Specialised Information Service for Social and Cultural Anthropology

The Specialised Information Service for Social and Cultural Anthropology (FID SKA) sees itself as an interface between ethnological research and infrastructure development. It is a joint initiative of the University Library of the Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin and the Research Data Center Qualiservice of the University of Bremen and is advised by a scientific advisory board. The central aim is to advise and support research in all infrastructural matters if they exceed locally available expertise and capacities or if it does not seem sensible to deal with them locally. The FID aims to: (1) facilitate supra-regional access to information resources and make ethnological research results more visible and usable in research and reference tools as well as in possible digital research environments, taking into account subject-specific ethical reservations; (2) record infrastructure needs from the specialist communities, communicate possible challenges at an early stage and prepare them in such a way that professional answers can be found, whereby the FID focuses primarily on identifying existing sustainable solutions and, if necessary, adapting or further developing them in cooperation with the specialist communities and other infrastructural partners; (3)
bundle, process and mutually communicate information on new developments and requirements as an actor in information science networks, but also as an observer of the science policy field; (4) continue the exchange with (potential) international partners that has already begun in various fields of work, to expand it wherever possible and, where appropriate, to take into account results from the international arena that can be connected and reused. The FID SKA should thus not only conceptualise supporting services in various fields of the digitisation of scientific practice, but also support the specialist communities in the organisation and coordination of debates as well as the concrete moderation of professional position finding - and thus promote negotiation processes for which there is
insufficient capacity in the ethnological disciplines themselves and in the specific infrastructures. Following on from the previous funding phases and continuing or expanding on the results achieved here, the following work priorities have emerged:
A Continuous feedback with the target groups of the FID - communication
B user-oriented supply of literature and information
C improved access to information and research - professional visibility
D support in research data management, cooperation with the NFDI
E support for digital methods and work platforms in the field of social and cultural anthropology