DARIAH: Paving the way for the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities in Europe

Peter DoornCoordinator, DARIAH PPP

Director, Data Archiving and Networked ServicesExpert Board Hearing, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Madrid, 2 November 2009

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What am I going to tell you?

• How the arts and humanities are changing under the influence of ICT

• The implications of the changes for new requirements of research facilities

• DARIAH: what does it aim for and what has it to offer?• What are we doing right now and where are we?• How will it be organised?• What will it cost?• What is the time schedule?

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What kind of infrastructure do humanities scholars need?

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From Humanities computingto e-humanities

Roots go back to the 1960s:• text analysis, e.g. bible studies• quantitative social and economic history• computer linguistics• digital archaeology

E-humanities as analogy of e-science:‘science increasingly done through distributed global collaborations

enabled by the Internet, using very large data collections, large-scale computing resources and high performance visualisation.’

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CLIWOC-project (Climate of the World Oceans)

Collaboration of historians and meteorologists

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Journal entries, 26-29 September 1758

Ship’s name: NoordbevelandMonth: September

Year: 1758

Day: Tuesday

Date: 26thWeather on board Wind

Peculiarities

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Shipping Routes 1750-1850(Spain, Netherlands, England, Argenentina)

Courtesy of CLIWOC project, KNMI

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Average yearly temperatures, 1750-1850

Courtesy of CLIWOC project, KNMI

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Wind direction and speed

Courtesy of CLIWOC project, KNMI

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Wind directions and rainy days, Atlantic, 1770-1780

Courtesy of CLIWOC project, KNMI

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Archaeology

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Data collection in the field

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Databases of finds

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Photos, GIS, sherds

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Virtual archive of finds, publications, data and documentation

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Digital resources in the arts and humanities

• Digital materials collected for research purposes, e.g.:• History: digitized archival sources such as population registers,

shipping journals, historical censuses, judicial verdicts, medieval manuscripts

• Archaeology: excavation data - field reports, databases of finds, photos of objects, digital maps of sites, drawings of shards

• Linguistics: speech data, text corpora, video

• Multitude of forms and formats: data bases, spreadsheets, texts, audio, video, still images

• Data is often coded or “enriched”: cannot be understood or used without ample documentation or specific software

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Research Infrastructures (R.I.)• R.I. in general: permanent and physical• R.I. for the natural sciences: ice breakers for polar research,

satellites, telescopes, particle accelerators, laboratories• R.I. for the arts and humanities?

• Cultural heritage in all forms is the main source of humanities research

• Libraries, archives and museums are the traditional “laboratories” for the humanities

• In the digital age, essential for innovative humanities research is:• Access to digitised heritage data (data bases, text corpora, speech,

image collections, etc.)• Tools to process this information

• The most important new research infrastructure for the humanities is therefore a digital one

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European infrastructure challenges

• In spite of some achievements, existing infrastructures are primarily national... if they are there at all!

• European activities are until now funded on a project basis and carried out as voluntary activities by national partners

• Stable, pan-European research infrastructures for the arts and humanities hardly exist

• Increasing internationalisation of humanities research puts new requirements for such infrastructures

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Science Case for DARIAH• Changing research practice in a networked world:

• Digital resources (data & tools) form the laboratory of the scholar in the arts and humanities

• Computational technologies and methods of analysis• Resources on the web are highly distributed• The scale of research goes up: networked projects

• European projects have no continuity• The existing structures are too weak (ad hoc networks, no

permanence) and national in scope• Answer: strong European data infrastructure, providing continuity

and support for digital A&H research and access to digital resources

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DARIAH mission:Supporting digitially enabled research

DARIAH aims to develop and maintain an infrastructure in support of ICT-based research practices across the arts and humanities, acting as a trusted intermediary between disciplines and domains.

