CultureCase will give practitioners access to ‘lay’ summaries of academic research to support evidence-based decision-making and help build the case for investment.
Created in response to a growing demand across the sector for access to evidence, and designed to meet its questions and challenges, the resource translates academic-standard research into culture into digestible 300-word summaries available in one portal for the first time: www.culturecase.org.
Built in collaboration with experts from across the cultural and higher education sectors, CultureCase includes a selection of the most relevant and robust research and aims to provide a practical tool for arts practitioners and decision-makers.
Users of CultureCase will be able to access summaries of leading research on the impact of arts and culture on a range of areas – from education to health and wellbeing and the economy – when advocating for the value of culture, considering best use of available resources or compiling applications for support.
The web resource also translates research that evaluates ‘what works’ in arts and culture settings to help inform programming, marketing and investment decisions, from the most effective models of digital or community engagement to ways of developing new audiences.
CultureCase will launch with summaries of 80 articles from peer-reviewed academic journals, covering subjects from calculating the economic value of a museum to the role of performance in improving the social skills of at-risk young people. In each case it highlights the practical insights and lessons to be learnt. This evidence base will be updated regularly and the Cultural Institute at King’s is actively inviting feedback from the sector to develop the tool further.
Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said: “Culture Case is a welcome initiative, which has the potential to ensure that the latest insight and research in this field quickly and effectively reaches the people who most need it – practitioners in the arts and cultural sector. At the British Library we look forward to using it and seeing how it evolves.”
