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Scope and Priorities |
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The National Library of Medicine (NLM) offers Information System grants to health-related institutions that wish to exploit the capabilities of information technology to provide the professionals and clients of their organization with access to high-quality health-related information. The Information System Grants are offered as a means of initiating, improving and fostering the use of computer and telecommunications technologies to coordinate and disseminate health information.
Information System Grants emphasize the use of information technology to bring usable, useful health-related information to end users. Computers and networks provide health professionals, researchers, educators, students and consumers with time and place independent access to the published biomedical knowledge, files, images and clinical and scientific databases they need, and with the ability to communicate with patients and colleagues around the world. The term 'information system' is defined broadly to include equipment, software, knowledge resources and services, and human expertise. An Information System grant can be used to support a variety of activities, including but not limited to:
- Creating new and/or unique digital information resources
- Integrating digital information that comes from different sources to create tailored views
- Testing the usability of interfaces and digital resources
- Customizing information resources or services to meet needs of special audiences
- Delivering information resources and services to underserved rural and urban populations
- Applying a new information technology to improve access to information
- Designing and testing a new information service.
Defining an information problem, assessing user needs and intended uses of health-related information, designing and deploying a proposed solution to the problem, training users to use the new resource or service, and performing outcome-oriented evaluation are fundamental steps in a good information systems project that must be addressed in any application for an Information Systems Grant.
NLM strongly encourages applications which: (1) incorporate as an essential feature online access to NLM databases and programs such as MEDLINE®/PubMed®, MEDLINEPlus®, Entrez, TOXNET®, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PubMedCentral; and (2) support some aspect of NLM's objectives as articulated in the 2000-2005 Long Range Plan.
Information System grants are not merely grants for hardware or telecommunications systems. They should bring health-related information to end-users. Applicants should describe their approach to these activities, address mechanisms of increasing use of the proposed system, and discuss their plans for supporting the system after grant funding ends. Applications not incorporating national network access will not normally be funded. Connectivity to the Internet is fundamental to successful Information System Grant applications. The following types of projects are considered outside the scope of this grant program: online library catalogs; single-purpose clinical systems (e.g. stand-alone laboratory system or Picture Archiving system (PACS)); digitization of print materials; projects that duplicate NLM products and databases. Applicants should contact the program official listed below if they are uncertain about the eligibility of their proposed project or activity.
An Information System grant project must lead to an operational service activity. It may encompass a whole system, test a prototype and initiate a fuller implementation, establish connectivity of existing system components, or explore the feasibility of applying a new technology on a small scale.
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Eligibility |
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U.S. public and private, non-profit institutions engaged in health administration, education, research, promotion and/or clinical care are eligible to apply. "Health-related" includes medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and other activities related to the promotion of health and the prevention and treatment of disease. Hospitals, clinics, schools and community health centers, libraries and public health facilities, units of state and local governments among others, are examples of organizations that are encouraged to apply. Groups (or cooperatives) of health-related institutions are also eligible to apply. However, a single, lead institution must coordinate the application and apply on behalf of the group. Participants in multiple institution or consortium arrangements may be any organizational entity (including, for example, Federal institutions, proprietary hospitals, public libraries, etc.) which will significantly contribute to the service improvement objectives of the whole project.
NLM encourages applications come from institutions that serve rural, inner city, or other under-served areas. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and those with disabilities are particularly welcome as Principal Investigators. |
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Mechanism |
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Information System Grants use the G08 resource grant mechanism. An Information System grant provides up to three years of support and is not renewable. The average award is approximately $150,000 per year. Applicants who wish to request more than $150,000 per year should contact the program official listed below before submitting an application.
Information System Grants support direct costs for personnel, equipment, training, travel, consultants and other costs related to the implementation of the proposed project. Those institutions that lack appropriate staff to design and implement an information system project or that need technical advice, appropriate consultation may be budgeted.
For complex projects, Information System grant proposals may include requests for funds to support short-term planning. Planning support is intended to defray costs such as meeting and travel expenses, legal (contract) fees, staff release time for surveys of technological resources, and consultant fees for assessment of systems compatibility.
Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, sometimes called overhead or indirect costs, are not provided. Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the applicant. |
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Review Criteria |
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Applications are reviewed for completeness by the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and for responsiveness by NLM. Incomplete applications will be returned to applicant without further consideration.
The CSR will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already submitted. This does not preclude the submission of substantial revisions of applications already reviewed, but such applications must include an introduction addressing the previous critique.
Applications that are complete and responsive to this program announcement will be evaluated for merit in accordance with the review criteria stated below. The Biomedical Library and Informatics Review Committee reviews accepted applications for merit and makes recommendations to the NLM Board of Regents, which provides a second-level of review. Applications recommended for support compete with other applications for available grant funds. The entire process, from receipt of the application to award decision, takes 9-12 months.
In assessing the merit of an application for an Information System grant, reviewers will pay close attention to the following elements:
- The need for the project in terms of expressed information needs of users or participating organizations
- Who will benefit from the project, the nature of the anticipated benefits, and how those benefits will be assessed
- Feasible objectives, milestones, and timeline for their achievement
- An appropriate plan for user training
- A plan to assess the outcomes of the project
- Strength of the rationale for the chosen technology or approach
- How results of the project will be disseminated to peers
- Plans for continued financial support of project after grant funding ends
- Plan for involving librarians and/or library-based resources in the project
The qualifications and experience of key personnel, and the adequacy of the participating organizations' resources and environment to support project are also factors considered during review, as is the relationship to NLM's priorities and long term goals.
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Application & Process |
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Applicants must use the PHS Form 398 grant application (revised May 2001). Applicants who use the 'fillable' PDF form can print, but not save, their completed proposals. Those who wish to save a copy should download the RTF version of the forms and open them with a preferred word processing program.
Information System Grant applications use the non-modular budget format rather than the new modular budget format.
The PHS 398 application form is also used for research grants, and the wording in some sections reflects that use. Applicants should not feel daunted by this. Information System grants are not research projects, and applications will be evaluated in that spirit.
See also the special instructions for completing NLM Information System Grant applications. |
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Contact Information |
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Dr. Valerie Florance
Division of Extramural Programs
National Library of Medicine
Rockledge One, Suite 301
6705 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 594-4882
Fax: (301) 402-2952
E-mail: floranv@mail.nih.gov |
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