Download Commented application form - International Council on Archives

ICA PROGRAMME COMMISSION: APPLICATION FORM
HOW TO FILL THE FORM
1. Contact details
Name of applicant: Institution, association, ICA branch, ICA section,
individual.
Address:
Country:
Tel:
Contact name: Can be different from the applicant’s name.
Email address for lead contact/project manager:
Is the applicant member of ICA?
See PCOM guidelines, page 1.
2. Project Scope and Relevance
2a. Project Title:
The title should not exceed one line. Please have in mind that if the
project is endorsed, it will feature in the ICA business plan and website,
and should therefore be both attractive and explicit.
2a. What issue(s) does the project address? (Please explain in 100 words
or less)
You will explain in this section what the objectives of the project are.
You might have a general objective, and specific objectives. Do not
confuse objectives with activities (see 2.b) or objectives and outcomes,
the latter usually being concrete products (see2.g).
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2b. What activities will the project undertake? (Please explain in 100
words or less)
This is about how you will achieve your goals. A single project can
comprise a range of different activities: training sessions, workshops,
surveys, study, research, etc. For instance, if you aim to develop a
standard or best practices, you might develop as activities for the
project a survey (in order to define needs and expectations of the
professional community, to find out what has already be done in the
field…); meetings of the working group; (a) test/compliance
workshop(s); a publication; a promoting campaign… You should explain
how each of the activities contributes to the achievement of the result
(see definition of a PCOM project).
2c. Please explain below how the project supports the achievement of
the six objectives in ICA’s Strategic Direction as agreed by the 2008
General Assembly? (For details of the strategic directions, please see the
Programme Commission pages on the ICA website)
The project does not have to support all the objectives, but at least one
of them, two or even three if possible.
2d. Which geographical area(s) or ICA Region(s) will the project cover?
(Please list below)
A PCOM project has to be international in the sense that it should
benefit the widest professional community, and not focus on local or
national needs. The more regions can benefit from the project, the best
chance it has to be endorsed by PCOM. On the other hand, projects
addressing specific cultural or linguistic communities beyond
boundaries are also welcome (as an example, translations of the ICAReq standard into French and Spanish can reach a wide professional
community).
2e. What benefits will the project bring to archive organisations or
people involved with records and archives in these areas?
You will explain here how the project will contribute to professional
development, will help to raise the profile of archives/archive
institutions, to promote the profession, etc. For instance, PCOM has
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endorsed a project proposed by the French National Committee of the
Blue Shield (see annex 2). The project aims to develop guidelines for
setting up an emergency treatment centre for cultural objects, so that
cultural heritage is protected in case of an emergency situation,
restored, and that a process of recovery is ensured. The project
includes a case study, concretely the Haitian case (as an activity). For
Haiti, the benefit will be to protect the cultural heritage, for
professionals to be properly trained in order to face such situations; for
the Caribbean area, to share experience with Haiti, to contribute to a
solidarity project and to strengthen the professional network in the
region; for the rest of the professional community, to learn lessons
from the Haitian pilot and to prepare itself according to the guidelines
which will be developed.
2f. If the project is not focused on a specific geographical area, whom is
the project aimed at and how will they benefit from it?
As said in 2.d, the project can address a linguistic or cultural
community, but also other professional communities, like museums or
libraries (as it is the case for the project mentioned in 2.e.), a type of
archives (municipal archives: see for instance the project about a policy
for vital records in municipal archives).The project can also be of
interest for decisions-makers, historians, the general public, etc.
2g. What are the concrete results to be expected from this project?
This question is not about the final product (see 3f), but about the
concrete impact of the project: after the project has been completed,
will professionals be able to develop training opportunities, or will they
be able to develop better finding aids because they will have the
relevant standard? Will they be able to launch a promotional campaign
because they have got a model? Will the final product of your project
help to strengthen the professional network in your region? Etc.
3. Project Management and Success Factors
3a. Is there a Project Plan?
If YES, please provide a copy.
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It is strongly recommended to provide a project plan. What does
a project plan include? Here are the main components:
- A calendar with milestones, deadlines, and a completion date.
- The description of the activities of the project in relationship
with the milestones
- The description of the deliverables in relationship with the
deadlines
- A description of the project team (if relevant)
- Elements of budget in relationship with the activities.
If NO, what is the estimated completion date?
Are there interim milestones or deadlines to keep the project on track?
You should provide milestones or deadlines, having in mind that if the
project is endorsed and/or funded you will have to report regularly
according to the milestones. Those will serve to measure the progress
of the project, and in the case of funded project, the money will be paid
according to the completion of the different phases.
3b. What risks are there to the success of the project and how will you
deal with them? (Please give details)
Risks have to be taken into account, and will help ICA to assess the
feasibility and sustainability of the project. Some examples: project
developed on a volunteer basis (as a consequence, the milestones and
deadlines might not be respected); limited budget (problems in
securing the budget or the funding partners); technical constraints;
language barrier, etc.
3c. How much experience do you have of managing projects:

