The project is jointly managed by the Humboldt-Universität, Freie Universität and Charité, but refers to partners of the Berlin University Alliance. The aim is to evaluate IT systems and digital strategies, taking into account different perspectives of scientific use, networking and cataloguing of collections, as well as subject-specific needs. Case studies on collections, usage and digitization scenarios will be used to develop recommendations for action that will serve as the basis for a sustainable collection infrastructure for Berlin’s universities.
The Koordinierungsstelle für Universitätssammlungen in Deutschland (HU), with its nationwide and international expertise in this field, is accompanying this project as a partner.
In addition, the overarching and transdisciplinary approach and strategic orientation is supported by an expert advisory board.
„Digitales Netzwerk Sammlungen“ is a component of the „Sharing Resources“ workspace of the Berlin University Alliance. Access to excellent infrastructure is a decisive competitive factor in promoting research and recruiting outstanding scholars and scientists. The goal is to make the best possible use of existing resources and to be able to plan new projects jointly and thus more efficiently. Collections are seen as part of the complex research infrastructure, which should be transparent and accessible to the four partners.
More than 90 scientific, partly unique collections are known at Berlin’s universities. University collections were and are created in the context of scientific research or as a basis for teaching. In some subjects they form a central basis for research; in their diversity they are the basis for subject history, history of science and culture, object and collection research. The Berlin collections are mainly housed in the institutes, which favors close integration into teaching and research. The networking of the collections is still comparatively weak and poorly organized, which currently makes it difficult to use them.
A good, centralized record facilitates and enables provenance research, cooperation in teaching, scientific cooperation, exhibitions and citizen science projects. At the same time, such a system is a challenging task due to the large number of requirements and the interdisciplinary nature of the work. The aim of the study is to develop and evaluate a concept over a period of 19 months that will open up the collections as a scientific resource and at the same time support the needs of the Berlin collections.
Project management and contact
Dr. Yong-Mi Rauch (provisional Collection Officer, University Library of Humboldt-Universität)
yong-mi.rauch@ub.hu-berlin.de
Dr. Andreas Brandtner (Director of the university library of the Freie Universität Berlin)
brandtner@ub.fu-berlin.de
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schnalke (Director of the medical history museum of the Charité)
thomas.schnalke@charite.de
Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the State of Berlin as part of the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the States
