Cultural Collections as Challenging Research Data in Small States: the Case of Latvia
Creators: name: Daugavietis, Jānis
name: Reinsone, Sanita
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Latvia
small states
digital research infrastructures
open science
research data
ERIC
convergence of research infrastructures
digital humanities
ILFA

description: Cultural Collections as Challenging Research Data in Small States: the Case of Latvia<br> Jānis Daugavietis<br> Sanita Reinsone<br> The Institute for Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia DARIAH Annual Event 2023 - Cultural Heritage Data as Humanities Research Data? (June 7 - 9, 2023, Budapest) Keywords: small states, open science, research data, digital research infrastructures, convergence Research (and statistics) indicate that despite recent improvements the Latvian humanities and arts community in general still lacks awareness and understanding of contemporary open science and is not particularly supportive of open science practices (Bite et al 2020, Daugavietis et al 2022, Reinsone et al 2023). This phenomenon can be attributed to a multitude of reasons, the main ones being one of the lowest levels of R&amp;D funding in the European Union and the lag in the implementation of national science policy in this domain. Roadmap adopted in 2016[1]. <br> The academic community in the field of humanities is just starting to grasp the notion of “research data” and necessary management it requires, while it remains unfamiliar to most cultural heritage institutions and public cultural administration. There is a risk that the differences between the two communities' attitudes towards cultural heritage collections as humanities research data will remain significant, as most of the state heritage institutions are under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Science, while state and local heritage institutions are under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture. This is the first year since the Latvian Science Council (the national science grant distributor) started asking for DMPs, thus familiarising scientists with this practice[2]. As participation of Latvian humanities and arts researchers in large international research projects (e.g. H2020) is rare, the community also has virtually no such indirect experience of working with archiving and publishing FAIR data. In the field of humanities, there is only one data repository in Latvia, created in 2022 – https://repository.clarin.lv (about 70 datasets). The development of digital research infrastructures continues to pose a persistent challenge. Although some progress has been made and there are a sparse examples across several research disciplines, including operation of national CLARIN ERIC repository in recent years and the joining of one institution as a cooperating partner in DARIAH-EU last year, the overall development of digital research infrastructures in Latvia remains deficient. This holds true for the social sciences as well. Of the 25 EU ERICs[3], Latvia participates in 8 (humsoc – ESS ERIC and CLARIN). In comparative political science, the notion of small states is often employed to argue that the process of socio-economic development in small countries differs from that of larger countries (Baldacchino &amp; Wivel 2020; Chodak 1989; Katzenstein 1985). Smallness can be both a hindrance and a help. Small countries are more vulnerable because they have fewer resources. At the same time, it encourages international and regional cooperation; communication with public institutions is more informal; mobility and communication is easier with small geographical distances and small interest groups (Katzenstein 2003). Latvia, with a population less than 2 million and an even smaller Latvian-speaking community, is such a case. The attributes of a small and economically challenged country may shape other optimal scenarios for the development of research data repositories and research infrastructures in general. The research community in such states is commonly limited in size, with a scarcity of research institutions in each field, and characterized by a lack of inner competitiveness. Furthermore, the geographical distances within the country are relatively modest, academic research is predominantly concentrated in the capital city. The administration of science and culture is centralized but both fields are operating independently from one another. The main question this paper seeks to address, with Latvia being the main focus and other small countries being used for comparison, is: which of the above mentioned and other characteristics of a small state facilitate or hinder the EU’s science and culture policy objectives, specifically, the implementation of open science principles and the complete digitisation and accessibility of cultural heritage? From the EU's perspective and practice to date, the ambition to build multi-sectoral digital infrastructures in small countries is unrealistic. Not only in individual countries, but even at international level, there is a convergence of humanities and social sciences research infrastructures (EOSC, SSHOC). The experience of small countries shows that there is often a strong overlap between the DARIAH and CLARIN communities, e.g. CESSDA and ESS. This is also the situation in Latvia and the choice of the Latvian science policy to create one research data infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences. At the beginning of 2022, a consortium of 4 major universities – “Higher Education and Science Information Technology Shared Services Centre” (https://www.vpc.lv/about) – was established at the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia. The plan also includes the creation of a national repository of humanities and social sciences research data (on DataVerse), as well as the creation of a data stewardship system. Progress is slow. Meanwhile, The Institute for Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia, one of the few leading Latvian DH institutions also active in the CLARIN community, as Cooperating Partner joins DARIAH this May[4].<br> <br> REFERENCES<br> Baldacchino, G., &amp; Wivel, A. (2020). Small states: concepts and theories. In Handbook on the politics of small states (pp. 2-19). Edward Elgar Publishing.<br> Bite, K., Daugavietis, J., Kampars, J., Kreicbergs, J., Kuchma, I., Ločmele, E., Ostrovska, D., Vecpuise, E., Veisa, K., &amp; Želve, M. (2020). ‘Pētījums par atvērto zinātni un rīcībpolitikas ceļa kartes izstrādi’ [Study on open science and the development of a policy roadmap]. Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka. https://www.izm.gov.lv/sites/izm/files/petijums-atverta_zinatne_21_2.pdf<br> Chodak, S. (1989). The New State. In The New State. Lynne Rienner Publishers.<br> Daugavietis, J., Karlsone, A., Kunda, I., &amp; Kristāla, A. (2022). ‘Latvijas digitālo humanitāro zinātņu rīku un resursu izstrādāšanas prakses’ [Tools and Resource Development Practices in Latvian Digital Humanities]. Letonica, 47, 12–51. http://lulfmi.lv/files/letonica/47/02-tools-and-resource-development-practices-in-latvian-digital-humanities.pdf <br> Katzenstein, P. J. (1985). Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe. Cornell University Press.<br> Katzenstein, P. J. (2003). Small states and small states revisited. New political economy, 8(1), 9-30.<br> Reinsone, S., Matulis, H., &amp; Daugavietis, J. (2023). ‘Digitālie resursi un rīki humanitārajām zinātnēm. Rekomendācijas politikas veidotājiem un digitālo resursu un rīku izstrādātājiem’ [MANUSCRIPT / Digital resources and tools for the humanities. Recommendations for policy makers and developers of digital resources and tools]. LU LFMI.<br> ________________<br> [1] Informatīvais ziņojums “Par Latvijas dalību Eiropas pētniecības infrastruktūru stratēģiskā foruma (ESFRI) Eiropas pētniecības infrastruktūru Ceļa kartes konsorcijos” [Informative report "On Latvia's participation in the European Roadmap Consortia of the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)"], 2016 LR IZM [The Ministry of Education and Science Republic of Latvia]; https://www.izm.gov.lv/lv/media/6161/download?attachment<br> [2] Latvian Research Council on the ARGOS platform<br> (https://devel.opendmp.eu) has developed a DMP form "LCS FARP", which is recommended for use by Latvian scientists.<br> [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/LV/LSU/?uri=celex:32009R0723 <br> [4] https://www.dariah.eu/2023/05/15/the-institute-for-literature-folklore-and-art-at-the-university-of-latvia-joins-dariah-as-cooperating-partner ACKNOWLEDGEMENT<br> The poster was made within the framework of the State Research Program “Towards Development of Open and FAIR Digital Humanities Ecosystem in Latvia (DHELI, 2022–2025)”. (Nr. VPP-IZM-DH-2022/1-0002) funded by Latvian Council of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science. The project is implemented by the The Institute for Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Latvia, University of Latvia (UL Livonian Institute and Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia), Rēzekne Academy of Technologies, Riga Technical University, National Library of Latvia. http://lulfmi.lv/en/DHELI-VPP