Spotlight on SHEWROTE: Redeveloping a Dying Database

DARIAH is delighted to publish the latest Spotlight article To the Edge, and Back Again: Redeveloping a Dying Database, Women Writers – SHEWROTE. This article is part of the DARIAH Spotlight campaign, a monthly series that focuses on digital scholarship within the DARIAH network.

Written by Alicia Montoya, Chair of the Women Writers in History Working Group, this article discusses the experience of the Women Writers in History DARIAH Working Group which has redeveloped a database that had been developed over three decades at several Dutch institutions.

Initially built at the University of Amsterdam and released in 2001, as Women Writers, at Utrecht University, the database was revamped in 2014 at the Huygens Institute as NEWW: New Approaches to European Women’s Writing, and is now being redeveloped at Radboud University as SHEWROTE. Over several technical overhauls, hosting at four institutions, and research questions that evolved significantly between 2001 and today, this complex history posed multiple challenges for the database’s redevelopment. 

This article is part of DARIAH’s outreach campaign, DARIAH Spotlight, which makes research within the DARIAH network more visible. This monthly series will showcase digital scholarship in the humanities, from both DARIAH Working Groups and DH projects within the DARIAH network. Follow this campaign for more Spotlight articles.

Explore this Spotlight article