reference, AC – Language Dictionaries – Slavic. Baltic. Funds used to support travel to visit Library of Congress for research on Slavic dictionaries that could not be borrowed via ILL. July 2007.
Fiscal Year 2006-2007
Tami Albin. "Under the Rainbow Oral history Project." An oral history workshop attendance as foundation for ongoing project. Funds were used to attend the Oral History Institute sponsored by the Ohio Humanities Council, in Gambier, OH, June 4-7, 2007.
Fran Devlin, John Stratton, Lea Currie. "R U there? Looking for those teaching moments in chat transcripts." Poster session. Funds were used to pay for printing the poster that we presented at the ALA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., June 2007
Erin Ellis. "Doing the MINI (Meaningful, Immediate, Needed Instruction): Thinking Outside the One-Shot Session." Poster session. Funds were approved and allocated but were not used, as the poster was printed on the GIS printer in Anschutz.
Jon Guillian. "Contributions to ALA Editions new online Guide to Reference, AC: Language Dictionaries - Slavic. Baltic." Funds were used for travel expenses to Washington D.C. to examine language dictionaries held at the Library of Congress, July 2008. Proposal first approved in FY07. Reapproved with funds allocated early in FY08.
Lars Leon. "IFLA National Resource Sharing Training Program - Bulgaria a first pilot of national level model training program." Report to IFLA Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Committee. Funds were used to translate all training program documentation into Bulgarian and to support translation during the program itself.
Brian Rosenblum. "Libraries as Publishers: Partnering with Faculty to Improve Access to Scholarship." Presentation. Funds were used for travel support for in-country research and presentation at the 2007 Czech and Slovak Library Information Network (CASLIN) Seminar, Stupava, Slovakia, June 2007.
John Stratton, Susanne Clement. "Getting Up to Speed: Planning an Integrated and Comprehensive Orientation Program for New Librarians." Poster session at the ACRL Conference held in Baltimore, MD in March, 2007. Funds were used to create and print the poster.
Sarah Goodwin Thiel. Museum Computer Network (MCN) Annual Conference. Discussion of storage issues shared by museum and library staff responsible for the development of online exhibitions promoting their collections, outcomes include: articles on digital collaborations; online documentation on storage considerations and recommended best practices; promotion of new book Build it Once
Jan Waterhouse. "Managing Library IT Projects with Agility and Innovation." Preparation for paper. Funds were used to supplement travel to the 2007 Agile Development conference to obtain information in an area that was to be the topic of a poster session at the 2007 LITA conference.
Fiscal Year 2005-2006
Whitney Baker - "No Leafcaster? No Problem" - printing costs for handouts
Jeff Bullington - "The Open Access Movement and Data" - travel expenses
Susanne Clement - "To Renew or Not to Renew Databases--That Is the Question: A Practical Approach to Collecting and Disseminating Electronic Usage Statistics as a Tool for Collection Development" - support for printing poster and handouts
Rick Clement, Tyra Grant, Susanne Clement - "Collections Enhancement Program: University of San Marcos Libraries (Lima, Peru) and University of Kansas Libraries" - supported costs of setting up a project website
Judith Emde, Jill Glaser, Holly Mercer - "Jupiter: A Tool for Cataloging Web Resources" - subscription to Zoomoerang web-based survey software
Ada Emmett, Holly Mercer - "The RoMEO Green Project at the University of Kansas" - printing costs for poster and information cards
Scott McEathron - "Mapping the Trails of the Southwest: Emigrant Routes and Explorations in the Post-Colonial Period" - digital reproduction costs for maps and illustrations
Holly Mercer, Ada Emmett, Brian Rosenblum - "RoMEO Green at the University of Kansas" - box lunches to provide incentive for KU faculty participation in focus groups
Brian Rosenblum - "Evaluation of Institutional Repository Development in the Czech Republic" - travel expenses, photocopying and translation services
Sarah Goodwin Thiel - "Seminar on the History of the Leab Award" - travel expenses
Scott Walter - "Undergraduate Research Project - Internet Use Among TLC Students" - subscription to Survey Monkey
Fiscal Year 2004-2005
Michiko Ito - Course preparation for "Tradition and Innovation in Japanese Popular Culture"
Holly Mercer and Ada Emmett - RoMEO Green project at the University of Kansas: an experiment to encourage interest, participation and momentum among faculty and jumpstart populating the KU ScholarWorks repository.
Fiscal Year 2003-2004
Nancy Burich, Frances Devlin, and Deb Ludwig - Integrating Live Help in the Information Commons (a poster session at the LITA National Forum)
Deborah Dandridge - Teaching from Primary Sources: Planning New Methods of Archival Instruction for Spencer Research Library's African American Collections
George Gibbs - The life and career of Eva Gauthier, 1885-1958
Bradley Schaffner and Brian Baird - Preservation Evaluate the Condition of Materials Held in the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague
Ada Emmett and Judith Emde - Study of graduate students information literacy skills in chemistry
Fiscal Year 2002-2003
William Crowe - Research on Verner W. Clapp
Michiko Ito - Japanese pop culture icons
Ken Lohrentz - Photocopying and publication charges for research on Northeast African émigrés in the USA and Canada since 1980
Fiscal Year 2001-2002
Brian Baird - Illustrations for a preservation manual he is writing
Susan Craig - Survey of best practices in art and architecture libraries
Tami Albin - Travel money for research project on prison libraries
Fiscal Year 2000-2001
Nancy Burich - Travel money for "State of the Art Learning Environments" conference
Fiscal Year 1999-2000
Cindy Pierard, Jeff Bullington, Faye Christenberry, Kathy Graves - Survey on User Training for Online Catalogs
Donna Koepp - Travel money for internship at the Library of Congress
Brian Baird, Brad Schaffner - Travel money for trip to Bulgaria to study condition of collections
Fiscal Year 1998-1999
Lyn Wolz - Travel Expenses for Research Trip to England
Vicki Coleman - Expenses for Slide Presentation and Poster Session to Present Research Results at Two Conferences
Cindy Pierard - Expenses for Poster Session to Present GRF Research Results at a Conference
Rick Clement - Payment for Line Drawings for a Book in Preparation
Becky Schulte - Hourly Wages for a Student Assistant to Search the Web for a Research Project