Understanding Archives: Towards New Research Interfaces Relying on the Semantic Annotation of Documents

TL;DR

This paper proposes a semantic annotation framework for archival documents to improve access and exploration, addressing technological challenges and demonstrating a practical application.

Contribution

It introduces a new methodological framework for creating semantic-based research interfaces for archives, enhancing document exploitation.

Findings

Semantic annotation facilitates document exploration and valorisation.

The framework addresses technological obstacles in semantic interface development.

A practical case demonstrates the framework's application.

Abstract

The digitisation campaigns carried out by libraries and archives in recent years have facilitated access to documents in their collections. However, exploring and exploiting these documents remain difficult tasks due to the sheer quantity of documents available for consultation. In this article, we show how the semantic annotation of the textual content of study corpora of archival documents allow to facilitate their exploitation and valorisation. First, we present a methodological framework for the construction of new interfaces based on textual semantics, then address the current technological obstacles and their potential solutions. We conclude by presenting a practical case of the application of this framework.