DARIAH is working with communities of practice to:• Develop and apply ICT-based methods and tools to enable new

research questions to be asked and old questions to be posed in new ways

• Link distributed digital source materials of many kinds• Provide access to digital research collections• Exchange knowledge, expertise, methodologies and practices

across domains and disciplines

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Preparation Project: Overview of the Work Packages

1. Project management2. Dissemination3. Strategic work4. Financial work5. Governance and logistical work6. Legal work7. Technical reference architecture8. Technical: Conceptual modelling

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DARIAH preparation project partners

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DARIAH consortium in October 2008 and 2009

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Associate and aspiring Partners

• Italy• Spain• Sweden

• Austria• Switzerland

Other prospective partners in: Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Serbia, FYROM

MembersAssociateAspiringProspective

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Strategic, financial, organisational and legal objectives

Strategic:To determine the strategic vision, goals, objectives and policies for DARIAH, ensuring they

are based upon and will meet stakeholder requirements, clearly identified business drivers, and identified benefits for European research

Financial:To define a sustainable business model for DARIAH that allows for the provision of long-

term services to the European research community in the humanities, while ensuring adaptability to new user needs and new technological developments

Logistical:To deliver a business plan that describes the organisational set-up and the management

structure, the role of the institutions and persons involved (stakeholders, staff, experts, partners, expansion with new partners)

Legal:To determine the rights and obligations of different types of DARIAH partners and allowing

for the inclusion of new partners; draft licence agreements, products and services contracts; ERI or non-ERI, that is the question.

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Technical and conceptual objectives

Architecture: To draft the technical reference architecture of DARIAH, consisting of draft

engineering plans, as well as demonstrators for key enabling technologies. Conceptual: Develop foundation of a coherent, interlinked, and collaboratively maintained

virtual infrastructure of digital resources in the partner institutes. Model and evaluate the research processes in selected digital humanities disciplines.

 

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DARIAH organization structure

• Neither very centralized, nor completely decentralized• Virtual Competency Centers (VCCs)

Each of the centers will be located physically in one of the DARIAH partner countries, but other partners can take part in the centers, hence the virtual aspect

• The VCCs will bear responsibility for specific tasks and expertise

• National centres (prominent institutes) participate in VCCs.• The model is an open one and will be able to embrace new,

promising fields that are as yet unable to play such a leading role in Europe.

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Virtual Competency Center (VCC) functions

Research – digital humanities research, new methods and research questions, collaborative projects

e-Infrastructure – service provision, systems & tools, connecting resources, standards

Education – knowledge exchange, mentoring, training, fellowships, curriculum development, expertise provision

Legal – rights (IPR, privacy), licensing, policies, advice, etc. Outreach & Management – PR, encourage collaboration,

community building, website, administration Content – creation, curation, provision

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Legal framework and structure

• EU Council has adopted the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) Regulation

• An ERIC shall have its own legal entity (International Organisation)

• The European Commission shall approve the Statutes of an ERIC before its official establishment

• Obligatory organs:• General Assembly of Members (and Associate members without

voting rights)• Board of Directors

• Optional Organs:• Scientific Board• Advisory Board

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Financial

- Total operating costs estimated at €6 Mln / year (based on c. 10-15 member countries)

- Proposal: national contributions related to GDP- Funding structure to be discussed with funders at Oxford

meeting on December 8.- Commitment: in progress

- in some countries financial commitment “in principle” (Ireland, France, Germany)

- in some countries on national roadmap (Holland)- in some countries in discussion (Greece, Spain)

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Technical work: the example of the ARENA search portal

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Photo courtesy of Guus Lange of RACM

Prototype of new, expandable portal

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Opportunities for Spanish archaeology

Archaeological excavation at Punta dos Prados in Ortigueira Northern Galicia Courtesy Cesar Parcero-

Oubina of The Heritage Laboratory (LaPa)

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Relations to other projects and networks

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Preparing DARIAH: time schedule

2008 2009

May 2007Deadline Capacities call

ESFRI projects

Q3 2008Agreement EC

funding

Q4 2008Start “Preparing DARIAH”

20102007

October 2006Publication ESFRI

Roadmap December 2006

Publication relevant FP7 call

Q3 2010 DARIAH conference

Q1 2011Start construction DARIAH

Financial Commitment?

Q4 2009 Funders’ meeting

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Additional information

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