[Themaintainers] Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Support for The Maintainers

[Lee Vinsel]

Hi, everyone.


Andy Russell and I are pleased to announce that the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation will be supporting some activities of The Maintainers. With
funding from the Sloan Foundation, we plan to build our capacity to create
and nurture communities that connect scholarly research and practical
applications. We’re thrilled to be partnering with the Educopia Institute,
a non-profit organization focused on "building communities, connecting
likeminded people, and using collective action to advance institutions of
all kinds." Educopia will provide some staff support and its considerable
expertise in community cultivation to help us further grow The Maintainers
network.

Our primary focus will be something we call the Maintenance Community
Framework, through which we'll study the state of maintenance in individual
sectors and professions, and document and disseminate best practices and
lessons learned. The first two maintenance communities we'll focus on are
InfoMaintainers - people working in libraries and digital preservation -
and Maintainers in the Workforce, a group of experts on the law and policy
of labor and poverty. We plan to identify and seed some other maintenance
communities this year, including ones on transportation and water
infrastructure, engineering, and philanthropy. We'll also be seeking
additional funding sources that can sustain this effort for several years.
And we’re now starting the planning process for Maintainers III, a
conference that will take place in the fall of 2019. We’ll be sending out
announcements soon to detail different ways that individuals or
organizations can get involved – so stay tuned, and drop us a line in the
meantime if you have any ideas or questions!

Most of all we are happy that the Sloan Foundation has given a vote of
confidence in The Maintainers, and we are grateful for all of your support.


Best to all,

Lee

-- 
Assistant Professor
Department of Science, Technology, and Society
Virginia Tech
leevinsel.com
Twitter: @STS_News
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