NFDI4Culture Metadata API

The teams of the Specialised Information Service (Fachinformationsdienst) Art-Photography-Design arthistoricum.net and NFDI4Culture based at the Saxon State and University Library (SLUB) Dresden jointly organised a virtual workshop on 26th January 2022 to discuss current developments around image annotation tools. Image annotations are an essential part of the digital research process in Humanities and Cultural Studies, especially with regard to collecting, mapping, storing and publishing information on image objects. Although existing technologies and standards enable the enrichment and international exchange of image data, the cultural heritage sector requires sustainable and user-oriented annotation tools that focus on the needs of research groups.

The central aim of the meeting was therefore to create cross-institutional synergies and to identify ways of collaborating in the ongoing development of image annotation tools in the field of cultural studies. While some attendees presented their annotation projects from a subject-specific as well as from a technical point of view, there was also an opportunity for the developers and community experts to openly discuss challenges and problems. In this regard, key topics included the advantages and disadvantages of different frontend and backend technologies, requirements regarding the collection, storage and publication of research metadata as well as questions around access rights management, for instance, how to manage user authentification and collaborative annotation. Among the participants were, besides SLUB Dresden, representatives from the University Library Heidelberg, TIB Hannover and Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.