Digitization and indexing of the Pomeranian Folk Song Archive

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Gesa zur Nieden; Christian Winterhalter, since 5/2023; Marike Zenke, since 4/2024
• Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; Musicology ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442793735

The aim of the project is the complete virtual consolidation, indexing, digitalization, full text recognition, and digital transformation of song texts and melodies from the collection of documents of the Pomeranian Folk Song Archive. They were collected between 1927 and 1938 and present some 14,000 songs. The majority of these are pure lyrics, although about 2000 noted manuscripts are also included.To this day, the collection of the Pomeranian Folk Song Archive represents the largest and most comprehensive collection of Pomeranian songs. Due to the nature of the material, a further digital indexing should take place on the basis of the usual descriptive indexing, which takes into account the special character of the songs as not primarily text- or image-bound media. Thus, with the help of handwriting text recognition (HTR), a full text search and keyword spotting over the entire text stock will be made possible. In addition, a digital indexing of the melodies is planned, which converts the notation into audible form and allows an export of melody metadata on the basis of MusicXML.Especially the lyrics of the songs in combination with the traditional melodies offer insights into the emotionality, traditions and mentalities associated with the respective singing situation. This results in a multi-perspective evaluation potential for ethnology, German studies, history and musicology. In addition, a considerable part of the collection comes from places which today belong to the Polish part of Pomerania and thus open up a transnational possibility for cooperation and joint evaluation.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Participating Institution: Universität Greifswald; Philosophische Fakultät; Institut für Kirchenmusik und Musikwissenschaft; Pommersches Landesmuseum; Universität Greifswald; Universitätsarchiv Greifswald; Universität Greifswald; Universitätsbibliothek
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Martin Loeser; Dr. Uwe Schröder
• Ehemalige Antragsteller: Dr. Dirk Alvermann, until 3/2024 (†); Dr. Peter Wolff, until 5/2023