Hi everyone, it has been a while since we talked about research infrastructures. Many of them might sound abstract or just like super specialized app stores. But today we have a brief look into something very tangible: heritage objects that are analyzed by instruments or are digitized in other forms. There is lots of diverse data in Heritage Science. # ❓ FAIR Buzzword Bingo: what is E-RIHS? {#fair-buzzword-bingo-what-is-e-rihs}

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There are already countless intertwined research and infrastructure initiatives in the cultural heritage field, even more beyond it. In this category I will focus on one of the many FAIR data-related initiatives, this week: **the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS)** I have introduced some research infrastructures related to the *Social Sciences and Humanities* (SSH) in previous editions. For example CLARIN about language data or DARIAH about Digital Humanities. But actual cultural heritage is broader, it's about both **cultural and natural heritage.** The latter refers to for example monuments and paintings or in the future maybe even *CD-Roms*. Let's have a look at what Heritage Science is and which role FAIR data plays in the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science. ::: {.captioned-image-container}

Heritage Science, where cultural heritage and technology meets. Picture from the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science at https://e-rihs.eu

::: In short, Heritage Science covers several scientific fields, such as chemistry and biology, or art history and engineering. Very diverse! It has to be interdisciplinary because it studies and preserves materials and techniques from the past. I\'m only a computer scientist, so please forgive my vague description, but as far as I understand it, you have to use **state-of-the-art techniques and instruments** to treat very old objects **very carefully**. But as well as knowledge of the materials used and how to treat them, you also need to understand the object in a **wider cultural and humanities context**. Sounds interesting, but also like a lot of work where standard office programs like Word or Excel might not be too helpful. After all, there might be data from **3D scans**, **molecular analysis**, **dating and aging tests**, **physical and thermal characterization**, and more. As a researcher you also need to collaboratively work together with colleagues from different institutions in possibly different countries. Check the short introduction video below to get an idea. ::: {#youtube2-xWxAi2XAoDo .youtube-wrap attrs="{\"videoId\":\"xWxAi2XAoDo\",\"startTime\":null,\"endTime\":null}" component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"} ::: {.youtube-inner} ::: {.iframe} ::: {#player} ::: ::: {.player-unavailable} # Ein Fehler ist aufgetreten. {#ein-fehler-ist-aufgetreten. .message} ::: {.submessage} [Sieh dir dieses Video auf www.youtube.com an](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWxAi2XAoDo){target="_blank"} oder aktiviere JavaScript, falls es in deinem Browser deaktiviert sein sollte. ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ## Background E-RIHS There have been different collaborative projects in the past, but since 2016 the new kid in town is the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS). It **entered the ESFRI roadmap in 2016** and thus joined other large scale research infrastructure initiatives. The initiative is in full swing. A first *preparatory phase* project has already been completed ([Q123413373](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123413373)) and another *implementation* project ([Q123413608](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123413608)) has started with the aim of creating a legal entity for E-RIHS in the form of an ERIC (see [FDD#6](https://fair-data-digest.org/archive/6)). In addition, another platform integration project (IPERION HS) has been launched with a budget of **more than 6 million Euro**. E-RIHS is organized in a **central hub** and in so far **14 national nodes**. For example, the national node for Belgium was founded in 2019 and consists of *The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage* ([Q2235462](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2235462)), *The Royal Museums of Art and History* ([Q945059](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q945059)), and *The Royal Library of Belgium* ([Q383931](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q383931)). My employer thus and a few partners of our *MetaBelgica* project ([Q119717964](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q119717964)). However, not related to MetaBelgica, different departments are involved :-) [Check out all 14 national nodes](https://www.e-rihs.eu/national-nodes/){.button .primary} ## E-RIHS and FAIR data According to their website, E-RIHS *"believes in Open Science"* and the FAIR principles are *"fundamental to their vision"*. This includes a data-curation policy and mandatory data management plans. Documentation and research data is available on [Zenodo](https://zenodo.org/communities/e-rihs) and [OpenAIRE](https://explore.openaire.eu/search/find/research-outcomes?fv0=E-RIHS&f0=q&resultbestaccessright=%22Open%2520Access%22). The diverse data of the **three service platforms** related to the IPERION HS project catalogue of services make it clear that FAIR data is needed. [ARCHLAB](https://www.iperionhs.eu/archlab/) providing access to largely unpublished datasets. Data created by the instruments in the [FIXLAB](https://www.iperionhs.eu/fixlab/) research facilities or by the distributed mobile instruments of [MOLAB](https://www.iperionhs.eu/molab/). Already digitized data as well as measurements of physical objects that need to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable! I'm curious to learn about more future outcomes of the project related to FAIR data. Let me know if anyone of you is working on it or a related project.

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That's it for this week of the FAIR Data Digest. If you found the content interesting, please share and subscribe. See you *in two weeks*! Sven ::: {.captioned-button-wrap attrs="{\"url\":\"https://fairdata.substack.com/p/fair-data-digest-21?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share\",\"text\":\"Share\"}" component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"} ::: {.preamble} Thank you for reading FAIR Data Digest. This post is public so feel free to share it. ::: [Share](https://fairdata.substack.com/p/fair-data-digest-21?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share){.button .primary} :::

FAIR Data Digest

FAIR Data Digest #21