diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/build.xml b/utilities/anttasks/build.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 491293e80..000000000
--- a/utilities/anttasks/build.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-
-<!-- $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ -->
-
-<!-- ====================================================================== 
-
-     Create:
-     
-     1) DirDifferenceResourceCollection - 
-          A new resource collection that will allow us to efficiently merge
-            a primary directory with an overriding directory.
-          A file in the primary directory is included in the resource collection
-            if there is no matching file in the blocking directory
-
-     ====================================================================== -->
-<project name="antTypesAndTasks" default="all">
-
-	<property name="source.dir" location="./src" />
-	<property name="antclasses.dir" location="./classes" />
-	<property name="lib.dir" location="./lib" />
-
-	<path id="compile.classpath">
-		<pathelement location="${lib.dir}/ant.jar" />
-	</path>
-
-	<!-- ================================= 
-          target: all              
-         ================================= -->
-	<target name="all" description="compile the custom types and tasks">
-		<javac srcdir="${source.dir}"
-		       destdir="${antclasses.dir}"
-		       debug="true"
-		       encoding="UTF8"
-		       includeantruntime="false"
-		       source="1.6">
-			<classpath refid="compile.classpath" />
-		</javac>
-	</target>
-
-	<!-- ================================= 
-          target: clean              
-         ================================= -->
-	<target name="clean" description="start from scratch">
-		<delete dir="${antclasses.dir}" />
-		<mkdir dir="${antclasses.dir}" />
-	</target>
-
-
-</project>
diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.class b/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.class
deleted file mode 100644
index a146bea6a..000000000
Binary files a/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.class b/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 8eb1a0f8f..000000000
Binary files a/utilities/anttasks/classes/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/lib/ant.jar b/utilities/buildutils/lib/ant.jar
similarity index 100%
rename from utilities/anttasks/lib/ant.jar
rename to utilities/buildutils/lib/ant.jar
diff --git a/utilities/buildutils/lib/junit-4.8.1.jar b/utilities/buildutils/lib/junit-4.8.1.jar
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..524cd65ce
Binary files /dev/null and b/utilities/buildutils/lib/junit-4.8.1.jar differ
diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java
similarity index 90%
rename from utilities/anttasks/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java
index f6e40ec9f..c9913fd7a 100644
--- a/utilities/anttasks/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java
+++ b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/AbstractWrappedFileSet.java
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractWrappedFileSet implements ResourceCollection {
     	return fileSet.createExclude();
     }
     
+    public PatternSet createPatternSet() {
+    	return fileSet.createPatternSet();
+    }
+    	 
+    
 	@Override
 	public Object clone() {
 		throw new BuildException(this.getClass().getSimpleName()
diff --git a/utilities/anttasks/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.java
similarity index 100%
rename from utilities/anttasks/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/anttasks/DirDifferenceFileSet.java
diff --git a/utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/InfoResponseParser.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/InfoResponseParser.java
similarity index 100%
rename from utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/InfoResponseParser.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/InfoResponseParser.java
diff --git a/utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/ProcessRunner.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/ProcessRunner.java
similarity index 100%
rename from utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/ProcessRunner.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/ProcessRunner.java
diff --git a/utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/RevisionInfoBuilder.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/RevisionInfoBuilder.java
similarity index 100%
rename from utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/RevisionInfoBuilder.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/revisioninfo/RevisionInfoBuilder.java
diff --git a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java
similarity index 92%
rename from webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java
index e818bb363..01245e92f 100644
--- a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java
+++ b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunListener.java
@@ -1,26 +1,25 @@
 /* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
 
-package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing;
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing;
 
-import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.BRIEF;
-import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.FULL;
-import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.MORE;
-
-import java.io.PrintWriter;
-import java.io.StringWriter;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Date;
-import java.util.List;
-
-import org.junit.runner.Description;
-import org.junit.runner.Result;
-import org.junit.runner.notification.Failure;
-import org.junit.runner.notification.RunListener;
-
-import com.ibm.icu.text.SimpleDateFormat;
-
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel;
+import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.BRIEF;
+import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.FULL;
+import static edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel.MORE;
+
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Date;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.runner.Description;
+import org.junit.runner.Result;
+import org.junit.runner.notification.Failure;
+import org.junit.runner.notification.RunListener;
+
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing.VitroTestRunner.ReportLevel;
 
