Users First. Optimierung von User Interface, User Experience und Crowdsourcing an der Mittelhochdeutschen Begriffsdatenbank

The Middle High German Conceptual Database (MHDBDB) is a central digital resource for the study of Middle High German language and literature. Since its inception in the 1990s, it has supported researchers worldwide in analyzing and evaluating historical texts. With financial support from CLARIAH-AT, the database underwent a fundamental modernization: in addition to a new user interface, the system was migrated to an RDF-based data foundation, enabling sustainable use and integration within the Semantic Web.
The project “Users First” builds on this relaunch and aims to further enhance the accessibility, user-friendliness, and reach of the MHDBDB – in line with the FAIR principles and the open science strategy of the Digital Humanities.

About the Project

The project was deliberately conducted on two tracks. On the one hand, the stabilization and optimization of the existing RDF-based MHDBDB, developed during the CLARIAH-AT project, were carried out – now publicly available as “MHDBDB Graph.” Performance optimizations, bug fixes in the Angular frontend, security measures, and a modular API serving as an intermediary layer between the GraphDB and frontends were implemented. This has made the database more stable, secure, and structured for reuse in external applications.

On the other hand, a complete redevelopment of the next generation of the MHDBDB was undertaken, based on TEI-annotated full texts – now publicly available as “MHDBDB Next.” An entity-relationship model, a TEI maximal dataset, and extensive data wrangling, validation, and testing processes were developed. The client-based Playground allows for complex combined queries, contextualized citation searches, and flexible exploration paths, while also serving as the foundation for AI-supported workflows. The client-side architecture reduces coupling and dependencies, significantly lowering long-term operational costs. The user experience has been qualitatively improved through the new, accessible frontend. Contributions to the dataset have also been made easier for the community, paving the way for the expansion of the database:

Contribute to the MHDBDB

As a result of the project, the MHDBDB is now available through three coordinated research interfaces:

• MHDBDB Next – TEI-based research and exploration platform: https://dhcraft.org/mhdbdb-tei-only/
• MHDBDB Graph – Semantic Web/RDF implementation with Linked Open Data access: https://mhdbdb.plus.ac.at/graph/
• MHDBDB Old – original relational interface, legacy interface, operational until the end of 2026: https://mhdbdb-old.sbg.ac.at/

These measures have not only further developed the MHDBDB technically and functionally but have also strengthened it as an open, collaborative, and future-proof platform in the Digital Humanities.