Humanities Collections and Reference Resources

The Humanities Collections and Reference Resources funding opportunity is cancelled for FY26 and is not accepting applications.

Applicants to NEH for awards with expected issuance dates on or after October 1, 2024, should be aware of revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) effective from that date. All NEH awards issued on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the revised regulations. You may incorporate these changes into your applications now.

Additional information is available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200

HCRR advances scholarship, education, and public engagement in the humanities by helping libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country steward important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture, and digital objects. The program strengthens efforts to make the content of such materials accessible through digitization and description. Awards also support the creation of reference resources that facilitate the use of cultural materials, from works that provide basic information quickly to tools that synthesize and codify knowledge of a subject for in-depth investigation.    

The HCRR program encourages open access, collaboration, and sustainable strategies for managing digital collections and resources. To the extent that the condition of the materials, intellectual property rights, and privacy and cultural considerations allow, you should make the resources you develop publicly available. NEH encourages collaboration between smaller and larger repositories, as well as between humanities experts, information professionals, and community stakeholders to expand participation in cultural heritage and promote engagement with primary sources. You should prioritize methods that allow for sharing and the interoperability of information and resources to ensure their long-term availability.