Linked European archives for Ethno-musicological research

Objective

EthnoArc will contribute to higher publicity, accessibility, connectedness and exploitation of cultural, in particular: ethnomusicological archives. They are crucial scientific and cultural resources, storehouses of history, indispensable for the common European memory and identity. Existing archives, if digital at all, are limited by the fact that they were developed independently and apply different metadata structures, making comparisons of data almost impossible.

EthnoArc will provide a linked archive for field collections from different sources enabling access to cultural content for various application and research purposes. The system will be designed to conduct multi-archive searches and to compare retrieved data.

This will be achieved by:
- defining a rich metadata scheme to establish a distributed media archive that not only describes separate content items but also the relationship between them, thus treating digital objects not as isolated entities, but as parts of an interconnected information mesh.
- defining a self-descriptive metadata access scheme to allow mapping between content from different archives, even though structure and labelling of items may differ.

The project will show the usability of the metadata structure by converting information from legacy archives, thus showing that the format has no significant shortcomings in relation to already existing systems. The project will also build a 'production chain' for digitising content and entering metadata to show the feasibility of richer, more complex metadata as a base for advanced research.

The database design, as well as the APIs developed in the project will be made available to encourage others to provide information in a structured, complex and metadata-rich format. By involving expert scholars in the definition of parameters and the evaluation process, it will be ensured that technical solutions fit the needs of the archives' users and allow for a wide range of research questions.

Fields of science

• natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabases
• humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistory

Programme(s)

• FP6-IST - Information Society Technologies: thematic priority under the specific programme "Integrating and strengthening the European research area" (2002-2006).

Topic(s)

• IST-2005-2.5.10 - Access to and preservation of cultural and scientific resources

Call for proposal

Funding Scheme

Coordinator

Participants (6)