Ortnamnssamlingar som digital forskningsinfrastruktur: vad ska humanisten med digitalt skapade historiska namnmaterial till?

Abstract

The article examines place-name archives and broader place-name collections of various kinds as research infrastructures in the digital age. The main goal is to showcase the opportunities digitization offers to create born-digital data and metadata that open up new research questions and possibilities to conduct interdisciplinary humanistic research based on name materials. At the same time, the article does not turn a blind eye to the problems inherent in the digitization of cultural heritage. Embarking on the ongoing discussions on information and knowledge organisation in digital humanities, the article demonstrates the simplifications name materials usually undergo in research infrastructures because of the currently prevalent digital gazetteer model firmly rooted in the traditional database mindset. It is concluded that the dialogue between the analogue, the physical, and the digital is needed to reform current digitization “musts” and create digital spatial research infrastructures that can function as future interdisciplinary hubs for name-based research.