80 FR 66048 - Announcement of Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 208 (October 28, 2015)

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announces the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers Data Challenge under Section 105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-358). This challenge encourages the creation of web-based tools, data visualizations, and other creative uses of the information found in the Chronicling America historic newspaper database.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66048-66050]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27445]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES


Announcement of Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers 
Data Challenge

AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announces the 
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers Data Challenge under 
Section 105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Pub. 
L. 111-358). This challenge encourages the creation of web-based tools, 
data visualizations, and other creative uses of the information found 
in the Chronicling America historic newspaper database.

DATES: Competition begins on October 28, 2015, and ends June 15, 2016. 
NEH will announce a winner on or about July 15, 2016, unless it extends 
the term of the competition as provided in this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leah Weinryb Grohsgal, Senior Program 
Officer and NDNP Program Coordinator, Division of Preservation and 
Access, National Endowment for the Humanities, (202) 606-8577, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Subject of the Competition

    How can you use open data to explore history? NEH invites members 
of the public to produce creative web-based projects demonstrating the 
potential for using the data found in the Chronicling America Web site, 
available at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. Chronicling America is 
a Web site providing access to digitized U.S. newspapers and to 
information about historic newspapers. The National Digital Newspaper 
Program (NDNP), a joint effort between NEH and the Library of Congress, 
produces the site. Visit the Chronicling America Web site at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. For more about the humanities, visit the 
NEH Web site at www.neh.gov.
    What are we looking for? NEH encourages contestants to develop data 
visualizations, web-based tools, or other innovative and interesting 
web-based projects using the open data found in Chronicling America. 
There are over ten million pages of digitized newspapers in Chronicling 
America, published between 1836 and 1922, from towns and cities across 
the United States. The newspapers illuminate 19th and 20th

[[Page 66049]]

century American life, with stories about politics, sports, shopping, 
music, food, health, science, movies, and everything in between. 
Entries should uncover trends, display insights, explore a theme, or 
tell a story.
    For example, entries using the Chronicling America newspaper data 
could:
    --Show how local news in various places covered the World Series of 
baseball
    --Trace the developing motion picture industry across the country
    --Follow the enactment of amendments to the Constitution
    --Show coverage of a historic political campaign in various 
locations
    --Map the travels of a president across the country based on local 
news coverage
    --Show changes in advertising logos or newspaper mastheads over 
time
    --Track the price or adoption of consumer goods over time in 
different locations
    --Explore tourism in different locations in the United States
    --Discover how various regions of the country celebrated 
Thanksgiving at different times
    Projects could also create data mashups that juxtapose Chronicling 
America data with other datasets or translate newspapers into different 
languages.
    The Library of Congress has developed a user-friendly Application 
Program Interface (API), which can be used to explore the data 
contained in Chronicling America in many ways. You can learn more about 
the API at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/about/api. Entrants must 
use this API to access the data, but are welcome to use existing 
software or tools to create their projects.

Rules for Participating in the Competition

    1. Eligibility. To be eligible to enter this competition, you--
    (a) Must register to participate in the competition under the 
Official Rules promulgated by NEH on https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/;
    (b) Must comply with all the requirements under this notice and the 
America COMPETES Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-358);
    (c) Must either, (1) in the case of an individual or group of 
individuals, be citizens or permanent residents of the United States, 
or (2) in the case of an entity, be a non-profit incorporated in and 
maintaining a primary place of business in the United States and be 
tax-exempt under the Internal Revenue Code;
    (d) Must have the permission of a parent or legal guardian to 
participate if you are under 18 years of age;
    (e) May not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within 
the scope of your employment; and
    (f) May not be an employee of NEH or an immediate family member 
(spouse, parents or step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, children 
and step-children, and household members).
    2. If you are a federal grantee, you may not use federal funds to 
develop America COMPETES Act competition applications unless such use 
is consistent with the purpose of your grant award. If the project has 
received previous NEH or other federal funding, the summary should 
describe how this entry represents a new contribution or facet of the 
project.
    3. If you are a federal contractor, you may not use federal funds 
from a contract to develop or fund efforts in support of America 
COMPETES Act competition applications.
    4. You may not use federal facilities or consult with federal 
employees during the competition unless the facilities and employees 
are made available to all contestants participating in the competition 
on an equitable basis.
    5. NEH will accept submissions from single individuals, entities, 
or groups of individuals. You may submit multiple entries, but you (or 
your group) will be eligible to win only one prize.
    6. Using the API, contestants must create a web-based tool, data 
visualization, or any other web-based project that displays an 
interesting and innovative use of the data contained in Chronicling 
America. Contestants will need to host the Web sites they develop. All 
entries must be compatible with Internet Explorer 10 and above, Google 
Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox and contestants must provide any passwords 
or instructions required to gain access.
    7. Insurance.
    (a) By participating in this competition, you agree to assume any 
and all risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its 
related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any 
injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, 
whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation 
in this competition, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises 
through negligence or otherwise. Provided, however, that you are not 
required to waive claims against NEH arising out of the unauthorized 
use of or disclosure by NEH of your intellectual property, trade 
secrets, or confidential business information.
    (b) By participating in this competition, you agree to indemnify 
the Federal Government against third-party claims for damages arising 
from or related to competition activities.
    (c) Based on the subject matter of the competition, the type of 
work that it will possibly require, and an analysis of the likelihood 
of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property damage, or loss 
potentially resulting from participation, NEH does not require you to 
obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in 
order to participate in this competition.
    8. Intellectual Property.
    (a) By submitting an entry to the competition, you represent and 
warrant that you are the sole author and owner of the submitted entry. 
Entries must be your original work, and must not violate or infringe 
the rights of other parties, including, but not limited to, privacy, 
publicity, or intellectual property rights, or material that 
constitutes copyright or license infringement. Your entry may not 
contain any material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, 
defamatory, or in any way disparaging. Your entry cannot have been 
submitted previously in another promotion or contest of any kind.
    (b) You understand and agree that if your entry is selected as a 
winner, NEH may modify or alter it, in its sole discretion, as deemed 
appropriate or necessary. The winning contestant will, in consideration 
of the prize to be awarded, grant to NEH and the Library of Congress an 
irrevocable, royalty-free, exclusive worldwide license to reproduce, 
distribute, copy, display, create derivative works, and publicly post, 
link to, and share, the winning design or parts thereof, for the 
purpose of the competition and for any official NEH or Library of 
Congress purpose.
    9. NEH reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, 
suspend, and/or modify the competition for any reason, which includes 
the right to decline to select winning entries if NEH determines that 
no submission satisfactorily meets the selection criteria.
    10. By participating in this competition, you are providing your 
full and unconditional agreement to abide by the rules set forth in 
this notice, and by the Chronicling America: Historic American 
Newspapers Data Challenge Official Rules found at https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/.

