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NIDRR grantees are given money to do the work they described in their proposal which was deemed fundable by a panel of expert peer reviewers. So they go about their business engaging in the research and development process otherwise known as the "activity or work phase". Throughout this process, NIDRR Project Officers monitor their progress using a variety of strategies and tools. For more information on how NIDRR monitors its performance, and the performance its grantees, check out NIDRR's Performance Page.

A grantee's research and development process usually takes place over a number of years and the end result is usually:Publications and Products.NIDRR calls its publications and products outputs. There are four types of outputs produced by grantees. Click on an output type below to learn more and see what outputs are available to the public through NIDRR's Library and information center known as the National Rehabilitation Information Center

• Publications
• Tools
• Technology-related information and Products
• Informational Products

NARIC collects all different types of publications that are produced by our grantees. They then develop short abstracts about each publication and add the abstract and citation information to REHABDATA, a searchable database of rehabilitation literature which they maintain for NIDRR.

There are a number of ways to search for NIDRR-produced publications of interest to you.

• Browse Documents that Were Recently Submitted to REHABDATA
  Hint:Click on the on the numbers next to the subject.
  
  
• Search by Thesaurus Term
  Hint:Click on a thesaurus term for a definition and then click on any of the blue words in the table for a list of pubs categorized by that term.
  
  
• Browse by Journal Title
  Hint:Click on a journal title.
  
  
• Browse by Book Publisher Hint:Click on the publisher name.
  
  
• Search by NIDRR Program and Year
  • 84.133A—Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects
  • 84.133B—Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTCs)
  • 84.133E—Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs)
  • 84.133F—Mary E. Switzer Fellows
  • 84.133G—Field-Initiated Projects (FIP)
  • 84.133N—Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems
  • 84.133P—Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (ARRT)
  • 84.133S—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)


• Perform a Search Yourself
• Search all fields of REHABDATA at once
• Perform an Advanced Search

Looking for a tool produced by a NIDRR grantee but don't know where to start. Try searching the The NARIC Tools Collection. Tools are surveys and measurement or diagnostic instruments or checklists used to assess the extent of a problem.

Technology-related information usually refers to standards for doing something or building something the right way, i.e., standards for building a wheelchair, an accessible van, standards for a transporting a wheelchair user safely in a vehicle. Sometimes, the standards for doing something or building something the right way already exist but have become outdated because of new developments on the market. Other standards for doing something or building something the right way do not exist because no one has ever tried to do what is being proposed. In either case, grantees from our Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)Program and our Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) Program are the ones that provide the brain power behind the standards work. Click here to view some documents that relate to engineering standards work.

Technology products usually refer to the "cool stuff" that people make, build, or write about. NIDRR RERC and SBIR grantees are also involved in making, building, or testing stuff. They do it following a process known as the design process. The process itself can be complicated but basically it starts with understanding a problem faced by group of users. Then interviewing the users to discover what features or needs the users care about or want the product to be able to do. Techie people then take this information, known as user requirements, and start to design, build, test and make something. The something they make is called a prototype which is then tested by a group of users for feedback. The prototype or product is then tweaked or re-designed and re-tested with the users until they satisfy the user requirements.

Some examples of products that have been made by NIDRR SBIR and RERC grantees are listed below; the source for this information is the National Rehabilitation Information Center's Multimedia Collection. Disclaimer

• Prototype of Independently-Operated Foot-Rests
• WearaBraille, a virtual wireless Braille keyboard, with an iPhone and VoiceOver
• Aimfree (Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation and Environments

Informational products are generally geared toward the layperson audience and can include things like "how-to" manuals, CDS, newsletters, brochures, training guides, etc. Our grantees produce a number of this type of output. Select full-text documents, from NARIC illustrate this type of output and can be found here
Hint:Click the collection number below the year of publication for information on how to access full text of this document.

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