NLM FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT: Internet Connection for Health Institutions

[NNLM PNR]

INTERNET CONNECTION FOR HEALTH INSTITUTIONS

Release Date:  April 15, 1999

RFA:  LM-99-001

P.T.

National Library of Medicine

Letter of Intent Receipt Date: June 14, 1999
Application Receipt Date: July 12, 1999

PURPOSE

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is encouraging the development
of a communications infrastructure to promote the rapid interchange of
medical information nationally and throughout the world.  This
infrastructure is based upon the Internet, a network of networks, that
is a key element in important Federal initiatives in High Performance
Computing and Communication (HPCC) and the National Information
Infrastructure (NII).  Internet access provides health professionals
engaged in education, research, clinical care, and administration with
a means of accessing remote databases, libraries, NLM's PubMed and
Internet Grateful Med, DOCLINE, and Loansome Doc, of transferring
files and images, and of interacting with colleagues throughout the
world.  The Internet may also be used by patients and consumers to
access health resources.  To accelerate the pace with which
health-related institutions become part of the electronic information
web, NLM is offering grants to support institution-wide Internet
connections.

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000

The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health
promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"a
PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This Request
for Applications (RFA), Internet Connection for Health Institutions,
is related to the priority area of surveillance and data
systems. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People
2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock
No: 017 001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents,
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-0325 (telephone
202-512-1800).

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

U.S. public and private, non-profit institutions engaged in health
administration, education, research, and/or clinical care are eligible
to apply.  "Health" includes medicine, dentistry, nursing, public
health, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and other sciences related to
health.  Hospitals are encouraged to apply.  Racial/ethnic minority
individuals, women, and those with disabilities are encouraged to
apply as Principal Investigators.  Domestic applications may not have
international components.  Groups (or cooperatives) of health-related
institutions are also eligible to apply.  A single, lead institution
must apply on behalf of the group.

MECHANISM OF SUPPORT

This RFA uses the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Resource Grant
(G08) mechanism.  Indirect costs are not provided.  Responsibility for
the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be
solely that of the applicant.  The total project period for an
application submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed one year.

For a single institution, support is available up to $30,000; a group
of institutions may receive up to $50,000 to support development of a
multi-institution network including extending extant connectivity to
outlying sites, or otherwise furthering NLM's goal of expanding
information outreach.  The overall cost of a connection to the
Internet includes: gateway or router equipment, associated
communication hardware (CSU/DSU), the leased line and its
installation, local area network user support staff, and Internet
Service Provider fees.  The NLM grant is expected to support the
purchase and installation of the gateway system and associated
connection hardware, the cost of installation and leasing of
communication circuits to connect to the Internet Service Provider,
and the cost of Internet Service Provider fees.  Institutions are
expected to fund personnel, personal computers, and local area network
costs.  The emphasis of the Internet project should be towards
initiating institution-wide Internet access; therefore, costs for
website development are discouraged.  Grant funds may be used to
extend Internet access to other sites from an institution with an
existing connection.

FUNDS AVAILABLE

Funds available for this RFA are approximately $600,000; however,
expenditure of this amount is conditional upon the receipt of
applications of high merit.  The number of awards to be made is
estimated to be between 10 and 16.  Although the NLM budget is
expected to permit support of these projects, funding of any
applications pursuant to this RFA is contingent upon the availability
of funds at the appropriate time.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Background

The Internet currently is a collection of interconnected networks and
comprises three types of networks: (1) national backbone networks, (2)
regional and state networks, and (3) local networks at education,
research, government and commercial institutions. Individual
institutions are connected to a regional network in the appropriate
geographical area.  The regional network is in turn attached to the
high-speed national backbone network. The Internet provides electronic
mail service and access to a variety of scientific resources
including: digital libraries, unique databases such as MEDLINE via
PubMed and Internet Grateful Med as well as a host of federal and
private sector databases, supercomputers, and remote scientific
sensing instruments. The Internet promotes interaction and
collaboration with a single, well-integrated connection to end users
using the Defense Data Network protocols: Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol referred to as TCP/IP.  Network management
and operations services as well as information services may or may not
be provided by each of the levels.

The Internet has become an essential infrastructure in the health
environment and is used extensively to facilitate communications and
collaboration and to provide access to information and computing
resources.  NLM is encouraging all kinds and types of health
institutions to gain access to these vast and rich resources.

Objectives and Scope

The purpose of this RFA is to encourage U.S. health institutions to
connect to the Internet. Some institutions may belong to organizations
that are already connected to the Internet; in such a case, the NLM
grant can be used to link a health entity to an existing Internet
connection.  In other cases, the project will aid the institution in
initiating a direct connection to the Internet Service Provider.  In
general, it is expected that institutions will use an existing local
area network to distribute wide access to the Internet, or will build
a new local area network and connect it to the Internet.  A local area
network is connected to the Internet by installing an IP
router/gateway.  This gateway will link the local area network to an
appropriate Internet Service Provider by means of leased or dial-up
communication circuits of varying speeds.  The resultant connections
to the Internet provided by the gateway should be made widely
available to all appropriate personnel.  Ideally the institution will
have installed a high-speed local area network and have adopted the
TCP/IP protocols as the standard communication protocol.  Where other
networking protocols are used, the institution will be responsible for
the installation of any additional network gateway systems required to
resolve the protocol conversion issues so as to provide connectivity
to the Internet gateway.

