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SPK Lab Workshop on API Use Cases

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John Woitkowitz presented use case scenarios for APIs at the July 19, 2023 API workshop hosted by the SPK Lab of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The project IN_CONTEXT is developing a concept for a virtual research environment to advance research in the history of colonialism via a linked repository, a collaborative workplace and a set of digital tools. This involves the use of APIs or computational interfaces in various areas of the platform. Data such as references, digitized files or norm data from external institutions and data providers are integrated into the platform. Furthermore, the source portal provides data such as references to holdings, full texts, and digitized material from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin via OAI-PMH APIs for subsequent use by external institutions. In addition to institutions, the IN_CONTEXT platform also aims to address research groups and individual researchers or interested parties. In this way, REST APIs or knowledge graph endpoints based on research demand will be developed, data will be offered in common formats and made accessible through documentation resources. Different forms of providing information and further resources at the level of API-design related to problematic content is also under consideration.

The workshop provided an excellent platform to exchange experiences among institutions, projects and individual users of APIs. We look forward to participating in future events and to continuing the conversation on the development of APIs for research and the wider interested public.

You can find more information about the SPK Lab at https://lab.spk-berlin.de

Annual Meeting of the Network Colonial Contexts

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On June 12, 2023, the IN_CONTEXT team presented current developments and activities of the project at the annual meeting of the Network Colonial Contexts. The integration of collections and holdings from institutions external to SBB/SPK, the handling of sensitive metadata and the role of communities of interest were among the topics discussed. The project will deepen the discussion on the topic of “Colonial Contexts in Libraries” during a two-day workshop in November. We are looking forward to the exchange with our colleagues in Berlin and in the Netzwerk Koloniale Kontexte.

The complete program of the annual meeting of the Netzwerk Koloniale Kontexte can be found here.

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IN_CONTEXT at Workshop on Retrodigitization

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Larissa Schmid presented the project IN_CONTEXT at the University of Kiel on May 11-12, 2023 at a two-day workshop on retrodigitization. Timely questions related to access and the presentation of digital collections related to colonial histories were discussed. At the workshop, Larissa was able to further connect with important institutions and researchers from across the fields of digitization and colonial history.

CfP: Workshop on Colonial Contexts in Libraries

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The colonial past is increasingly the subject of public debate. Cultural heritage institutions bear a special responsibility, and museums in particular have already begun to reflect critically on their colonial entanglements and to investigate their colonial legacies. Provenance research and restitution debates have contributed to this. So far, libraries have played a marginal role in this debate, although the term “museums and collections” used in most official documents also includes historical collections held in libraries. The dbv Commission for Provenance Research and Provenance Cataloguing and the project IN_CONTEXT of the State Library Berlin in cooperation with the German Lost Art Foundation are taking this desideratum as an opportunity to take a closer look at how libraries deal with holdings from colonial contexts.

The aim of the workshop is to bring together actors from libraries, interest groups and research in this field to present holdings that are already known to be relevant and to conduct preliminary work on guidelines on how to deal with colonial holdings in libraries. The goal is both a fundamental discussion of how to deal with colonial contexts in libraries and a focus on specific holdings and topics. The workshop will focus on two themes:

First, the question of holdings in libraries that originate from colonial contexts of injustice will be raised. To what extent, for example, did objects come to Europe in connection with the looting of Magdala (1868) or the so-called Boxer War? To what extent do libraries already conduct provenance research and, if so, are there demands for restitution? How can provenance data be integrated into metadata?

Second, the question of holdings related to colonialism is addressed: How do libraries deal with so-called reception literature, such as travelogues or colonial nostalgia literature? To what extent does the topic also affect special collections such as maps, bequests or photo collections? How should scholarly literature from the colonial era be handled? How can these holdings be appropriately integrated into digital collections and repositories?

The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2023. The workshop language is German.

Call for Papers: Colonial Contexts in Libraries.

For any inquiries, please contact in_context@sbb.spk-berlin.de

Deutsche Version

IN_CONTEXT at the #DHd2023 in Trier

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As part of the Annual Meeting of the Organization for Digital Humanities in German-speaking Countries, John Woitkowitz presented the project IN_CONTEXT at the University of Trier on March  17, 2023. Along with colleagues on the panel “Digitizing Cultural Heritage and Postcolonial Perspectives”, he discussed the ethical dimensions of digitization projects and the challenges of implementing the FAIR and CARE principles.

For a larger discussion of the conference, see John’s blog post “Going Digital in a CAREful Age”.

The conference program can be found at https://dhd2023.dig-hum.de

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Projektstart: IN_CONTEXT: Colonial Histories and Digital Collections

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IN_CONTEXT is a two-year project with the aim of securing funding to digitise library collections related to colonial histories and to develop a virtual research environment. In the medium term, the virtual research environment is to serve as a central platform to study historical sources by documenting and by making available all relevant collections in Germany and from international partners. The project is based at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (State Library Berlin) and receives funding from the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation).

 

You can find the full project description here.