What are the hallmarks of high-quality research? How can Open Science practices be integrated consistently into everyday research? Which mechanisms can be identified at the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) to improve the transparency and quality of research through concrete measures?

Since the field of Digital Humanities is largely dominated by languages of the Global North that are written in the Latin script, access to digital research methods such as tools for distant reading, quantitative text analysis, and digital editing is limited for languages beyond that sphere. This limitation makes it challenging, and at times even impossible, for projects working with such languages to fully benefit from the broad spectrum of new research possibilities unlocked by novel technological developments.

With the goal of addressing this asymmetry, Closing the Gap collects information on the current state of the field, including completed, ongoing, and upcoming research projects, as well as available infrastructures and relevant initiatives. The insights gained through this process enable the project team to provide support to fellow researchers working with NLS (non-Latin-script) languages through the development of best practices and direct consultation.

The project database, which is freely accessible on GitHub, provides information on (so far) more than 160 DH projects throughout the world who's research involves non-Latin-script data. Our database is continually being updated and expanded. In carrying out this survey, we strive to follow and highlight best practices, thereby creating a kind of toolbox for solving questions in ongoing and future research.

Both project phases, Closing the Gap in Non-Latin-Script Data I + II, are dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and visibility of research related to low-resource and NLS languages within the Digital Humanities field in Germany and beyond. CtG also endeavors to identify technical and structural challenges encountered at various stages of projects dealing with such languages, particularly in terms of data analysis and sustainable data preservation.

CtG aims to exemplify FAIR principles and sustainability in academic research. All project data is made available through an open-access repository, and the project encourages external contributions. The online database offers user-friendly data visualization tools and search filters, facilitating easy and intuitive data exploration for users.

The CtG team consists of of DH experts from inside and outside the Freie Universität Berlin; partners and collaborators are organized in a loose network of working groups and informational hubs, such as the Ada Lovelace Center, DHd (Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum), FUB.IT (former Center of Digital Systems, Freie Universität Berlin), the Dahlem Humanities Center, and the State and University Library of Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky.

Objective 3 - Advancing Research Quality and Value of the Berlin University Alliance is funding altogether three projects as part of its "Implementation Projects" call. Closing the Gap in Non-Latin-Script Data II is one of those.

Contact 

M. Xenia Kudela, project coordination
ctg@geschkult.fu-berlin.de
Freie Universität Berlin, Department of History and Cultural Studies, Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies
Fabeckstraße 23/25, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem