A heterogeneous group of Dutch researchers from universities, research institutes and cultural heritage institutions analyzes the scientific information system of letters. This group consists of historians of science, linguists, experts in alpha-informatics (Humanities-Computing) and computer scientists writing algorithms for infometric tools. The CKCC project was initiated in a collaboration between the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Utrecht and the Huygens ING. The correspondence network project is the first study in a more comprehensive program in which both institutes continue to collaborate with each other and with external partners. The National Library of the Netherlands, Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam, and the Huygens ING provided content (see Corpus). DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services) developed a tool for archiving the corpus and research for re-use. The software for the ePistolarium has been developed by Huygens ING.

This Dutch network is linked to international research organizations relevant to the field, allowing future collaboration within European research programs.

 

Descartes Centre – University of Utrecht

The Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, founded at the University of Utrecht, conceives of the history of science as a history of the evolution of scientific cultures. It studies the production of knowledge as the result of the continuous battle between rivaling scientific claims and of the constant interplay between scientists and the wider cultural domains of which they form a part. At the same time, science and scholarship cannot be understood without a detailed study of their content, methodology and concepts. The Descartes Centre distinguishes itself by its emphasis on the history and philosophy of all academic disciplines. Its aim goes beyond deepening and broadening our understanding of the nature and methods of the sciences and the humanities. Critical reflection on the foundations of science, the structures of its dissemination and the function of its rhetoric should inform public policies and their implementation.

 

Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library)

The National Library of the Netherlands gives researchers and students access to research information. Furthermore, the National Library fosters the national infrastructure for scientific information and promotes permanent access to digital information within an international context. A top priority is the promotion ofresearch and education by providing access to scientific information, based on its own services and collections and in the collections of others. Researchers and students can profit from reliable digital sources, combined with increasing ease of use. By modernizing the physical library and renewing its digital services, the National Library is opening itself up to growing social interest in the history and identity of the Netherlands. The National Library plays an active role in the organization of the national scientific information infrastructure.

 

Huygens ING

Huygens ING makes sources available and carries out research on the history of Dutch literature and science. The research program for the history of science focuses on the early modern period, with the circulation of knowledge being the most important theme. The E-research department develops text analysis tools. The Huygens ING works on digitizing a number of major letter corpora (Grotius, Van Leeuwenhoek) for research purposes.

 

Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS)

DANS archives research data from the Humanities and Social Sciences and is developing methods to make these data accessible in meaningful ways for the long-term future. One of the biggest challenges here is that access to data is only meaningful with the right tools, and that it is much harder to maintain tools than to preserve the data.

 

Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)

The University of Amsterdam (Uva), founded in 1632, is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. The faculty of Dutch Literature (Nederlandse Letterkunde) is contributing to the CKCC project with the collection of letters of Barleus.