 /**
  * Listen to events as they come from the JUnit test runner. The events from the
diff --git a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunner.java b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunner.java
similarity index 95%
rename from webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunner.java
rename to utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunner.java
index f30e086ae..76664d4e3 100644
--- a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/testing/VitroTestRunner.java
+++ b/utilities/buildutils/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/utilities/testing/VitroTestRunner.java
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 /* $This file is distributed under the terms of the license in /doc/license.txt$ */
 
-package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing;
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing;
 
-import java.io.File;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.SortedSet;
-import java.util.TreeSet;
-
-import org.junit.runner.JUnitCore;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.SortedSet;
+import java.util.TreeSet;
+
+import org.junit.runner.JUnitCore;
 
 /**
  * A Java application that will run the Vitro unit tests. It searches for unit
diff --git a/webapp/build.xml b/webapp/build.xml
index 32313e6a1..36ce04617 100644
--- a/webapp/build.xml
+++ b/webapp/build.xml
@@ -15,21 +15,24 @@
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
 	<dirname property="corebase.dir" file="${ant.file.vitroCore}" />
 
-	<!-- 
-		If calling from a Product build script, these properties already point to 
-		the product-related locations, so setting them here has no effect. 
-	-->
+	<!-- A product script will override appbase.dir, but not corebase.dir -->
 	<property name="appbase.dir" location="${corebase.dir}" />
+
 	<property name="build.dir" location=".build" />
 	<property name="deploy.properties.file" location="config/deploy.properties" />
 
-	<property name="war.dir" location="${build.dir}/war" />
-	<property name="war-webinf.dir" location="${war.dir}/WEB-INF" />
-	<property name="war-classes.dir" location="${war-webinf.dir}/classes" />
-	<property name="war-resources.dir" location="${war-webinf.dir}/resources" />
-	<property name="revisionInfo.build.file" location="${war-resources.dir}/revisionInfo.txt" />
+	<property name="utilities.base.dir" location="${corebase.dir}/../utilities/buildutils" />
+	<property name="utilities.source.dir" location="${utilities.base.dir}/src" />
+	<property name="utilities.lib.dir" location="${utilities.base.dir}/lib" />
 
-	<property name="test-classes.dir" location="${build.dir}/testclasses" />
+	<property name="war.dir" location="${build.dir}/war" />
+	<property name="war.webinf.dir" location="${war.dir}/WEB-INF" />
+	<property name="war.classes.dir" location="${war.webinf.dir}/classes" />
+	<property name="war.resources.dir" location="${war.webinf.dir}/resources" />
+	<property name="revisionInfo.build.file" location="${war.resources.dir}/revisionInfo.txt" />
+
+	<property name="test.classes.dir" location="${build.dir}/testClasses" />
+	<property name="utility.classes.dir" location="${build.dir}/utilityClasses" />
 
 	<property name="javac.deprecation" value="true" />
 
@@ -37,23 +40,30 @@
           paths: for compiling and running                      
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
 	<path id="compile.classpath">
-		<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}/lib">
-			<include name="**/*.jar" />
-		</fileset>
+		<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}/lib" includes="*.jar" />
+	</path>
+
+	<path id="utility.compile.classpath">
+		<fileset dir="${utilities.lib.dir}" includes="*.jar" />
+	</path>
+
+	<path id="utility.run.classpath">
+		<pathelement location="${utility.classes.dir}" />
+		<path refid="utility.compile.classpath" />
 	</path>
 
 	<path id="test.compile.classpath">
-		<pathelement location="${war-classes.dir}" />
+		<pathelement location="${war.classes.dir}" />
 		<path refid="compile.classpath" />
 	</path>
 
 	<path id="test.run.classpath">
 		<pathelement location="${appbase.dir}/test" />
-		<pathelement location="${test-classes.dir}" />
+		<pathelement location="${test.classes.dir}" />
 		<path refid="test.compile.classpath" />
+		<path refid="utility.run.classpath" />
 	</path>
 
-
 	<!-- ================================= 
           target: describe              
          ================================= -->
@@ -123,25 +133,43 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 		<delete dir="${solr.home.dir}" excludes="data/**/*" includeemptydirs="true" />
 	</target>
 
