Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech University Libraries)

The University Libraries at Virginia Tech, in partnership with the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech, will work to revitalize a collection of text-based community arts objects generated by the Community Arts Network between 1999 and 2010. The project team will create a prototype virtual community, called VTArtWorks, that connects the community discussions of practitioners and scholars to a stable, sustainable repository infrastructure. VTArtWorks will promote libraries and archives as anchors for community engagement and innovation, by demonstrating how repository systems can enhance community development. Project activities will include developing a prototype system with features to encourage communication between scholars and the arts community. The developed prototype will be built with open source systems, be customized according to research performed during the grant period, well documented to ensure that it can be adopted or adapted by communities and cultural units outside of Virginia Tech.