Amy Robinson

Engaging researchers with the world's first scholarly arts repositories: ten years after the UK's Kultur project

ABSTRACT Open access institutional repositories can be ill-equipped to manage the complexity of research outputs from departments of fine arts, media, drama, music, cultural heritage, and the creative arts in general. The U.K.-based Kultur project was funded to create a flexible multimedia repository model using EPrints software. The project launched the first arts based institutional repositories at the University of the Arts London and University for the Creative Arts. Ten years later, these pioneering repositories are still evolving in response to the needs of arts researchers, and in the context of rapid changes in the scholarly communications landscape. This article discusses the evolution of scholarly repositories in the creative arts, with the aim of reducing the under-representation of arts research in open access repositories.

From Princess to Punk: Digitisation in the Fashion Studio

The Zandra Rhodes Digital Study Collection project was a unique collaborative venture between staff and students at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and their Chancellor, the British fashion and textile designer Zandra Rhodes. Working within the designer’s private studio space, this initiative has developed the first digital record of her personal collection of garments and drawings, supported and enriched with behind-the-scenes video interviews and tutorials, for worldwide educational use. This paper examines the benefits and strategies for undertaking the project in situ within the designer’s private studio environment. It outlines the need for a bespoke, flexible approach to digitisation in the visual arts that respects the individuality and creativity of the artist, whilst drawing on established documentation standards and expertise from the library, archive and museum sector.