Research Data Infrastructure for Historical Sources (HisQu)

The HisQu project is dedicated to the development of a digital research data infrastructure for historical sources. The focus is on the methodological development of digital analysis processes, which are increasingly being used in history and the humanities. The aim is to establish tools and standards that digitally support the entire research process - from the preparation of sources to their analysis and documentation - and make it reproducible.
Medieval sources on ecclesiastical history, which are provided by the German Historical Institute in Rome in the form of registers, serve as the data basis. These summaries, which are initially only machine-readable to a limited extent, will be converted into semantically structured data in the project. On this basis, an ontology-based category system is being created that systematically records central information such as persons, places, legal acts or ownership. This will enable historians not only to examine individual documents, but also to analyse complex networks, trace developments over time and record transregional connections.
The FactGrid platform, which acts as a knowledge repository and collaborative working environment, plays a central role. Based on Wikibase technology, FactGrid enables the structured collection, linking and evaluation of the data obtained. At the same time, the platform allows connection to international standards and projects such as Wikidata. HisQu thus builds directly on existing digital humanities projects that use Wikibase as an infrastructure and systematically develops its potential for historical source work.
The project is based at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and is being realised in close cooperation with the German Historical Institute in Rome, the Lower Saxony Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Göttingen and the Gotha Research Centre at the University of Erfurt.

Funding: DFG (for the entire project HisQu 1.9 million euros)

Duration: 2025-2027