Registry for Tools & Services

The registry offers researchers centralised access to structured information about digital research tools and data services that are particularly relevant to cultural studies research. It enables users to quickly find suitable offerings, assess their potential applications, and better coordinate developments. In this way, it supports the targeted selection of resources and helps to reduce duplication of effort and unnecessary work.

All metadata recorded in the registry is available for free use under a CC0 licence. Each tool and service is assigned a permanently valid identifier (PID), which enables unique referencing. A filter option facilitates overview and access to the individual object types. In future, reviews and ratings based on the FAIR principles will also help researchers to better assess the quality and reliability of the listed resources.

What is covered?

As one of NFDI4Culture's core offerings, the registry collects information on software, scripts, web applications, data repositories and data portals that are relevant for scientific use by NFDI4Culture's specialist communities and can be reused by them.

• Software refers to programmes or applications that run on digital systems to support specific tasks, processes or analyses. The NFDI4Culture Registry lists executable applications in the software category that have been developed or adapted specifically for research purposes in the humanities and cultural sciences and are usually available as installable or locally launchable programmes. These support researchers in, among other things, the collection, processing, analysis, visualisation or presentation of research data and results. This category does not include scripts, which are usually short program files designed to solve a clearly defined problem, or web applications that are used entirely via a web browser. The software solutions listed here are characterised by their relevance to scientific work processes, their subject-specific focus and, in many cases, their open licensing, which enables reuse and further development in line with FAIR and open science principles. In contrast to data repositories and data portals, the focus is not on the collection and provision of data, but on the functional support of research processes.
• Web applications are digital tools that are used entirely via a web browser and do not require installation on the local system. Under the category of web applications, the NFDI4Culture Registry lists online tools that support researchers in, among other things, editing, analysing, visualising or presenting research data. They can include, for example, interactive editors, analysis platforms, visualisation tools, or collaborative environments that enable real-time collaboration. Web applications differ from installable software in that they are provided via the internet and are platform-independent, and from scripts in that they usually offer a graphical user interface and a broader range of functions.
• Scripts are compact sequences of instructions written in a programming language, which are generally used to automate clearly defined work steps or to perform specific analyses in a research context. The NFDI4Culture Registry lists generic, reusable programmes in the scripts category that help researchers process, convert or analyse data without the need for extensive software installation. They are often open source, easily adaptable and interpreted in execution environments such as Python, R or Shell. Scripts differ from software in that they have a smaller range of functions and are specialised for individual tasks.
• Data Repositories are storage locations where research data and results can be stored, archived and managed for the long term, and made accessible to the scientific community and the public in accordance with the FAIR principles. The NFDI4Culture Registry lists subject-specific and generic data repositories under the category of data repositories, as well as data aggregators that combine the databases of several institutions and enable searches via a common interface. The repositories listed here contain research data and results in various media formats such as texts, images, audio recordings, metadata or transcripts, etc. Although some repositories, similar to software, scripts or web applications, may contain additional tools for display, editing or analysis, for example, their focus is on the secure storage, archiving and sustainable provision of data. With its Curated Repository List, NFDI4Culture recommends a selection of established repositories that meet the needs of the community. These offer researchers, regardless of their institutional affiliation, the opportunity to actively publish and archive data in accordance with the FAIR principles.
• Data Portals are platforms that enable public access to databases. Users can access digital research data and results, download them and use them for their own research. Unlike the NFDI4Culture repository selection, the platforms listed under the category ‘Data Portals’ record their own research data and do not usually include research data from third parties. In our understanding, data portals always have a clear thematic, regional or typological focus. These include, among other things, project databases. In exceptional cases, access to certain holdings is only possible after prior registration.

How are these collected?

If your software or service fulfils the above criteria and you would like to make it more visible to the specialist communities via the NFDI4Culture registry, please contact us (sven.peter[at]uni-koeln.de or anastasia.wawilow[at]upb.de).

We need the following information to be able to record your offer:

• name of the software or service
• description of the service
• external links, e. g. to the project website, code repository or URL to the web application or download link for software

If possible, please also provide us with the following information:

• institution providing the service
• scientific disciplines to which the service is primarily directed
• research activities that are supported (if possible using the TaDiRAH taxonomy vocabs.dariah.eu/tadirah)
• logo and/or image to illustrate the offer

We will contact you as soon as possible to discuss what further information we may need to include your proposal in the NFDI4Culture Registry.

Show the world that your software or data service is listed on NFDI4Culture!

Integrate the NFDI4Culture registry badge into your project website or GitHub readme and make your project even more impressive! The badge is more than just a decorative accessory. With the badge, you communicate that your offer is relevant to the NFDI4Culture community (https://nfdi4culture.de/about-us/communities.html) and that you support the implementation of the FAIR principles in science.

Embedding in a Markdown file

To include the NFDI4Culture registry badge in a Markdown file such as a readme file documenting your project in a GitHub repository, please copy the following code snippet into your file and replace the placeholder [your permalink] with the permalink to your software's entry:

[]([your permalink])

You can find the permalink to the registry entry for your software on the details page of the software below its name. You can access the list of entries here: nfdi4culture.de/resources/registry.html

Embedding in an HTML file

To integrate into an HTML file, such as a project website, please use the following snippet and replace the placeholder [your permalink] as described above:

<a href=“[your permalink]”> <img src=“https://nfdi4culture.de/go/nfdi4culture-registry-badge” alt=“NFDI4Culture Badge”> </a>

Thank you for your support of the NFDI4Culture Registry!