Estonian Research and Cultural Data Infrastructure

The Digital Turn in the Humanities: Why Do We Need a Shared Digital Lab?

Humanities disciplines — including history, cultural theory, linguistics, folkloristics, and ethnology — are undergoing a rapid digital transformation. Everyday cultural interaction increasingly takes place in digital environments, and research materials, whether historical sources or contemporary cultural expressions, are ever more frequently available in digital form.

As a result, the humanities are facing growing data volumes and a rising need for reliable digital services and shared infrastructure. Emerging fields such as digital humanities, computational humanities, and cultural data analytics make it possible to work with research data more effectively, using methods such as language models, data visualisation, and machine learning.

Why Do We Need a Shared Digital Infrastructure?

Many memory institutions — including archives, museums, and libraries — as well as research organisations manage valuable humanities and cultural data. Yet much of this material remains dispersed, difficult to discover, or only partially used. To ensure that the full potential of these datasets can benefit researchers, educators, creative practitioners, and enterprises, a shared digital environment for the humanities is being developed.

This digital infrastructure brings together the expertise and data resources of multiple institutions, creating an interoperable platform that supports research, teaching, and creative work. By improving access, harmonising data practices, and offering reliable digital services, it strengthens collaboration across the humanities and cultural heritage sector.

What Is the Aim of the Planned Digital Infrastructure?

1. Creating a Shared Platform
The infrastructure is bringing together information about existing Estonian humanities and cultural data collections, including datasets created in the course of research. This shared platform makes data easier to discover, access, and connect across institutions.

2. Sharing Knowledge and Skills
The platform is providing guidance materials and training resources for working with humanities and cultural data — supporting both beginners and advanced users. New materials are being developed where needed to strengthen data literacy across the field.

3. Offering Digital Lab Services for Humanities Data
In collaboration with researchers and data stewards, the infrastructure is developing services that support data analysis, visualisation, and the application of cultural data in various domains — from academic research to education and cultural projects.

Project Partners: Estonian Literary Museum, Tallinn University, University of Tartu, Estonian National Museum, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Cybernetica AS, e-Governance Academy, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences