One Ontology to Rule Them All—CIDOC CRM in the Humanities and Its Use in OpenAtlas

  • Nina Richards Department Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Bäckerstraße 13, 1010 Vienna, Austria
  • Stefan Eichert Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
  • Alexander Watzinger Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Bäckerstraße 13, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Keywords: CIDOC CRM, cultural heritage, digital humanities, FAIR principles, ontologies, open source software

Abstract

The CIDOC Concept Reference Model (CRM, https://www.cidoc-crm.org), developed by the International Council of Museums’ International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC), is a widespread ontology in the field of digital humanities. Its version 7.1.1, used within OpenAtlas (https://www.cidoc-crm.org/version/version-7.1.1), consists of classes that can be connected via properties to structure data in a standardised way and create entity-relationship models.

Mapping one’s research data using an ontology that is accepted and widely used in the community is consistent with the FAIR Principles (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles). Using CIDOC CRM on the INDIGO dataset enables the recombination with already existing research data in this structure as well as the contentious use in new projects is easily possible. This significantly extends the life cycle of the data and prevents the laboriously collected data from remaining unused after the end of the project.

However, the use of ontologies including the CIDOC CRM, requires a certain training period and the time and resources to learn how to use it. OpenAtlas (https://openatlas.eu), as an open-source database system, allows for easy input of research data without prior knowledge of ontologies or other digital humanities applications. The stored data are mapped to the CIDOC CRM model in the background of the application without the user needing to engage with it.

Author Biographies

Nina Richards, Department Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Bäckerstraße 13, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Nina Richards (born Nina Brundke, °1983) is an archaeologist and anthropologist involved in several projects within the scope of digital humanities. She received her Master’s degree from Otto Friedrich University Bamberg (Germany) in 2009 (Archaeology of the Middle Ages and Modern Times). In 2014, she received a Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Vienna (Austria, Biology). Since 2006 she has been involved in different digital humanities projects such as Montelius, OpenAtlas, and RELEVEN. She is currently employed at the Austrian Centre of Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage as well as at the Austrian Archaeological Institute and, together with Stefan Eichert, is PI of the THANADOS project (https://thanados.net).

Stefan Eichert, Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Stefan F. Eichert (°1981) is a senior researcher in archaeology employed at the Natural History Museum Vienna as well as heavily involved in the digital humanities community. He received his Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Vienna (Austria) in 2007 and 2011, respectively. He has been the principal investigator of several archaeological and digital humanities projects, including the THANADOS project (https://thanados.net). Furthermore, he is the initiator and mastermind behind the OpenAtlas project (https://openatlas.eu). His research output can be found at https://univie.academia.edu/StefanEichert.

Alexander Watzinger, Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Bäckerstraße 13, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Alexander Watzinger (°1973) is a software developer with a special interest in data modelling and the use of web applications within scientific research. His favourite tools are Python, PostgreSQL, Linux, and open-source software in general. He is the lead developer of the OpenAtlas project (https://openatlas.eu). Since 2017, he has been working at the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Within INDIGO, Alex will further adapt and develop OpenAtlas for the project’s specific needs and requirements. His scientific research output can be found at https://oeaw.academia.edu/AlexanderWatzinger. His open-source code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/craws.

Published
2023-05-10
How to Cite
Richards, N., Eichert, S., & Watzinger, A. (2023). One Ontology to Rule Them All—CIDOC CRM in the Humanities and Its Use in OpenAtlas. GoINDIGO, 220 - 230. https://doi.org/10.48619/indigo.v0i0.711