[[Page 66050]]

Process for Contestants To Register for the Competition

    NEH will accept submissions only through challenge.gov.
    1. Create an account on https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/ or log 
in with an existing ChallengePost account.
    2. On https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/, click ``Accept this 
challenge'' to register your interest in participating. This step 
ensures that you will receive important competition updates.
    3. After you sign up on https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/, the 
Web site will send a confirmation email to the email address you 
provided. Use the confirmation email to verify your email address. As a 
registered contestant, you will then be able to enter the competition 
by submitting an application that conforms to the requirements set 
forth herein.
    4. Confirm that you have read and agreed to the Official Rules. 
Submit a descriptive summary of the entry of 1,000 words or less and a 
working URL with clear instructions for accessing the entry. Submit 
entries to https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/chronicling-america-historic-american-newspapers-data-challenge/, between October 28, 2015, 
at 9:00 a.m. EDT and June 15, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Amount of the Prize

    NEH will award winning entries $5,000 for First Prize, $3,000 for 
Second Prize, and $2,000 for Third Prize. NEH may award up to three 
separate K-12 Student Prizes of $1,000 each. In addition to cash 
prizes, NEH will invite the winners of the competition to NEH in 
Washington, DC, to present their work at the National Digital Newspaper 
Program Annual Meeting and to be honored at the Chronicling America 
reception given by NEH in September, 2016. NEH will reimburse winners 
up to $1,500 for authorized travel expenses. For winning team entries, 
NEH will reimburse travel expenses for only one person from the team. 
This person will be the contact person listed on the entry form. If 
this person is not available, he or she must designate a replacement 
from the team. Only persons listed on the original entry form may have 
their travel expenses reimbursed by NEH. All other persons accompanying 
the winner/team representative must arrange and fund their own travel 
and accommodations. Awards and travel expense reimbursements may be 
subject to federal income taxes, and NEH will comply with the Internal 
Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where 
applicable.

Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected

    NEH staff will review entries, and will send the top submissions to 
a panel of expert judges. NEH will select a judging panel consisting of 
three outside experts, chosen for their achievements in the humanities 
and digital humanities. Judges will be fair and impartial. A judge may 
not have a familial or financial relationship with an individual who is 
a registered contestant in the competition. Judges will fully comply 
with all applicable government ethics requirements for federal 
employees.
    NEH staff and judges will use the following criteria to judge the 
submitted entries:
    1. Strong humanities content. Entries must address a subject or 
idea in the humanities. NEH interprets the humanities broadly, 
including history, language, linguistics, literature, jurisprudence, 
philosophy, archaeology, comparative religion, ethics, art history, and 
the humanistic social sciences.
    2. Impact and use of data. NEH will judge entries on creative 
selection of data, exploration of questions in the humanities for which 
big data provides insight, and/or innovative techniques for data use. 
Entries should uncover trends, display insights, explore a theme, or 
tell a story.
    3. Originality. While entrants are welcome to use existing software 
or tools, as well as other datasets, to create their projects, NEH will 
judge entries on originality, meaning the novelty of approach using 
data to address a humanities theme.
    4. User appeal and clarity. Because NEH and the Library of Congress 
will promote winning entries to showcase the many uses for Chronicling 
America data, projects should be easily understood by a general public 
audience.
    The judging panel will judge the submissions to advise 
representatives of NEH, who will choose the final winning entries. All 
judging will take place between on or about June 15, 2016, and on or 
about July 15, 2016. For questions or further information, please see 
the contact information listed above.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719.

    Dated: October 23, 2015.
Margaret F. Plympton,
Deputy Chair.
[FR Doc. 2015-27445 Filed 10-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7536-01-P