+	<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
+          target: compileUtilities                      
+         - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
+	<target name="compileUtilities">
+		<mkdir dir="${utility.classes.dir}" />
+		<javac srcdir="${utilities.source.dir}"
+		       destdir="${utility.classes.dir}"
+		       debug="true"
+		       deprecation="${javac.deprecation}"
+		       encoding="UTF8"
+		       includeantruntime="false"
+		       optimize="false"
+		       source="1.6">
+			<classpath refid="utility.compile.classpath" />
+		</javac>
+
+		<typedef name="dirDifference"
+		         classname="edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.anttasks.DirDifferenceFileSet"
+		         classpathref="utility.run.classpath" />
+	</target>
+
 	<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
           target: prepare                      
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
-	<target name="prepare" depends="properties">
+	<target name="prepare" depends="properties, compileUtilities">
 		<mkdir dir="${build.dir}" />
-		<mkdir dir="${war-classes.dir}" />
-		<mkdir dir="${war-resources.dir}" />
-		<mkdir dir="${test-classes.dir}" />
+		<mkdir dir="${war.classes.dir}" />
+		<mkdir dir="${war.resources.dir}" />
+		<mkdir dir="${test.classes.dir}" />
 
 		<!-- copy all sorts of web stuff into the war directory. -->
 		<copy todir="${war.dir}">
-			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}/web">
-			</fileset>
-			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}">
-				<include name="themes/**/*" />
-			</fileset>
+			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}/web" />
+			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}" includes="themes/**/*" />
 		</copy>
 
-		<copy todir="${war-webinf.dir}">
+		<copy todir="${war.webinf.dir}">
 			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}">
 				<!-- copy the JARs into the war directory -->
 				<include name="lib/*" />
@@ -154,7 +182,7 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 		<!-- use the production Log4J properties, unless a debug version exists. -->
 		<available file="${appbase.dir}/config/debug.log4j.properties"
 		           property="debug.log4j.exists" />
-		<copy tofile="${war-classes.dir}/log4j.properties" filtering="true" overwrite="true">
+		<copy tofile="${war.classes.dir}/log4j.properties" filtering="true" overwrite="true">
 			<fileset dir="${appbase.dir}/config">
 				<include name="default.log4j.properties" unless="debug.log4j.exists" />
 				<include name="debug.log4j.properties" if="debug.log4j.exists" />
@@ -164,7 +192,7 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 			</filterchain>
 		</copy>
 
-		<copy todir="${war-classes.dir}">
+		<copy todir="${war.classes.dir}">
 			<!-- copy the deploy.properties into the war directory -->
 			<fileset file="${deploy.properties.file}" />
 
@@ -183,14 +211,14 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 	<target name="compile" depends="prepare" description="--> Compile Java sources">
 		<!-- deletes all files that depend on changed .java files -->
 		<depend srcdir="${appbase.dir}/src"
-		        destdir="${war-classes.dir}"
+		        destdir="${war.classes.dir}"
 		        closure="false"
 		        cache="${build.dir}/.depcache">
 			<classpath refid="compile.classpath" />
 		</depend>
 
 		<javac srcdir="${appbase.dir}/src"
-		       destdir="${war-classes.dir}"
+		       destdir="${war.classes.dir}"
 		       debug="true"
 		       deprecation="${javac.deprecation}"
 		       encoding="UTF8"
@@ -206,7 +234,7 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
          ================================= -->
 	<target name="test" depends="compile" unless="skiptests" description="--> Run JUnit tests">
 		<javac srcdir="${appbase.dir}/test"
-		       destdir="${test-classes.dir}"
+		       destdir="${test.classes.dir}"
 		       debug="true"
 		       deprecation="${javac.deprecation}"
 		       encoding="UTF8"
@@ -216,7 +244,7 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 			<classpath refid="test.compile.classpath" />
 		</javac>
 
-		<java classname="edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.testing.VitroTestRunner"
+		<java classname="edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.testing.VitroTestRunner"
 		      fork="yes"
 		      failonerror="true">
 			<classpath refid="test.run.classpath" />
@@ -229,8 +257,7 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
           target: jar              
          ================================= -->
 	<target name="jar" depends="test" description="--> Compile the Java, and build a JAR file">
-		<jar basedir="${war-classes.dir}"
-		     destfile="${build.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" />
+		<jar basedir="${war.classes.dir}" destfile="${build.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" />
 	</target>
 
