Building the 'Essen Historical Database'

Research in the social sciences often relies on quantitative data analysis and increasingly often incorporates digitized historical material gathered from archives. However, bridges to the data sciences are still uncommon and the main purpose of this project is to overcome this gap. The Essen Historical Database project aims to contribute to a new data-oriented trend to deliver the underpinning for the analysis of historical events and their impacts on social developments and the present state of societies. The major goals of the project are:  1. The provision of an easily accessible digital infrastructure for already existing or currently processed databases ready for statistical analysis. 2. To increase efficiencies of the data digitalizing process of source material from archives by incorporating newest technological developments. 3. The linkage of the digitized material to external data such as register data. 4. To create an inventory of German historical documents suitable for further quantitative research in the social sciences.