Digital Research Collection – Principles and the Case of the Ethnological Collection of Research Reports

Abstract

The article is localized at the intersection of digital curation, archival studies, digital humanities, and the documentation practice in ethnology. The primary aims are 1. to analyze the five selected principles of conceptual preparation and practical building of digital research collections; 2. to exemplify these principles on the concept and strategy of digital conversion and computer processing of the ethnological Collection of research reports (CRR) at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS; 3. to evaluate and to comment on the selected principles of research collections based on CRR exemplification. The first aim includes defining essential terms, principles analysis (principle of development policy, description, digital curation, contextual mass, and scholarly contribution) and highlighting the specificity of thematic research collections. e second aim involves in-depth exemplifying conceptual, methodological, curatorial, and practical processes through which CRR becomes a digital research collection. The third aim includes a retrospective evaluation of problematic aspects of selected principles from the point of view of the CRR example. The article's contribution will be to improve the knowledge of professionals in ethnology about the theoretical foundations and curatorial management of digital research collections.