Using digital technology to support research projects

The research projects of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities use appropriate digital methods and tools to support their research activities. Even long-established research projects are adopting digital workflows and publishing content electronically in addition to or as an alternative to printed publications. The digital tools used here range from databases and virtual research environments (such as WissKI) to specialist content management and publishing tools (for example for dictionaries).

The different applications can be categorised as follows:

Occitan, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Provençal, is an independent, time-honoured Romance language spoken by certain communities in southern France. The “Dictionary of Medieval Occitan” project is part of the Academies' Programme. The project focuses on editing the "Dictionnaire de l'occitan médiéval" (DOM) and, as such, is committed to providing the Romance research community and similar disciplines with a modern tool to support their work.

The publication was initially released in print. An online offering with supporting quotes and a continuously updated bibliography was then offered in addition to the print version. Today, the DOM is available exclusively online (link to database).

Visit the project website

Inscriptions provide an excellent source of historical information. Texts inscribed on “durable” materials such as stone, wood, metal, textiles and glass provide valuable insights alongside manuscripts and printed works. This project develops editions of the post-Antique inscriptions from Bavaria up to the mid-17^th century. The objective of each edition is to provide critical examination of the text, its historical context and commentary as a reference source for almost all disciplines of history as well as for linguistics and many other fields, including the preservation of historical artefacts.

Two volumes of the Bavarian branch are published exclusively online:

• Die Inschriften der Nagelkapelle im Dom zu Bamberg
• Die textilen Inschriften der Stadt Bamberg

The “Medical Correspondence from the Early Modern Period” project compiles and makes available letters written by or to doctors in German-speaking countries between 1500 and 1700. Many thousands of these letters are kept in libraries and archives in Germany and abroad, and they provide a wealth of interesting information on the science, culture and everyday life of the times. The project is documenting these letters systematically for the first time and also provides a detailed table of contents.  

The database is accessible to researchers around the world free of charge.

Visit the project website

“Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi” is a dictionary of medieval Latin musical terminology up to the end of the 15^th century. This extensive compilation of music theory literature from the Middle Ages is a key source for our understanding of medieval culture and the development of Western music.

The Lexicon musicum Latinum has been available online since 2011 (visit the dictionary network).

Visit the project website

Inscriptions provide an excellent source of historical information. Texts inscribed on “durable” materials such as stone, wood, metal, textiles and glass provide valuable insights alongside manuscripts and printed works. This project develops editions of the post-Antique inscriptions from Bavaria up to the mid-17^th century. The objective of each edition is to provide critical examination of the text, its historical context and commentary as a reference source for almost all disciplines of history as well as for linguistics and many other fields, including the preservation of historical artefacts.

For some years now, the volumes published by the project have been fed into a database which is maintained by the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz (link to the database).

The historical/critical edition of the writings of Schelling is the first scientific, textual criticism edition of Schelling’s work. It is designed as a complete edition and provides numerous contributions to the study of Schelling’s philosophy. This project is collecting and archiving all the important documents and studies relating to the life and thinking of Schelling.

These documented findings (data on letters, bibliography, people) are entered in a database which is freely available to everyone with an interest in the subject (link to database).

Visit the project website

The academy’s music history research group is editing the entire works of the composer to the Munich court Orlando di Lasso (1530/32–1594). Lasso conducted the Munich Court Orchestra, which achieved Europe-wide fame under his direction. He is credited with putting Munich on the map as a leading city of music. The edition of his works is divided into two sections: the “old” complete edition and a modern series.

The catalogue of his works has been fed into a database, which was developed in collaboration with the Bavarian State Library and offers a wide range of different search options (link to the database).

Visit the project website

Digitising texts, original works and source material used in research projects is standard practice today. However, there are also other digital processes and useful tools that can be used in certain projects. We present two examples in the following.

The “Ptolemæus Arabus et Latinus” project has been highlighting the importance of digital publications and the opportunities they offer since its inception in 2014 (website). It is an extremely challenging editing and cataloguing project as there is a huge amount of texts attributable to the astronomer and mathematician and these are all written in different languages and scripts. 

The manifold connections between the descriptions of his works and manuscripts, transcripts and facsimiles can be more easily captured online. A fast, transparent table search enables users to access specific information within the large repository of data and compare facsimiles and transcripts – all of which makes it easier for users to critically analyse material. Furthermore, computational linguistic algorithms can be used to evaluate the digital edition, which means that the information can be reused more effectively. 

For further information, see the Akademie Aktuell magazine (issue 01/2016) (only available in german)