 	<!-- ================================= 
@@ -364,20 +391,10 @@ deploy   - Deploy the application directly into the Tomcat webapps directory.
 		<attribute name="productName" />
 		<attribute name="productCheckoutDir" />
 		<sequential>
-			<javac srcdir="${corebase.dir}/../utilities/buildutils/revisioninfo"
-			       destdir="${test-classes.dir}"
-			       debug="true"
-			       deprecation="${javac.deprecation}"
-			       encoding="UTF8"
-			       includeantruntime="false"
-			       optimize="false"
-			       source="1.6">
-			</javac>
-
 			<java classname="edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.revisioninfo.RevisionInfoBuilder"
 			      fork="no"
 			      failonerror="true">
-				<classpath refid="test.run.classpath" />
+				<classpath refid="utility.run.classpath" />
 				<arg value="@{productName}" />
 				<arg file="@{productCheckoutDir}" />
 				<arg file="${revisionInfo.build.file}" />
diff --git a/webapp/product-build.xml b/webapp/product-build.xml
index 97a4371f0..db8b93d9b 100644
--- a/webapp/product-build.xml
+++ b/webapp/product-build.xml
@@ -33,17 +33,10 @@
 		<pathelement location="${vivoProduct.basedir}/../utilities/anttasks/classes" />
 	</path>
 
-	<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
-          custom Ant types                      
-         - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
-	<typedef name="dirDifference"
-	         classname="edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.utilities.anttasks.DirDifferenceFileSet"
-	         classpathref="anttasks.classpath" />
-
 	<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
           target: prepare                      
          - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->
-	<target name="prepare" depends="product-prepare,vitroCore.prepare" />
+	<target name="prepare" depends="compileUtilities,product-prepare,vitroCore.prepare" />
 
 	<!-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
           target: product-prepare                      
@@ -61,25 +54,26 @@
 			<fileset dir="${product.modifications.dir}" />
 		</copy>
 
+		<patternset id="appbase.patterns">
+			<include name="src/**/*" />
+			<include name="lib/**/*" />
+			<include name="test/**/*" />
+			<include name="themes/**/*" />
+			<include name="config/*.properties" />
+			<include name="config/solr/*" />
+			<include name="context.xml" />
+		</patternset>
+
 		<copy todir="${appbase.dir}" includeemptydirs="true">
 			<dirDifference dir="${corebase.dir}">
-				<include name="src/**/*" />
-				<include name="lib/**/*" />
-				<include name="test/**/*" />
-				<include name="themes/**/*" unless="skip.core.themes" />
-				<include name="config/*.properties" />
-				<include name="config/solr/*" />
-				<include name="context.xml" />
+				<patternset refid="appbase.patterns" />
+				<exclude name="themes/**/*" if="skip.core.themes" />
 				<blockingPath>
 					<pathelement location="." />
 				</blockingPath>
 			</dirDifference>
 			<fileset dir=".">
-				<include name="src/**/*" />
-				<include name="lib/**/*" />
-				<include name="test/**/*" />
-				<include name="themes/**/*" />
-				<include name="context.xml" />
+				<patternset refid="appbase.patterns" />
 			</fileset>
 		</copy>
 	</target>
@@ -100,16 +94,16 @@
           
           In regular use, checks that all appropriate source files have license tags.
           At release time, applies license text to source files.
-          
-          NOTE: don't override licenser.properties.file from the command line.
-          Instead, override licenser.core.properties.file and licenser.product.properties.file
+          The files are handled as properties so they can be overridden from the command line, if desired.
          ================================= -->
 	<target name="licenser" description="--> Check source files for licensing tags">
 		<property name="licenser.product.properties.file"
 		          location="./config/licenser/licenser.properties" />
 		<property name="licenser.core.properties.file"
 		          location="${corebase.dir}/config/licenser/licenser.properties" />
-		<runLicenserScript productname="${ant.project.name}" propertiesfile="${licenser.product.properties.file}" />
-		<runLicenserScript productname="Vitro core" propertiesfile="${licenser.core.properties.file}" />
+		<runLicenserScript productname="${ant.project.name}"
+		                   propertiesfile="${licenser.product.properties.file}" />
+		<runLicenserScript productname="Vitro core"
+		                   propertiesfile="${licenser.core.properties.file}" />
 	</target>
 </project>