At the intersection of sciences, humanities and technologies – A review of the edition humboldt digital

Abstract

The edition humboldt digital is a publication of the project ‘Travelling Humboldt’ by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Together with its printed supplement the edition humboldt printed, it aims to make the scientific heritage that is relevant to Alexander von Humboldt’s journeys accessible in its entirety based on a digital first approach. Overall, the edition humboldt digital excels in exploiting digital techniques and successfully positions itself at the intersection of sciences and humanities. Therefore, it will be discussed in this review whether it could be considered not only as a scholarly digital edition but also as an information platform on Alexander von Humboldt and his work in general. Additionally, by pursuing an open science strategy, the edition also paves the way for future reuse of its data. Altogether, even though some technical issues remain, the edition humboldt digital can serve as a role model for other digital scholarly editions. As the edition is a work-in-progress project, this review only takes its fourth version into consideration.

Keywords

• alexander von humboldt
• historical critical edition
• digital first
• hybrid edition
• history of science
• travel journals
• letters
• cmif
• linked open data