1914-1918-online

1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War is the largest digital English-language reference work on the First World War. Since the launch of the project website in October 2014, over 1,600 academic articles have been published under the open access paradigm. The project is based at the Freie Universität Berlin under the direction of Prof. Dr. Oliver Janz and receives technical support from the University Library of the Freie Universität. The Bavarian State Library is responsible for the long-term archiving and cataloguing of the individual encyclopedia articles. The project was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2011 to 2020. 1914-1918-online offers a global historical overview of the First World War and strengthens the networking of international research.

The collaboration of over 1,200 project participants from more than 50 countries enables a comprehensive presentation of the ‘great seminal catastrophe of the 20th century’ from a global perspective. The encyclopedia, which is accessible free of charge worldwide, not only reflects the increasingly internationalised research on the First World War, but also decisively advances research by identifying gaps and desiderata. The quality of the articles is ensured by a two-stage peer review process. The articles are enriched with images and maps and linked to further online resources via external links. At the same time, the project focuses on the development and testing of model navigation procedures for thematic knowledge spaces. These make it easier for users to find their way around complex, non-linear texts such as digital handbooks, encyclopedias and anthologies. The encyclopedia 1914-1918-online also integrates relevant virtual specialist libraries and other information systems by means of librarian subject indexing of multilingual keywords. In this way, the reference work also sets standards in the field of electronic publishing in the humanities.

Gleichzeitig steht die Entwicklung und Erprobung modellhafter Navigationsverfahren für thematische Wissensräume im Fokus des Projektes. Diese erleichtern dem Nutzer die Orientierung in komplexen, nichtlinearen Textkonvoluten wie digitalen Handbüchern, Enzyklopädien und Anthologien. Die Enzyklopädie 1914-1918-online bindet zudem durch bibliothekarische Sacherschließung multilingualer Schlagworte einschlägige virtuelle Fachbibliotheken und andere Informationssysteme ein. Das Nachschlagewerk setzt so auch Maßstäbe im Bereich des elektronischen Publizierens in den Geisteswissenschaften.