Wuttke_2019_PosterDARIAH2019_Zenodo


Here be Dragons: Open Access to Research Data in the Humanities 
Ulrike Wuttke, Poster DARIAH Annual Event 2019, 15.-17.05.2019, Warsaw 

Based on the winning blogpost of the Open Humanities Tools and Methods Blog Competition 
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3233447

Contact:
Fachhochschule Potsdam | Fachbereich Informationswissenschaften

Kiepenheuerallee 5, 14469 Potsdam 
wuttke@fh-potsdam.de | @UWuttke

HERE	BE	DRAGONS	
Open Access to Research Data in the Humanities

Picture:	African	penguins,	Boulders	beach,	Simon's	Town,	South	Africa	by	Pierre-Selim	Huard				
h@ps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon%27s_Town_-_African_Penguins_-_2018-07-27_-_9028.jpg,	CC	BY	4.0	

“Fellowship	of	the	Data”	

To	create	a	broad	culture	of		
FAIR	data	sharing	in	the		
humanities,		
we	have	to	roll	up	our	sleeves,		
team	up,	and	distribute	hats:			
•  Embrace	Open	principles		
•  Bridge	the	gap	between	the	digital	and	the	
humanities		

•  Look	what	we	can	learn	from	the	Digital	Humanities	
and	other	data	savvy	disciplines	

Picture:	open	by	velkr0	CC	BY	2.0,	https://flic.kr/p/mzqM		

Viva	la	Open		
Revolution!	

Here	be	dragons	(Key	challenges)	

•  Ambivalence	about	the	concept	“data”	
•  Key	concepts	and	recommendations,	e.g.	FAIR	
principles	little	known	in	research	communities	

•  Publication	of	research	data	only	as	afterthought	
•  Issues	around	incentivisation	
•  Fears	
•  Availability	&	sustainability	of	specialist	support	
structures	for	humanities	research	data	support		

Vision for Humanities Data 

FAIR!	Preserved	Lost	

Photo	background:	“Digital	hologram”	by	Ashwin	Vaswani,	h@ps://unsplash.com/photos/JqZ7q_S3xOE		

• Support	system	for	the	quest	for	FAIR	humanities	 

data	

• Incentives	for	FAIR	data	publications,	e.g.	DORA		
• Infrastructure	(aggregation,	data	centers	&	


repositories,	tools	and	services)	
• Training	&	Education	of	(digital)	humanities	


researchers	
• “Data	infrastructure	literacy”	
• Added	value	of	Research	Data	Management	


for	the	planning	of	digital	projects	before	the	start	
• Active	research	data	management	


(e.g.	RDMO	=	Research	Data	Management	Organiser)

https://ulrikewuttke.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/open-data-humanities/

There	is	a	lot	at	stake	for	the	Humani?es,		
maybe	the	very	ques?on	what	we	want	the	future	of	the	Humani?es	to	be.		

When	it	comes	to	Open	and	FAIR	research	data	in	the	Humani?es,		
I	can	only	say	it	with	Queen:		

“I	want	it	all,	and	I	want	it	now!”

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	

mailto:wuttke@fh-potsdam.de
https://ulrikewuttke.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/open-data-humanities/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/