Abstract:

As science and research shift to an increasingly open access paradigm, researchers face new challenges (Koltay T., Špiranec S. and Karvalics L., 2016). From technology-enhanced learning environments and its underlying Web 2.0 technologies and platforms arise new possibilities for a Research 2.0 approach with open and collaborative processes that promote researcher engagement and productivity (Ullmann T. et al., 2010). Breaking old research “data silos” and harnessing collective intelligence, shared platforms allow new practices and concurrent tasks related with data collection and results dissemination, thus reorganizing science through a multidisciplinary effort and beyond institutional constraints (Iorns E., 2013, European Commission, 2013, Esposito A., 2017). This case study focusses on a participatory and collaborative approach (involving all stakeholders) developed for the planning and development of a digital repository connecting two research projects, “Our music, our world ” and “Euterpe Unveiled”.

The website of “Our music, our world” project provides a digital laboratory for the collaboration of researchers, amateur musicians, local groups, and general public aiming to respond to their specific needs and interests. Alongside a researchers’ dashboard for collaborative management of collected media/data in the repository, the website disseminates that media/data as research results and educational contents on local music in Portugal. With an underlying open access approach (safeguarding copyright issues), it distributes contents such as photographs, videos, sound recordings, musical and non-musical manuscripts. It also offers multiple contents’ exploration itineraries following the “worlds of music” (brass bands, amateur choirs, folk groups, popular orchestras), the localities where people live (based on administrative cartography), music events (festivities, concerts, rehearsals) and the individuals (composers, conductors, musicians). The interaction with those itineraries can be made through thematic filtered web pages, online maps and multimedia storytelling approaches fostering richer and deeper learning experiences (Sage M., Singer J., LaMarre A. and Rice C., 2018).

In the case of "Euterpe Unveiled" project, a relevant part of its contents includes musical scores (manuscripts and published materials). For this type of contents, it is important to ensure that the users of the repository, as well as general users of scores in open access, can conduct searches according to varied criteria: composers' data, work titles, work dates (composition, première, subsequent performances or recordings), musical genres and, most importantly, instrument/voice combinations. Standard library cataloguing formats, such as UNIMARC, are not always fully adequate in the case of contents that overlap library, archive and museum contexts (Cortês 2013). In addition, practical issues pertaining to user adaptability should be considered, enabling performers to conduct searches according to the work's characteristics and to apply search criteria that can address specific combinations, following a hierarchy from general to specific instrumental/vocal categories.

Within this paper, the repository’s planning stage will be detailed and interconnected to ongoing development efforts. By that, and with the aid of generic web site analytic indicators the repository’s current status and its future development guidelines will be outlined.

Keywords:

Digital Repository, Research, Education, Content, Music.