The task of DH Research&Infrastructure is to support digital research processes in the humanities by using and (further) developing a broad spectrum of DH methods as needed.
The group’s work is strongly oriented toward project-based collaborations. Ideally, the cooperation begins already in the project proposal phase in order to find the best possible combination of both existing and yet to be-developed methods in close dialogue with the project partners.
During the project, the team takes on the various degrees of technical development together with the project’s researchers. This includes data modelling, data management, data processing and curation, as well as the development, adaption and operation of specialized applications. The use of open standards and licences ensures the usability of data and software.
After the project, our specialists take care of the long-term availability and findability of the data as well as the continued operation of existing applications.
Over the years, the DH Research&Infrastructure team has developed hundreds of specialized applications. Some of these applications are now established as so-called “core services”, being used in numerous projects.
- ARCHE is a repository for the archiving and dissemination of research data.
- Vocabs Service provides for the collaborative maintenance and publication of controlled vocabularies.
- APIS is a framework for the management, analysis and publication of structured data on semantic entities like people, places, institutions, works and events.
- OpenAtlas is a database application for the creation, management and publication of complex historical, archaeological and geospatial data.
The group’s work is strongly interwoven with the activities of the European research infrastructures and initiatives, first and foremost CLARIN-ERIC (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure), DARIAH-EU (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities) and EOSC (European Open Science Cloud). These activities aimed at building digital research infrastructures are bundled in the national consortium CLARIAH-AT.
An indispensable component of these efforts promoting the digital transformation in research is the transfer of relevant know-how. This has increasingly become the focus of infrastructure initiatives over the last years. The team conceptualizes and implements a wide range of educational and outreach activities, including event series like the ACDH-CH Lectures, which aim to connect the local DH community with international experts and their current research or the ACDH-CH Tool Galleries, which teach the practical use of specialized DH tools. The ACDH-CH Internship programme offers next generation scholars a first insight into DH research and the institute’s activities.