Field of Focus III - Funded projects Retrodig:

Standards der Informationsextraktion aus retrodigitalisierten, heterogenen Quellen (Text, Bild und Karten) am Beispiel der Grabungsdokumentation des römischen Kastells von Heidelberg-Neuenheim

Project leader:

Dr. Armin Volkmann (Junior Research Group Digital Humanities and Digital Cultural Heritage)

Funding line:

Core facilities

 

The Project RetroDig concentrates on retro-digitalisation and academic analysis of paper-based documents with focus on preserving information gained from the work. As a case study the present and so far unpublished documentation of the roman fort excavation in Heidelberg-Neuenheim in the 1970th were reprocessed since they were only analog so far.

Due to the course of the excavations, where researched records are mostly irrecoverable going to be destroyed, only the documentation of records is the only way for ongoing studies. Production methods, storage conditions, environmental influences and also the simple touching of paper documents are reducing the span of life and threaten the recorded data upon it.

The goal of the project is the analysis and extraction of the containing information at very little effort. For a prospective usage in the field of digital humanities the information will be stored as a lasting, interoperable data type. Therefore already developed digital tools will be used, modified and provided as a cheap and lasting open-source solution.

The results of the case study can be used disciplinary in research and teaching – on the other hand the developed infrastructure can be used interdisciplinary in other academic fields.

The project is a cooperation of the Junior Research Group Digital Humanities and the Heidelberg Research Architecture (HRA) at the Cluster of Excellenz Asia and Europe in a Global Context together with the Kurpfälzisches Museum of the city Heidelberg.