Michael Peper and Erin Wolfe enjoy a laugh with a faculty member.

Sprints Week: Five days, one project

Sprints Week offers faculty and academic staff the opportunity to partner with a team of librarians on a specific project or component of a broader research or teaching project, including course assignment redesign to improve information literacy outcomes. 

“The collaborative effort revealed possibilities, nuances, and potential for my project that I would have simply been unable to reach on my own.”    
--Ignacio Carvajal, assistant professor, Spanish & Portuguese 

One Immersive Week

During Sprints Week, faculty and academic staff partner with a team of expert librarians to work intensively for five days (roughly 35-40 hours) during May intersession. The intent of this structured opportunity is for the entire team – faculty and librarians – to collaborate without distractions to produce a tangible product or outcome. 

Apply now--applications due March 3

Sprinters are selected by way of an application process and awarded a $1,000 stipend.

    Faculty members should expect to:

    • Complete project or project component by the end of Sprints
    • Develop a partnership or working relationship with experts from KU Libraries
    • Collaborate with library and information science experts on relevant topics
    • Create a durable and open research and/or learning object

    We will work to match faculty members with the appropriate areas of expertise from across KU Libraries in alignment with the needs of the project. Proposals should be for a project that can be completed in the one-week timeframe. Proposed projects need not be stand-alone; they can be a component or a module of a larger project that helps meet a well-defined milestone towards a bigger goal.  

    Areas of expertise include but are not limited to:

    Faculty members may apply to work on a broad range of projects, including but not limited to:

    • Data set development or preparation
    • Digital pedagogy, such as developing a digitally-centered syllabus, course module, or assignment
    • Digital scholarship project development, including digital humanities projects
    • External grant proposal
    • Open Educational Resource (OER) development
    • Research-based course assignment redesign
    • Archival projects

    Research Sprints is not intended for activities such as:

    • Digitizing with no additional research component
    • Copyright clearance and other related services
    • Literature searching with no additional research component
    • Metadata creation with no additional research component
    • Workshops and training
    • Building a database
    • Course or assignment design with no information literacy component

    A project timeline will vary and some objectives, such as selection of software, may be accomplished prior to the Sprint week. Below, however, is a sample timeline for a Digital Humanities project to guide proposed timelines submitted with applications. Project teams will refine the timelines during the planning meeting prior to the Sprints to ensure project goals are met.

    Monday

    • Finalize detailed schedule for the Sprints week 
    • Consult with digital humanities expert
    • Investigate potential software tools

    Tuesday 

    • Select software tool
    • Examine relevant literature
    • Conduct scan of similar projects in the field

    Wednesday 

    • Select ideal sources from literature for inclusion 

    Thursday 

    • Consult with archives expert 
    • Assemble selected sources in the software tool 

    Friday 

    • Continue integrating sources in the software tool 
    • Prepare post-Sprints plan 
    • Prepare Showcase presentation 
    • Showcase presentation 

    Sprints Week Information

    Contact

    Sprints committee
    The University of Kansas Libraries
    sprints@ku.edu

    Committee Members