Book Works archive

Book Works and the Ligatus Research Centre, University of the Arts London, secure a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) that will bring over 25-years of specialist artists books online

Book Works and Ligatus have secured a 10-month shorter Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a part government-funded programme which helps UK businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of the knowledge, technology and skills that are available within the UK knowledge base. The project will transfer the archiving expertise at Ligatus to Book Works through the development of an innovative online archiving platform.

Book Works is a London-based contemporary visual arts publisher and commissioning organisation for artists' publications. A registered charity, Book Works aims to advance art education and disseminate visual art practice through books. As a result of its commitment to working with young artists throughout its over 25-year history, Book Works now has a unique archive of material which is, in itself, a source of inspiration for new work. Although these works are in high demand both for sales and study due to their iconic and art historical value, they are often difficult to locate in the Book Works archive because of a lack of metadata and organisation within the archive.

This KTP will develop an innovative classification framework and apply it to a prototype online content management system. This will act as the foundation for Book Works’s future fully functional online archive to enable full use of the archive by artists, researchers and customers.

This KTP will enable the company to acquire Ligatus’s skills and knowledge in online archiving, with particular focus on artistic documentation which often challenges traditional archiving methodologies. The project will be undertaken by a KTP Associate, who will be based at Book Works, employed by the university and jointly supported by an academic and Book Works supervisors. The University is currently recruiting a KTP Associate for the project which is set to begin in Summer, 2010. For Book Works, University of the Arts London is the obvious academic institution for this project with its international reputation in art and its extensive experience of successfully delivering KTPs.