Collections from colonial contexts

On behalf of the Federal Minister of State for Culture and the Media (BKM), the German Digital Library is to work with 25 pilot institutions (mostly ethnological museums) to develop a central platform for documenting collection material from colonial contexts. The basis for this is the "3-path strategy" for recording and digitally publishing this collection material in Germany:

Path 1: "Access" (short-term): Creation of a central point of access to collection material from colonial contexts already published digitally through tagging or integration of existing relevant data holdings in the German Digital Library (DDB) as well as curated and annotated collection of existing internet addresses (DDB in cooperation with the "Contact Point for Collection Material from Colonial Contexts in Germany");

Path 2: "Transparency" (medium, long term): Digital basic recording and publication of yet unpublished collection material from colonial contexts in a central data repository (e.g. DDB) according to uniform standards (Object ID extended, LIDO) and by means of internationally used, scientifically common multilingual vocabularies;

Path 3: "Cooperation" (long term): Digital recording and publication of collection material from colonial contexts based on standards developed jointly with states and societies of origin as well as the diaspora in Germany (correction of Eurocentric perspectives), decentralized data storage if necessary.

As part of the project "Collections from Colonial Contexts”, Path 1 is to be implemented in the short term (by October 2021) and Path 2 in the medium term in the form of a dedicated portal. FIZ Karlsruhe will be responsible for the technical implementation and operation of the new portal.

• Project term: July 01, 2021 – June 30, 2024
• Contact: Frank Schwichtenberg
• Funding: Federal government commissioner for culture and the media (BKM)
• Partners:
  Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB)
  Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK)