The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, IMLS helps communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning.

The University of Southern California’s West Semitic Research Project (www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp) has received a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program to establish a Training Program in advanced imaging technologies for the documentation of ancient texts and artifacts with an initial emphasis on Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). The IMLS has also funded the purchase of imaging equipment to support the Training Program. The IMLS-sponsored training program is available for participants with U. S. citizenship.

There will be several opportunities for applying for the training program, and actual dates of training will be planned on an individual basis with selected participants. Deadlines for application are:

October 15, 2012; January 15, 2013; April 15, 2013; July 15, 2013;
October 15, 2013; January 15, 2014; April 15, 2014