[BOAI] Creative repositories and the arts: KULTUR project press release

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from Les Carr via the JISC-Repositories list.  --Peter Suber.]


A repository which will make it possible for colleges and individuals in 
the arts to store and present their work in a creative way will be unveiled 
tomorrow (Wednesday 3 June).

Kultur, a project that is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee 
(JISC) and that uses the world-leading EPrints software from the University 
of Southampton, has developed a joint pilot repository for the University 
of the Arts London, the University for the Creative Arts and Winchester 
School of Art at the University of Southampton. The project will be 
officially completed tomorrow and an event to mark the occasion will be 
held at Whitechapel Art Gallery.

'Up to now, the focus of most repositories has been science and engineering 
and published articles,' said Dr Leslie Carr, Technical Director of 
EPrints, based at the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and 
Computer Science. 'Kultur has provided us with an opportunity to use 
EPrints to develop the first comprehensive institutional repository for the 
arts.'

The Kultur project provides a flexible, multimedia pilot repository capable 
of showcasing a wide range of outputs from digital versions of paintings, 
photography, film, graphic and textile design to records of performances, 
shows and installations.

The three institutions involved will now develop their own open 
repositories to store and showcase their creative work.

'This will make an immense difference to our institutions,' said Andrew 
Gray, Kultur Project Officer, University of the Arts. 'It is the first 
repository of its kind in the arts world; there are others but there hasn't 
been a visual one. The benefit of Kultur is that it will enable us to share 
our practice-based research across our colleges and with other institutions.'

'It will also open up the art world, which will link up the often lone 
artist with the wider arts community,' Dr Carr added.

The pilot repository will be showcased at Whitechapel Art Gallery between 
6-8pm tomorrow. The event will include presentations from Andy McGregor, 
JISC, Seymour Roworth-Stokes, Pro Vice Chancellor of Research at University 
for the Creative Arts, Andrew Carnie, Researcher at Winchester School of 
Art, University of Southampton and Pat Christie, Director of Library and 
Learning Resources, University of the Arts.

Kultur was collaboration between all three institutions listed in 
partnership with the Visual Arts Data Service and EPrints. EPrints software 
developed in 2000 by the University of Southampton's School of Electronics 
and Computer Science is used in hundreds of institutional repositories 
(IRs) around the world.

For information about Kultur, please 
visit:<http://kultur.eprints.org/>http://kultur.eprints.org/.