Submitting a Proposal

The Foundation's Aims

The Foundation seeks to fund research on all aspects of records and information management. The information management profession needs and is asking for fresh thinking, new perspectives, and new products and tools to deal with the challenges their programs face, particularly in dealing with the impact and implications of information technology.

One operating assumption is that the records and information community cannot effectively address or solve many of the key issues acting alone; therefore, we need partners from within and beyond that community. The Foundation will therefore favor projects and approaches that involve partnership among:

Individual information management professionals;
Records, archives programs and information technology programs;
Professional associations;
Research universities;
Associations, institutions, companies within and beyond the information management community. This final category – people and resources beyond our community – is particularly important in addressing many of the most critical and complex issues.

The emphasis of proposed research and development initiatives should be in areas where information professionals need new strategies, products, and tools right away to deal with the implications of information technology, as well as other issues. Initiatives should also focus on research and development to address critical issues in a timely, effective fashion. The approach should be pragmatic: identify a problem or issue, review best practices, look at actual records and information settings, carry out analysis, develop solutions or recommendations, and bring a report or other product to completion in a timely fashion, that will be widely disseminated by the Foundation. The field, propelled by technology, is moving too fast, and the needs are too great, for long, drawn-out projects.

To see examples of research projects previously funded by the Foundation, click Research Reports to link to the web page. For more information about the Foundation's research strategy, see the Research & Development Framework page.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals should, at a minimum, include the items listed below:

Name
Contact information (address, phone, email)
Biographical data, including educational and employment history
Title of proposed project
Project description
Methodology to be used
Resources needed

Additional information may be provided as the applicant deems appropriate. Any type of research methodology may be used as long as it is sound and appropriate for the proposed research question(s).

A form in PDF format containing these required sections has been provided for your convenience and is available at Research Proposal Form. Proposals may also be submitted using other methods/formats, as long as all required information is included.

For information and assistance, email the Foundation Administrator