Virtual Study represents the culmination of the Theatre Institute’s prior work in the area of digitising and establishing databases of its collections. Virtual Study is founded on two large databases—the Verbis database by the KP-SYS company (used by the Library and Bibliography Department) and the Divadlo database developed for the Information and Documents Department (theatre productions, video library, theatre events, key figures, stage plays). The related databases (photographs, scenography) provide direct access to digitised items.

The electronic processing of our collections received significant support from several grant projects. The most significant achievement in this area was the complete inclusion of information on Czech theatre productions since 1945 and the digitisation of nearly 180,000 images from our documentary collection, performed in 2008-2011 as part of the project ‘Preserving and Presenting the Cultural Heritage of Czech and World Theatre’, which was made possible by a grant from Norway through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Virtual Study provides comprehensive access to information and the digitised resources in our databases. These include a library catalogue with a research module and user account administration tool, an extensive bibliographic database of articles linked to the full texts of articles (accessible only via the Institute’s internal network), a video library, a database of Czech theatre productions since 1945, a database of theatre photographs containing 198,202 digitised images, and a database of scenographic items and documentation containing copies of 21,367 stage and costume designs.

In the process of digitising our collections and making them publicly accessible, we made sure to observe the provisions of Act No. 121/2000 on copyright protection. For this reason, some digitised materials cannot be made available via the internet, but are available to registered researchers for study purposes at the offices of the Arts and Theatre Institute. This mainly concerns digitised items published after 1900, some designs in the scenographic collection, and photographs for which we were unable to obtain publishing permission from the copyright holders. These items are labelled accordingly on the internet. Anyone interested in studying these materials may do so in the study rooms of the ATI.

Resources accessible via Virtual Study:

 

Other electronic resources of the Theatre Institute

Project coordinator: Ondřej Svoboda, ondrej.svoboda(at)divadlo.cz, +420 224 809 164

Screenshot from 2013-02-19 14:21:53

Between 2007 and 2010 a series of four documentary DVDs was published together with a special issue of the Flemish theater magazine Documenta. The concept was to combine newly conducted in-depth interviews and video material from public television. These DVDs, covering the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, offer a valuable insight into recent developments in the Flemish performing arts. Last summer, the Vlaams Theaterinstituut (VTi) launched a new website, reviving the material from the DVDs within an online environment: www.toneelstof.be. The interviews – which are fully text-searchable – are considered the backbone of the website. The visualization on a timeline reveals different kinds of connections and cross-references in the interviews (e.g., who is talking about whom and about which productions?). The interviews are complemented by video fragments, reviews, and photographs from different sources. The VTi database provides extra context about the people, organizations, and productions featuring on the website, and leads visitors to the VTi collection for more thorough research. A wiki functions as a flexible edit environment in order to have the website grow on a daily basis.

New interviews are conducted in 2013 and regularly new digital material is added to the website. The website is in Dutch.

A presentation on the project in English is available on http://prezi.com/i2pmj2do5kgb/revaluingtheatricalheritage_presentatietoneelstof/

Archive and documentation
Photo: CIRAE/Fernando Alda

In this database we are collecting, cataloguing and preserving the documentation that is to be the graphic memory of theatre and dance in Andalusia. Programmes, posters, photographs (prints and negatives), press cuttings, costume and set designs… are systematically digitalized and catalogued in our electronic archive (AEI) that holds over 130.000 images from the beginning of the XXth century till today. In near future, it will be available online.

State of the project: in progress, started in 1992

The aim of this plan is similar to the filming project: collecting illustrated feature productions of theatrical and dance performances, training courses, workshops, etc. After being selected, they are incorporated in the performing arts digital archive, where they are catalogued and put at the disposal of the researchers, teachers, and any other person interested.

Currently holding 8,024 photographic reports. We are in the process of digitalizing our audiovisual funds.

State of the project: in progress, started in 2004.