The Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) continues to support the Digital Tour Initiative in partnership with Georgia Humanities (the Georgia state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities), an initiative that began in 2019. Georgia-based nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $2500 (raised from the previous amount of $2000) to support humanities programs. Programs must involve at least one humanities scholar, bring the public together for discussion and exchange, and be designed for and open to public audience(s). The Digital Tour Initiative grant allows organizations to create walking and driving tour mobile apps through the ECDS open source web-based platform OpenTour Builder, with technical support provided by ECDS. Applications for the Fall 2020 cycle of Digital Tour Initiative grants are due on September 30 at 11:30pm EDT. The application details are available here (PDF).
- Apply on the Georgia Humanities grants page: https://www.georgiahumanities.org/grants/
What is OpenTour Builder?
OpenTour Builder is a software platform that allows tour builders to easily create interactive, attractive tours that guide users from stop to stop using their smartphone’s GPS and OpenTour Builder’s native Google Maps instructions. At each location, the designer can include images, video, text, and external links to provide historical and cultural context, tying that information to the physical space.
The ECDS launched a new version of OpenTour in early 2019 that provided new functions to make tours clear on laptops and desktops in addition to mobile optimization. (You can read more about those OpenTour updates and details in an ECDS blog post from March 2019.)
What do the tours look like?
For examples, see the Augusta’s Golden Blocks tour, the Walking Tour of Cartersville’s African American Business District: 1870–1940, or the Buried History: Savannah’s African American Legacy tour. (We have previously featured the Augusta’s Golden Blocks tour on our blog.)
How do I apply?
Apply using the online application portal on the Georgia Humanities website. Be sure to check the Digital Tour Initiative box on the grant application. It is important to include the proposed stops on your tour as you detail your proposed project in the grant application.