ANN ARBOR—From the likes of Spot and Dick and Jane to Michael Moore’s latest literary effort, creative writers aged 4- 14 years are urged to submit their works to the University of Michigan’s 1996 “Put My Story on the World Wide Web Writing Contest.”

This year’s theme is “Our Colorful World,” celebrating the racial and cultural differences. Young authors are invited to share how their experiences with other cultures have enriched their lives.

Entries can be either a short story or poetry and should be limited to 2,000 words. Short stories may be fiction or non- fiction. Submissions must be made by Nov. 13. Winners will be notified on or before Dec. 9 and the winning entries will be published in the Youth Division of the Internet Public Library.

Entry forms and contest guidelines are available at http://www.ipl.org/youth/PutMyStory/contest.html or by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to IPL/CHICO Young Writers’ Competition, School of Information, U-M, 550 East University, Ann Arbor, MI 48909-1092. Questions concerning the contest forms and guidelines should be sent to [email protected].

The competition is sponsored by the Internet Public Library, a project based at the U-M’s School of Information and partially supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and CHICO, the Cultural Heritage Initiative for Community Outreach also based at the School of Information and supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

CHICO’s goal is to make cultural heritage materials accessible to a broad array of audiences by using information and collaboration technology. Through the program, pilot projects are being developed to create multimedia resources with a strong multicultural focus, and to actively support the delivery of cultural heritage content in ways that will enrich the educational experience for a variety of audiences. CHICO is also building a model which will create a community of learners and an extended resource base and support network of mentors and resource specialists. Participants include K-12 teachers and media specialists, public librarians, museum curators, archivists, and university scholars in music and art of diverse cultures.

[email protected]Andrew W. Mellon FoundationCHICOU-M News and Information ServicesUniversity of Michigan