Task Area 2 - NFDI4Culture

Standards, Quality & Curation

Standards, data quality and curation

Our aim is to develop and establish recognised standards and procedures for quality assurance of research data in academic fields that deal with tangible and intangible cultural assets. Data quality not only forms the basis for the reliability of research results, but also for their wider and subsequent use. It ensures that data will be FAIR, i. e. findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

In close coordination with the involved academic experts and research communities, we identify and prioritise existing deficits with regard to sustainable data quality. In regular forum events, we discuss, focus, and evaluate the ongoing activities of the task area. Together with experts and the NFDI4Culture community, we formulate requirements for the standardisation and curation of cultural data and develop proposals for improving the related quality management.

In addition to criteria for measuring the quality of research data, we design quality assurance guidelines for both data producers and providers, based on an ethically responsible handling of data (e.g. following the CARE principles in the context of indigenous cultures). The focus is on implementing the FAIR principles, developing recommendations for working with ontologies and reference models, and evaluating ways to check and improve the FAIRness of data. At the same time, the FAIR roadmap will be continuously adapted to the needs of researchers and other user communities.

The FAIR-Clearing Agency serves as a support and consulting centre that promotes the application of quality standards for research data. We advise researchers as well as data providers who may have different needs and levels of experience, regarding quality and standards at every stage of the data life cycle. This includes support particularly during the planning phase of a project, around the selection and implementation of appropriate standards and strategies, and during the preparation of data management plans. In addition, data sets of limited reusability that are nevertheless relevant to large user groups should be transformed into more sustainable and accessible offerings.

Helpdesk

In close collaboration with researchers, we engage in the further development of existing data formats, data standards, and specialised vocabularies for scholarly use. Our initial focus lies on authority records for (multimedia) works of art and musisal works, the documentation format MEI and the exchange format for object-related data in the material cultural heritage sector, LIDO, as well as modelling concepts for event related data and vocabularies in the performing arts. Another priority is the development of a good practice procedure for enriching internationally recognised expert vocabularies from local terminologies (such as the Art and Architecture Thesaurus / AAT). Here as well, we aim to increase the transdisciplinary interoperability, interlinking, and accessibility of research data from the disciplines addressed by NFDI4Culture.

Our main goal ist to develop standards and quality criteria for an ethically responsible implementation of the FAIR principles in close exchange with the other core areas within the consortium (e.g. data capture, data services and research tools, data publication and long term archiving, opportunities for data related training). As a cross-cutting topic, the FAIR activities will also be a matter of exchange and coordination with other NFDI consortia.