None

A little

Considerable
Please give details:
Be frank and realistic. Considerable experience means that you have
successfully carried out various projects and that you have got the
relevant competencies to run an international project, which can
present specificities –as it is international. The project will not be
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rejected because you have no experience, the moment you provide a
good project plan and realistic budget and calendar.
3d. How will you ensure the project is managed successfully?
This is linked to 3.b and 3.c. PCOM can give a hand by assigning a
mentor to your project, but the mentor will only deal with
professional content. He (she) will not provide advice in terms of
project management. A successfully managed project is a wellprepared project, with a realistic project plan developed according to
other activities/responsibilities you have to comply with; with a solid
budget you have secured; with a project group or team under the
leadership of a project manager; if possible, with a political support
from the institution, the organization, the country, etc.
3e. How do you propose to keep ICA members informed about the
progress of the project?
Endorsed and /or funded projects are included in ICA business plan and
not only PCOM but the whole membership will have to know about
them.
3f. What final products will the project provide? How will these
products be made available to ICA and its members?
The project should generally result in a product (link to project
definition) which could benefit the wide professional community, or
which could be adapted /translated to fit in with a specific archives and
records management practice/tradition. For instance, the follow on
phase of the ICA-Req project aims to provide professionals with
implementation scenarios and training modules, for a better use and
application of the standard. A training session is not for instance a
concrete result: it is an activity. But it could result in a concrete
product, if for instance a training programme is being tested with this
session, and can be re-used elsewhere. You will find examples of
concrete products in the PCOM project definition or having a look at
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the projects summaries page on the ICA website. Among them :
studies, standards, best practices, training material, case studies,
toolkits, analysis, etc.
3g. How will you measure the success of your project?
Please provide indicators and/or methods to evaluate the impact of
your project.
3h. How will you ensure the maintenance and sustainability of the
project?
This is a key issue, in particular when the product of the project
is for instance a database, an exchange platform such as a blog, a
website, etc. Who will maintain the tool and update the content?
4. Project Costs (Please indicate currency, $ or €)
4a. Total cost of the project:
The total cost includes contributions from other funding partners.
4b. Funding provided by applicant:
Funding can be expressed in money or with services in kind (for
instance, making employees of the institution available for the project
on their official working time).
4c. Funding from other sources (please specify): most welcome
4d. Funding requested from ICA
The ICA contribution should not exceed 25% of the project budget.
If you request funding from ICA:
- What is the amount requested?
- How will ICA funding be used? (please provide a budget)
A detailed budget for the project is mandatory.
4e. Do you plan to request additional funding from ICA next year? If so,
please identify what project activities you will be asking ICA to fund.
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This question concerns multi-phased projects, or projects which could
have a follow on phase.
5. Project Partners (please list each partner individually)
5a. Name:
5b. Type of organisation:
5c. Role in this Project:
5d. What support will this partner give?
The support can be intellectual, financial, or related to the project
management. It also can be an official endorsement from the partner,
providing credibility to the project.
5e. How will co-ordination between the partners be assured?
5f. Is the partner a member of ICA?
6. ICA’s Role
6a. If ICA is unable to fund this project, will it (tick one)

Go ahead with support from other bodies?

Go ahead more slowly?

Not go ahead?
6b. If ICA is unable to fund your project, do you wish PCOM to give it
formal endorsement? (The advantages of ICA endorsement are given in
in the Guide for Applicants)

Yes

No
6c. Would you like the Programme Commission to give you advice on
other possible funding sources, partnerships, or on the project
development?
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7. ICA membership
7a. Are you a member of ICA?
7b. You are not yet member of ICA: do you intend to be?
If you are not a member of ICA, and if none of your partners is, you will
have to join ICA. Only project proposals presented by ICA members or
having an ICA member among the partners will be taken into account.
PLEASE SEND THE COMPLETED FORM TOTHE SECRETARY OF THE
PROGRAMME COMMISSION, ICA SECRETARIAT. E-MAIL ADDRESS
[email protected]
Please respect the deadline. This is important for your project to be
considered by the Programme Commission.
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