EPrints helps create world's first repository for the visual arts

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) at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.

Kultur, a project funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), has used the world-leading EPrints software from the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton to develop a joint pilot repository for the University of the Arts London, the University for the Creative Arts and Winchester School of Art, 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 of ECS. '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 London. '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 on Wednesday 3 June. The event will include presentations from Andy McGregor, JISC, Seymour Roworth-Stokes, Pro Vice Chancellor of Research at the 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 London.

Kultur was a collaboration between all three arts institutions 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.

Images of the pilot repository are available at: http://www.eprints.org/kultur/FrontPage.png http://www.eprints.org/kultur/Hackney.pdf http://www.eprints.org/kultur/Hackney.pdf http://www.eprints.org/kultur/MiniFlux.pdf

For more information, contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453