This is a useful book, but this reviewer has a few caveats about its usefulness vis-a-vis medical librarians in particular and special librarians in general. There is little in it that specifically addresses the unique needs and work settings of those groups. To wit, none of the examples in the chapter, “Technology Grant Success Stories,” relates to a medical library. The examples are mainly those of public, school, or academic libraries. And though there is a sample National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Technology Improvement Award online application in the chapter, “Sample Kinds of Grant Applications,” the real thing is easily located by savvy medical librarians. The term “special libraries” does not appear in the index, and not only does the index lack the terms “health sciences” or “health,” it includes no entries whatsoever under the letter H. Additionally, many of the scenarios for grant writing and grant implementation presuppose the existence of fairly sizable teams. That is not something that medical librarians working solo or with perhaps a single library technical specialist are going to have at their disposal. That is not to say, though, that the book is utterly devoid of value for health sciences librarians. Don't let the emphasis on technology in the title put you off. For example, you may be thinking, “I just want a grant for a public outreach project—I am not a major techie.” These days, virtually any library-related project has technology-related aspects, and this book interprets the term “technology” broadly. The chapter, “Technology Grant Success Stories,” includes examples of projects that entailed purchasing assistive technology equipment and training staff and library users in their use, expanding study space and equipment updates to better serve those with visual and learning disabilities, purchasing laptops (these days, purchasing tablet computers would probably be more likely), and so on. These are projects health sciences libraries can relate to. Interestingly, one of the most useful aspects of the book comes in a section titled, “When Your Project Is Not Funded.” The bulleted list should be read and printed out by all grant application process newbies. It contains simple but key points such as, “The proposal did not make a good case” and “There were math errors in the budget.” The book does not sugarcoat the highly competitive world of grants and even includes a section on “Continuing the Grant Process” that features a game plan for what to do after an application is rejected. Those of us who have worked on grants will second many of the suggestions made in the table, “Proposal Writing Tips,” in the chapter, “Writing and Submitting Your Proposals.” In particular, the tip about thinking about from whom to solicit letters of support and giving them advance notice and deadlines is crucial. The author might well have added, “and provide a draft of a sample letter,” given how busy medical people and administrators are. Moreover, such draft letters not only help them in the writing task, but provide an opportunity to establish the buy-in from key players that the book emphasizes elsewhere. The book includes excellent advice on such important components of the grant application process as creating a timeline and the composition of an executive summary. The expectations of grantors are helpfully delineated throughout. Strangely, the book's title does not adequately convey the breadth of its content. It does discuss the grant writing process, but it also contains extensive information on the implementation and evaluation phases of grant-funded projects. One wishes there had been more discussion of the importance of naming a project. That is often the hardest part of all—something catchy but not flip. More examples of names of projects would have been nice, as well as advice on how to avoid inadvertently using a name that has been used elsewhere. In sum, this book is full of useful tables and tip sheets. It is handsome and easy to page through and keep open on one's desk while facing the daunting grants application process.
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Jul 1, 2024
Laurel A Laporte-Grimes + 1
Open Access