LETTER OF INTENT

Prospective applicants are asked to submit, by June 14, 1999, a letter
of intent that includes the name, address and telephone number of the
Project Director and the number and title of this RFA.  Although the
letter of intent is not required, is not binding, does not commit the
sender to submit an application, and does not enter into the review of
subsequent applications, the information that it contains allows NLM
staff to estimate the potential review workload and to avoid conflict
of interest in the review.  The letter of intent is to be sent to Ms.
Frances E. Johnson at the address listed under inquiries.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398
(rev.  4/98).  Application forms and instructions are available at:
http://www.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html, may be ordered
from http://www.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm, or may be obtained from the:

Extramural Outreach/Information Resources, National Institutes of
Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910,
Telephone: 301/435-0714, FAX: 301/480-0525, Email: grantsinfo at nih.gov;
and from the program administrator listed under INQUIRIES.

Supplemental Application Guidelines

Applicants should not feel constrained by the emphasis on research in
the language used in the forms and narrative instructions.  It may be
useful for an applicant to read "project" whenever the form and
instructions refer to "research".  NLM considers these grants to be
projects, not research applications, and will evaluate the
applications in that spirit.  NLM recommends that those writing the
application keep the "project" concept in mind.  Internet uses may
support administration, education, research and/or patient care
endeavors. Applicants are encouraged to include their library in the
proposed Internet connection.

All applicants, particularly those relatively unfamiliar with the
application review form and with NIH procedures, are encouraged to
consult Ms.  Frances Johnson (address below) for assistance as needed
in completing the application.

Suggested Outline for "Project Plan" (Pages 15 - 19 of Application
Instructions):

a.  Specific Aims

Clearly state and relate them to the purpose of NLM's Internet
Connection Grant Program as published in this RFA.  Make sure to
include among the stated objectives the training of users.

b.  Background and Significance

Cite potential Internet uses for targeted population(s) and describe
the potential impact of the Internet in terms of types and numbers of
users who would benefit from Internet access.  Provide this
information for each site if a multiple site application.

c.  Progress Report

Describe the status of the existing local area network (intranet) to
indicate Internet "readiness" and the extent of the internal network's
current and future availability to all users.

d.  Methodology

Relate to "Specific Aims" so that each aim has an equivalent
methodology.  Detail how Internet access will be implemented, that is,
what tasks (such as obtaining name domain, assigning passwords,
converting to TCP/IP) will be performed, who will perform them.  ALSO
include a timetable and describe the following: - Library Staff
Involvement Describe how library staff will be involved in Internet
training and in assisting users in locating and retrieving Internet
resources.  - User Training and Support Describe topics to be covered,
who will provide the Internet training, how often, what format, and
plans for follow-up training and help desk support.

e. And f. Not applicable

g.  Literature Cited

Include references for Internet use.

h.  Consortium/Contractual Arrangements

Memorandum of Understanding is acceptable to define responsibilities
of institutions participating in the Internet connection project.

I.  Consultants

Refer to instructions.

j.  Future Support

Describe plans for financing Internet connection costs following NLM
grant support.  Include commitment letter from administrator(s).

Additional Suggestions

Form Page DD

Even though salaries for project personnel are not requested, include
their names and percentage of effort towards the Internet Connection
project.  Across the budget columns type Contributed".

Form Page EE

For "Justification" describe role of all project personnel and
consultants (if requested).  Also describe proposed use of equipment
requested.

Form Page FF

In addition to the information requested in the instructions, ALSO
include relevant skills of project personnel, such as Internet
training, TCP/IP skills, networking expertise.

Form Page HH

Duplicate this form page for each participating site.  Delete left
margin headings.  Provide a description of the institution including
numbers and types of potential users.  Under "Major Equipment"
describe the local area network (or Intranet) and indicate the number
of personal computers that are connected.  Attach a network diagram.

Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including the
Checklist, and five legible, single-sided copies in one package to:

CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC REVIEW
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, MSC 7710, SUITE 1040
BETHESDA, MD  20892-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20817-7710 (for express/courier service)

REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by the
NIH Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by NLM.
Incomplete and/or non-responsive applications will be returned to the
applicant without further consideration.  Applications that are
complete and responsive to the RFA will be evaluated for merit by an
appropriate peer review group convened by the NLM in accordance with
the review criteria stated below.  As part of the initial merit
review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a
process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest
merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be
discussed and assigned a priority score.

Review Criteria

- Significance of proposed project relative to the services, programs and
personnel expected to benefit from Internet access, and the nature of the
anticipated benefits.

- Quality of local infrastructure including plans to provide broad
institutional access to the Internet gateway and plans to develop
institution-wide high-speed networks.

- Quality of user services and proposed training.

- Technical expertise in computer networking (especially TCP/IP based
networking) or plans to provide such expertise including coordination
with appropriate Internet service provider.

- Plans for future support of the network connection.

AWARD CRITERIA

In addition to the review criteria identified above, awards depend
upon available funds and programmatic priorities.

INQUIRIES

Written, electronic, and telephone inquiries concerning this RFA are
encouraged.  The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from
potential applicants is welcome.

Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:

Ms. Frances E. Johnson
Division of Extramural Programs
National Library of Medicine
Rockledge One Building, Suite 301
6705 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 594-4882
FAX:  (301) 402-2952
Email:  FJOHNSON at NLM.NIH.GOV

Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:

Ms. Shelley Carow
Grants Management Specialist
Division of Extramural Programs
National Library of Medicine
Rockledge One Building, Suite 301
6705 Rockledge Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone:  (301) 496-4221
FAX:  (301) 402-0421

AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS

The Resource Grant Program is described in the "Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance" under Medical Library Assistance, Chapter
93.879. Grants will be awarded under the authority of the Public
Health Service Act, Section 474(42 USC 286b-5) and administered under
PHS grant policies and Federal Regulations, most specifically at 42
CFR Part 59a and 45 CFR Part 74.  This program is not subject to the
inter-governmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or
Health Systems Agency review.

The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to
provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco
products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of
1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any
portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library,
day care, health care or early childhood development services are
provided to children.  This is consistent with the PHS mission to
protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American
people.

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