Collections as Data

The Project “Bibliotheca Eugeniana Digital” as Use Case at the Austrian National Library

Abstract

The “Collections as Data” initiative is transforming the use of cultural heritage collections by preparing them as machine-readable data to enable digital technologies such as visualization, machine learning and data analysis. One example of this is the project Bibliotheca Eugeniana Digital by the Austrian National Library and the University for Continuing Education, which is reconstructing the private library of Prince Eugene of Savoy using digital technologies (machine learning, HTR) to enable further research. The results of the project are a digital edition, an open data set and a visualization of the collection that will benefit both researchers and the public. Challenges such as the quality of digitization, structured data formats, long-term archiving and accessibility, legal aspects, as well as user-friendliness and visualization will be discussed using the project as an example. This project underlines the approach of collections as data for the research and communication of historical knowledge.