JISC

This project (STARS) is developing an existing Semantic Web tool (PARIP Explorer) to demonstrate automated search and discovery across distributed, linked, online Screen Arts materials, including audio-visual content such as stored in film and video archives.

Our 18-month project (concluding in 2009) aims to allow researchers to experiment with PARIP Explorer’s intuitive user interfaces in order to browse and search connections between people, online practice-led research data, and networked screen arts media recordings. Behind the scenes Semantic Web, Grid and P2P system technologies will combine to allow data to be connected ’seamlessly’ for the user of the system. This powerful new tool will permit screen arts researchers to browse and replay moving image content and understand its thematic links to those people and communities involved in aspects of its creation. The software will have an open source aspect in that we aim to enable researchers to upload content, interact with the tagging vocabularies in the system and to make comments – “annotations” – about the content they disover using the tool. It is hoped this sort of tool support will inspire new collaborations between screen arts researchers across both academia and industry plus also pave the way to more generalised systems that can search and play audio-visual, online content, contextualised for specific domains.

The PARIP Explorer tool was first created at the ILRT in conjunction with the Drama Department at the University of Bristol as part of the AHRB-funded PARIP (Practice as Research in Performance) project. The Watershed in Bristol have generously contributed in-kind support for this new project and is allowing access to content from its dShed (http://www.dshed.net/ ) digital arts wing - content which includes a significant amount of film and other material contributed by not-for-profit organisations, schools, colleges, universities, companies and individuals.

Overview

The STARS project is developing an existing Semantic Web tool - PARIP Explorer, from the earlier Practice as Research in Performance (“PARIP") project. It is a collaboration between the ILRT and Drama department at the University of Bristol, together with in-kind support (including digitised film and video archives) from Bristol’s Watershed Media Centre. By developing PARIP Explorer in an e-infrastructure context we aim to demonstrate automated search and discovery across physically distributed, but semantically linked, Screen Arts materials, enabling researchers to browse, search, discover and add connections between these materials as well as practice-led research data relating to them.

Aims and objectives

STARS aims to produce an online demonstrator based on extending the existing semantic web based tool, PARIP Explorer (http://parip.ilrt.org/). Both moving and static media will be made available through this end-user tool in order to demonstrate and test how the semantic linking of screen arts research in an e-infrastructure context may inspire new collaborations and facilitate the research lifecycle in this area. We propose to add a user annotation social software feature and to engage potential users from the arts research community to help evaluate the utility and sustainability of the approach taken.

Project methodology

The project is managed and administered by Nikki Rogers at the I.L.R.T, University of Bristol. This role has responsibility for coordinating the community and user engagement aspects of the project – managed by Angela Piccini from the Drama department at the University of Bristol – together with the technical management of the project – undertaken by Jasper Tredgold who is also based at the I.L.R.T. The Technical manager coordinates technical work across the project technical partners (namely the Watershed Media Centre and the I.L.R.T). Jasper Tredgold and Simon Price at the ILRT undertake the majority of the technical development on the project.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

• Demonstrator online PARIP Explorer system: extended open source tool for searching distributed data sources (including multimedia) for the visualisation, replay and annotation of screen-based arts media in context.
• Review of existing practices and technologies used for screen arts media databases and an analysis of options for resource retrieval across P2P systems, online Semantic Services and in an einfrastructure environment in general.
• Report on User Engagement and the Stakeholder community (including knowledge-mapping activities to produce for the first time media-based genealogies of practice-led research and assessment of legal issues such as around copyright).
• Any other reports as required by stakeholders.

Technology / Standards used

Semantic Web technology, and integration of multi-media content from Grid and Grid-like systems across selected services in the academic and industry sectors.