UAiR, the Name

In December 2007, we were named by a committee of kind, caring, loving, and wonderful persons here on the University of Arizona campus. The name the committee chose was “Digital Commons.” Turned out that Digital Commons is a popular thing, claimed by Berkeley and a couple other private companies. In July 2008, our legal advisers said, “Hey, you probably need a new name.” So, we found one.

At this point the story might become confusing for anyone expecting us to progress forward in time. No such luck. We need to revert to the very beginning. When tasked with the implementation of an institutional repository at the University of Arizona, the technical team encapsulated their efforts into the term “UAiR,” though it was really just “UAIR” at the time. The origins and initial meaning of “UAIR” should be fairly obvious now. For anyone who lost track, UAiR is the University of Arizona Institutional Repository. Quite simple really.

The only thing that remains is the origins of the little i. We blame Ginger Bidwell, our resident design whiz. Ginger stylized the acronym so she could incorporate airy objects with the logo. From time to time, you might see the object in the logo change. There is a kite . . . the kite, which came with the original UAiR logo. We have seen Ginger messing with butterflies and hummingbirds and leaves and all sorts of other little stuff.

And they all lived happily ever after.
Veteran's Day, November 11, 2008