Digital Humanities
Digitalization as a Strategic Priority for HAdW
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities views digitization as one of the central cross-cutting tasks of its scientific and organizational work. It has expressed this conviction in two complementary foundational documents: the 2017 Digitization Concept, which was adopted by the Academy’s plenary session and established, for the first time, Guiding principles for open access, long-term preservation, digital methods, and networking; and the digitization strategy HAdW digital 2030, which builds on this foundation, documents the institutional and structural developments of the subsequent years, and outlines the strategic framework through 2030. The institutional dialogue began in 2018 with a roundtable on the digitization strategy, to which the HAdW invited partners from the state’s universities, libraries, and data centers across the state to jointly discuss issues related to long-term digital archiving and the reusability of research data. These discussions have contributed significantly to refining the strategy, which has been continuously developed ever since.
At its core are five fundamental guiding principles:
Free access to knowledge. The HAdW follows a consistent open access and open science strategy. Publicly funded research results—including publications, primary data, and digital tools—should be freely and sustainably accessible to the scientific community and the general public. The FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) form the methodological framework for this.
Sustainability of research data. The HAdW considers the long-term preservation and archiving of digital research results to be an institutional obligation. It ensures this in collaboration with strategic partners—in particular the university libraries of the state of Baden-Württemberg—and aligns itself with national and international standards and infrastructures, notably the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).
Digital Methods in Basic Research in the Humanities. The HAdW’s academic projects are pioneers in digital research methods in the humanities. Editions, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and cataloging projects are developed using innovative software-based methods and made available as digital datasets of high scholarly quality. The HAdW actively promotes the development and application of such methods and integrates digital concepts as early as the proposal phase of new projects.
Strengthening digital structures and competencies. The HAdW consolidates its activities in the field of Digital Humanities within the Department of Research and Digital Infrastructure, which serves as the institutional point of contact for researchers, members, and research projects. The ongoing professional development of its staff and the targeted development of digital expertise are central to its strategic priorities.
Networking at all levels. The HAdW views digital development as a collaborative endeavor. It works closely with the universities, libraries, and data centers of the state of Baden-Württemberg, is active at the national level in the Union (of the Academies) and the NFDI, and maintains international partnerships in research projects and infrastructure initiatives.