The Text+ interface to NFDI and the ERICs: Task Area Infrastructure/Operations as Assembly Tool

The Text+ interface to NFDI and the ERICs: Task Area Infrastructure/Operations as Assembly Tool

Summary. Text+ is part of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) and addresses the needs of long term preservation and interoperability of text- and language-based research data. Within Text+ the task area Infrastructure/Operations is responsible for the integration and coordination of the overall infrastructural developments with regard to Text+ as a whole - integrating the three data domains collections, lexical resources, and editions - and with regard to Text+ as part of the NFDI big picture, and the European infrastructure level as well, particularly DARIAH-EU. In this regard IO can be described as an assembly tool for sustainable data management and curation workflows.

Abstract. The NFDI, short for National Research Data Infrastructure, is a joint national effort to “create a permanent digital repository of knowledge as an indispensable prerequisite for new research questions, findings and innovations” [NFDI 2023] in Germany. The NFDI consists of 26 disciplinary oriented consortia and the basic services initiative Base4NFDI. Among these, Text+, the NFDI consortium for language and text-based research data, addresses three data domains: collections, lexical resources and editions. In addition, there are two cross-data domain work areas: Administration and Infrastructure/Operations, or IO.

IO coordinates and integrates the infrastructure development of Text+ - also with regard to the NFDI as a whole and the humanities and cultural sciences consortia NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Memory, NFDI4Objects, and the European infrastructure level. Why is DARIAH-EU important for IO? (1) It addresses a similar audience with Text+. (2) It resorts to resources provided by Text+ (such as access to and curation of research data via the DARIAH-DE Data Federation Architecture). (3) It shares with Text+ a history of integration efforts (see CLARIAH-DE) [Eckart et al. 2021].

With regard to DARIAH-EU, IO serves as an assembly tool to get and keep the wheels running: as DARIAH-EU’s mission is to enable digital humanities research, quite the same applies for IO in relation to Text+: it is an enabler for the data domains within Text+.

A major challenge of scientific research data infrastructures lies in: (a) mediating between requirements elicitation and service development, and (b) balancing the use/adaptation of existing the conception of new solutions. Ideally, a match can be made between the - often diverse - technical requirements on the one hand and available resources and in particular already existing components, methods and standards on the other [Buddenbohm et al. 2022].

The tasks in IO are structured in measures along the FAIR principles. In addition, there are community activities and software services. Special attention is given to the working groups (WGs) and the following topics: (a) tools for internal project work (e.g. cloud, project management, instant messaging) and for exchange with Text+ communities (e.g. web portal, helpdesk) [Weimer 2022], (b) interoperability of offers and services (data services, community activities, software services), (c) cross domain topics with the three data domains, especially within the framework of WGs (e.g. WG Registry), (d) connectivity to other NFDI offerings, especially to the group of humanities and cultural studies consortia NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Memory and NFDI4Objects.

The individual work packages (Measures) of IO address:

• M1 Findability: Federated Content Search, Text+ Registry, WG ‘Search and Harvesting’ of NFDI Section (Meta)data, Terminologies and Provenance

• M2 Accessibility: WGs ‘Identity and Access Management’, ‘Long-term Archival’ and ‘Persistent Identifiers’ of NFDI Section Common Infrastructure

• M3 Interoperability and Re-Usability: LOD, GND Agency, WG ‘Data Integration’ of NFDI Section Common Infrastructure, WGs ‘Cookbooks, Guidance and Best Practices’ and ‘Terminology Services’ of NFDI Section (Meta)data, Terminologies and Provenance

• M4 Community Activities: Helpdesk, Web Portal, Communication Strategy

• M5 Software Services: Software Development, WG ‘Research Software Engineering’ of NFDI Section Common Infrastructure

Bibliography.

Buddenbohm, Stefan, Henrich, Andreas, Steckel, Alexander, Stein, Regine, & Weimer, Lukas. (2022). Integration und Koordination der Text+ Infrastrukturentwicklung und Vernetzung mit der NFDI. Text+ Plenary 2022, Mannheim. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7224076 

Eckart, Thomas, Gradl, Tobias, Jegan, Robin, Margaretha, Elisa, Werthmann, Antonia, Helfer, Felix, Buddenbohm, Stefan. (2021). CLARIAH-DE Cross-Service Search: Prospects and Benefits of Merging Subject-specific Services. DARIAH-DE Working Papers Nr. 41. Göttingen: DARIAH-DE, 2021. URN: urn:nbn:de:gbv:7-dariah-2021-1-9.

NFDI. (2023). Website of the NFDI association: https://www.nfdi.de/association/?lang=en 

Weimer, Lukas. (2022). Zusammenarbeit innerhalb von Text+: Tools und Dienste. Text+ Blog. https://textplus.hypotheses.org/609.