Endangered Archives Programme: Major Projects Grant

Endangered Archives Programme: Major Projects Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: British Library
Amount: Up to £60,000
Last Updated: September 15, 2025

Summary

The Endangered Archives Programme invites applications for Major Projects aimed at digitising and cataloguing cultural materials from around the world. Grants, up to £60,000 with a maximum duration of 24 months, support projects that preserve archives at risk of neglect or destruction. Successful applicants must ensure the original materials remain in their country of origin and collaborate with local Archival Partners. The Programme has funded nearly 500 projects globally, promoting cultural heritage and open access to knowledge.

Overview

NOTE: The application process is in two stages: The Preliminary Application is an expression of interest. Applicants should have already identified the main collaborators by this point and in particular the senior representative of the Host Institution who is authorised to sign the Grant Agreement the following May or June.See Pre-proposal deadline above. If applicants are successful at the preliminary stage, they will be invited to submit a detailed application and provide a reference as well as information from other collaborators in the project.See Full Proposal deadline above. Endangered Archives Programme The Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) facilitates the digitisation of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration. Thanks to generous funding from Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge, we have provided grants to almost 500 projects in over ninety countries worldwide, in more than a hundred languages and scripts. Since 2004, the Programme has helped digitise more than thirteen million images and 35,000 sound tracks. Archive types digitised so far include rare printed sources, manuscripts, visual materials, audio recordings. This continually expanding online collection is available freely through local archival partners, this website and it is discoverable via the British Library catalogue, for research, inspiration and enjoyment. The Endangered Archives Programme is not designed to support systematic conservation work. It is intended to preserve the integrity of archives by removing them from a hazardous or neglected environment, relocating them into safer circumstances as necessary, and digitising them to preserve their contents and make them accessible. Grants The EAP invites applications to identify, digitise and make available online material on any theme or aspect of culture from any part of the world outside the UK, Western Europe or North America. Grants are offered on the condition that the original material is not removed from the country of origin and the digital materials created by the project are held and maintained by local Archival Partners. Major Projects Major projects are intended for digitisation and cataloguing of a collection or collections. This type of grant may involve preservation necessary for digitisation, and may also relocate the material to a more secure location/institution within the country. Maximum duration: 24 months. Budget limit: £60,000.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. People and OrganizationsApplications must be submitted by the Principal Applicant but grants are administered and accounted for by a Host Institution to which the Principal Applicant is affiliated. Applications must therefore be approved by the institution and applicants must ensure before submitting a preliminary application that an appropriate representative of their institution agrees to the Terms and Conditions required to administer the grant.Grants are awarded to a Host Institution, which oversees the financial and compliance aspects of the project. This should be a recognised non-commercial institution (educational, research or archival/library management)The Principal Applicant may be a member of teaching or research faculty, a registered post- graduate researcher at a recognised university or similar higher education institution, or an archivist/librarian with responsibilities for special collections in a recognised archive, national or research library or similar. PhD candidates will be considered only where the applicant has a proven track record of grant and project management. The PhD supervisor must provide a letter of support, giving approval for the candidate to undertake the project and detailing how it relates to the PhD.If required, there can be up to three Co-applicants who help to shape, manage and/or direct the project. Archival PartnersApplicants must identify an Archival Partner (up to a maximum of three) in the country in which the archive is located. This should be an archive, library or similar institution, based in the area in which the project is operating. It should have the ability to ensure long-term preservation of the digital material created by the project and, where appropriate, to facilitate access to the digital copies and originals.Rights and PermissionsApplicants must demonstrate that the owners and/or custodians of the material have agreed to collaborate in the project; the Access, Permission and Copyright forms must be signed by each archive owner or custodian and submitted at the Detailed Application stage. If national or state records are to be digitised, we require confirmation that the appropriate governmental department has been consulted and has given permission, in writing, for the work to go ahead.Materials digitised with EAP funding must be made available online on a non-commercial basis.The case for the material to be digitised must cover the following areas:Endangerment. Applicants must demonstrate that the material is vulnerable due to neglect and/or environmental threats, and that there is an urgent need to safeguard it.Research value. Applications must demonstrate the extent to which the archive is rare or unique, its cultural importance and its value as a resource for research.Location and date of material. The material must be located outside of Western Europe and North America, and date from before the middle of the 20th century.Legal and ethical rights. Applicants must have the permission of the collection’s owners to digitise the materials and make them available online for research. As well as an awareness of the copyright status of the archival material in the country in which it resides, applicants must also consider any associated data-protection or privacy issues.Applicants may only submit one application for each round of funding and current projects must be completed and signed off by EAP before the deadline for the detailed applications.Eligible costs include:Fees and salariesThese are for project staff engaged with the tasks related to digitising and cataloguing the material.Salaries can also include teaching cover where an academic needs to spend considerable time away from official teaching duties, and contributions to salary costs where an applicant has no other form of income during the period of the project.Equipment and consumablesThis is to cover the cost of cataloguing and digitising material, including purchasing equipment, and re-locating and installing the material in an archive, but not archival overheads or running costs. This can also include the cost of basic preservation measures for the original material, such as acid-free storage boxes, dehumidifiers, brushes, etc, where necessary.Travel and subsistenceTraining costsOther costs This can include the cost of shipping the hard drive containing the digitised material, or for disseminating the results from the project, such as conference talks or public/educational displays, especially where they are aimed at local people.

Ineligibility

Current employees of the British Library are not eligible to applyEAP does not fund the creation of new artefacts such as oral histories, new audio or video recordings.We do not offer grants if further restrictions are placed on the use of or access to the material.Costs for a project website or hosting digital content created by the project are not allowable.Ineligible costs include: institutional overheads capital building and refurbishment projects building work of any kind routine infrastructure and staffing costs systematic conservation of original materials extensive cataloguing or archive managementThe Programme does not provide funds to purchase archival material.