Assistance Program TIIAP, the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, is a matching grant program administered by the Department of Commerce through its National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA). You can find full information about the program at the NTIA web site, <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/>. To quote from the 1996 Notice of Solicitation of Grant Applications, "TIIAP assists eligible organizations by promoting the widespread use of advanced telecommunications and information technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. By providing matching grants ... this program will help develop a nationwide, interactive, multimedia information infrastructure that is accessible to all citizens, in rural as well as urban areas." Why should the museum community care about TIIAP? Several reasons. TIIAP is one of the few funding sources specifically for infrastructure -- i.e., getting wired. This year the TIIAP program listed among its funding priorities "Lifelong Learning," including "Projects that bring information, education, and enrichment services on-line through public libraries, MUSEUMS [my emphasis], cultural centers, literacy organizations, or other non-profit organizations." This emphasis resulted in a vastly increased number of applicants from partnerships involving museums -- an underrepresented group in the 1994 and 1995 grant cycles. Previous museum "winners" have included (as noted by Diane Zorich) the Computer Interchange of Museum Information (CIMI) consortium in 1994, and in 1995 a grant to the Los Angeles Unified School District included as project partners the Los Angeles Public Library, the California Afro-American Museum, the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, the Japanese American National Museum, and the California Museum of Science and Industry. I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to whether or not this is a program worthy of your support. To me, it is. James M. Bower Getty Information Institute >>> Christine Wolf <[log in to unmask]> 08/06/96 06:12am >>> At the risk of sounding terribly ignorant, what is TIIAP? and why should we support it? Thanks for the info. Cris Wolf