On the Road towards Arts and Humanities eInfrastructure in Germany

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On the Road towards Arts and Humanitiese-Infrast
ructure in Germany
Dr. Heike Neuroth Göttingen State University
Library Max Planck Digital Library
Berlin neuroth_at_sub.uni-goettingen.de
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ToC

• Introduction
• eHum - National eHumanities Infrastructure
  projectGerman Research Foundation, DFG
• Example NEH/ODH (USA)
• Outlook

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Introduction eScience Humanities

• Digital Humanities text, image, multimedia,
  artefacts, data archives wide range of
  heterogeneous data types/formats (e.g. letters,
  newspapers, photographs, maps, surveys, field
  maps)
• eScience for the Humanities
• - intensive computing technologies and methods in
  humanities research
• - eScience is designed to manage and analyse the
  data deluge brought on by the new digital age in
  ways that are suitable for the humanities
• - Computer-based collaborations, tools
• Humanists use digitisation, visualisation, tools
  (information management, data integration,
  textual/statistical analysis, text mining)

Intro National eHum Infrastructure Example
Outlook
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But

• Existing Resources and Data most of it is still
  non-digital, incomplete, missing, fragmented,
  partial and disparate data complex multimedia
  formats
• Technology Expensive, steep learning curve, too
  little interaction/cooperation with ICT experts
• Traditional Humanists do not use computer-based
  analytical tools, most software was not developed
  for humanities scholarship they still work in
  isolation, use traditional methods, lack
  computing skills and are not interdisciplinary
• eScience for the Humanities has to satisfy
  different needs compared to other sciences
  (different type of data, different type of
  research, etc.)
• the potential of Grid/eScience technology and
  infrastructure is not yet fully used in the
  humanities

Intro National eHum Infrastructure Example
Outlook
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National Project eHum

• Developing Germanys eInfrastructure for the
  humanities, DFG project
• Conceptualizing in 2008
• analysis of over 30 initiatives, organizations,
  projects (e.g. Digital Humanities, European
  Resource observatory for the Humanities and
  Social Sciences, JISC e-Infrastructure-Programme
  2006-2009 )
• Goals and main objectives
• to explore the current provision of Germanys
  eInfrastructure for the humanities
• to help define its future development

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National Project eHum

• Overall objectives
• to create a strategy for the development of a
  research infrastructure within the humanities in
  Germany
• to develop a roadmap for the building of
  collaboration and partnerships between
  institutions and organizations for a German
  competence centre for e-Humanities
• Specific objectives
• to analyze national and international merges in
  the field of eHumanities
• to gather information about current international
  activities
• to creates overviews of such organizations to
  promote collaboration and synergies at German
  level

State-of-the-Art study
Expert workshop
Concept (Draft)
International conference
Roadmap
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Outlook
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Vision for a National eHumanities Infrastructure

• Germanys infrastructure should provide
  researchers
• access to systems, services, networks and
  resources
• discovery of new resources
• trustworthiness of integrity, authenticity and
  quality of resources, services
• accessibility of output (now and in future)
• access to multiple data sources
• training, education

• Germanys infrastructure must enable knowledge
  transfer
• to track outputs
• to protect individuals work and privacy
• to protect intellectual property and rights
  management
• to preserve, curate research (data, publication)

• Germanys infrastructure should enable
  researchers
• to collaborate and communicate
• to exploit the power of information technologies
• to support innovation and experimentation
• to share research outputs
• to engage with industry
• to explore new research terrain
• to develop new research methodologies (e.g. based
  on text mining)

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Outlook
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Principal Themes
Use business opportunities
Stimulate the development of new tools and
products
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National Endowment of the Humanities Office of
Digital Humanities

• Since 2008 the ODH is chaired by Brett Bobley (an
  office within the NEH) helping to coordinate the
  NEHS efforts in digital scholarship
• ODH also facilitates conversations with other
  funding bodies both in the U.S. and abroad
• Goal support projects that analyse or use
  digital technologies in the humanities.
• 2 Million budget of NEH 2009, activities
• Humanities High Performance Computing (HHPC)
  Initiative
• workshop on Supercomputing, focused on the new
  technological opportunities in the field of
  humanities
• training opportunities for supercomputing (e.g.
  Tera-Grid User-Portal)

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(No Transcript)
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ODH mission Our primary mission is to help
coordinate the NEH's efforts in the area of
digital scholarship. The ODH Staff works to
promote and coordinate digital humanities
programs and outreach on an NEH-wide basis.
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Outlook eScience eHumanities

• need to create a controlled environment to
  develop skills necessary for e-science
• more interaction between humanists and ICT
  experts, customisation to the needs of humanists
• vital need for e-infrastructure before the data
  grid will meet potential, need for enhanced,
  context sensitive search capabilities need for
  detailed and enhanced metadata, disciplinary
  knowledge base (theory/ models/ methods best
  practices)
• Virtual Research Environment (VRE) Grid Web 2.0
• A human eHumanities Infrastructure
• opportunities for interchange and experiment
• creation of knowledge base
• development of knowledge statement
• building viable partnerships and a suitable
  community

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• Thank you for your attention!
• Questions, comments?

Dr. Heike Neuroth Göttingen State University
Library Max Planck Digital Library
Berlin neuroth_at_sub.uni-goettingen.de