Linked Data & Relational Databases – Grounded Knowledge (GeWiS)

Conveying, connecting, and preserving grounded knowledge

Linked Data & Relational Databases: Grounded Knowledge (GeWiS)

The GeWiS project (“Grounded Knowledge”) investigates how relational databases and linked data approaches can be combined to model, preserve, and interlink knowledge from the humanities in a sustainable and reusable way.

The project focuses on the conceptual and technical challenges of connecting heterogeneous research databases while maintaining their scholarly depth and semantic precision.

GeWiS brings together multiple humanities projects at the University of Bern and explores how structured data can be made interoperable, extensible, and reusable across disciplinary boundaries.

Project Focus

The project addresses:

• modeling humanities data using relational and linked data approaches
  
• sustainable data structures for long-term research use
  
• interoperability between heterogeneous research databases
  
• conceptual modeling of complex cultural and historical knowledge
  
• data reuse in digital humanities infrastructures

Participating Projects

The project connects several major humanities databases, including:

• Swiss Theatre and Dance Encyclopedia
  
• Swiss Music Encyclopedia
  
• Digital Sumerian Lexicon
  
• Repertorium Academicum

Research Context

GeWiS is conducted at the University of Bern and brings together expertise from Digital Humanities, History, Archaeology, Musicology, and Theatre Studies.

The project contributes to ongoing research on linked open data, semantic modeling, and sustainable digital research infrastructures in the humanities.