The Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU) is proud to announce it has signed a Cooperating Partnership agreement with the Institute for Lithuanian Literature and Folklore in Vilnius, Lithuania.

DARIAH is a European research infrastructure that has been operating for more than a decade, with a mission to empower research communities to use digital methods to create, collaborate, and share knowledge about culture and society. Currently, DARIAH brings together 24 member countries across the European Union and maintains partnerships with 18 Cooperating Partner institutions in non-member countries.

„I am pleased to see the DARIAH-EU network expanding and welcoming Lithuanian institutions – the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore and Vilnius University. Becoming a Cooperating Partner of the DARIAH European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) enables LLTI to share its accumulated experience while, through collaboration with international partners, gaining new knowledge in digital humanities. I hope that the Institute will actively engage in researchers’ working groups and international projects, bring together Lithuanian institutions involved in the digitisation and research of literature and folklore archives, and contribute to the implementation of the DARIAH-EU mission“, said Prof. Dr. Aušra Martišiūtė-Linartienė, Director of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore.

„I believe that this collaboration will not only allow us to update existing research methodologies, develop digital infrastructure, and participate in various international projects, but, most importantly, bring together a community in this field that is responsive to the challenges and trends of the modern digital world," says one of the DARIAH coordinators at the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, dr. Karolina Bagdonė.

 

 

LLTI is a state research institute, implementing long-term academic research programs in the fields of early Lithuanian literature, folklore, mythology, modern literature and contemporary writing. The Institute holds a prestigious academic tradition, dating back to 1907, and functions both as a modern research centre and as an institution of national cultural heritage. It is a strong Lithuanian academic publisher and a centre for digitization of immense literary and folk archives.The Institute employs a large number of highly qualified researchers and administers doctoral programmes in Philology and Ethnology.

The Institute possesses a unique research infrastructure that includes the world’s largest and oldest Lithuanian Folklore Archive, the major archive of Lithuanian literary manuscripts, the digital databases of archival materials, and the historical premises of the Vileišiai Palace – a national site of memory. Some of the institute’s archival collections are included into the UNESCO's “Memory of the World” heritage list.

LLTI’s systematic digitisation efforts, ranging from literary and folklore collections to research databases, directly support the Institute’s mission to preserve and disseminate Lithuanian studies heritage and to strengthen cultural identity. Joining DARIAH-EU will enable these efforts to be further expanded and will integrate Lithuanian studies resources into the European research landscape.

More than 20 years ago, LLTI, together with partners in Lithuania, began developing the Lithuanian Studies Heritage Information System “Aruodai”, which has become a solid foundation for the Folklore Manuscript Database in operation today and widely used by scholars, artists, and the general public. The database provides access to digitised manuscripts, audio recordings, and photographs from the Lithuanian Folklore Archives dating back to the early 20th century, as well as video recordings from later periods.

Based on these archival sources, a range of widely used electronic resources has also been developed, including the heritage of A. R. Niemi’s Lithuanian folklore collections and sound recordings, “Knygadvaris” created on the basis of the Jonas Basanavičius Library, electronic corpora, and other digitised thematic collections dedicated to riddles, proverbs, sutartinės (traditional polyphonic songs), fairy tales, narrative folklore, folk beliefs, and post-war partisan songs. Alongside these, resources presenting and broadening access to Lithuanian literature are also being developed, such as the Balys Sruoga Archive (1911–1947), www.saltiniai.info, as well as numerous thematic and commemorative digital publications and open-access resources.

As noted by Dr Greta Petruškevičienė, Head of the Lithuanian Folklore Archives, many of these projects were implemented in close collaboration with scholars and IT specialists from Vilnius University. It is therefore especially gratifying that all this accumulated expertise and the resources created will now be opened to the European research community. At the same time, this is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of digital humanities, along with the benefits and challenges it brings.