SSHOC

SSHOC
Name	SSHOC
Abbreviation	SSHOC
Type	European research infrastructure project
Established	2019
Region	European Union
Funding	Horizon 2020

SSHOC

SSHOC is a European infrastructure initiative that aimed to create an integrated ecosystem of services for social sciences and humanities data. It acted as a coordinating hub to connect data repositories, libraries, archives, computational resources and training providers across the European Research Area, linking stakeholders such as national statistical institutes, university repositories, cultural heritage institutions and research infrastructures.

Overview

The project built on networks of organisations including European Commission, European Research Council, Horizon 2020 beneficiaries, national research libraries like Netherlands Royal Library and national statistical bodies such as Statistics Netherlands and Eurostat. Partners included specialist centres like DANS (Data Archiving and Networked Services), IZUM, and disciplinary repositories comparable to CESSDA and CLARIN. SSHOC engaged with pan-European infrastructures such as European Open Science Cloud, EOSC Association, and regional initiatives resembling DARIAH, aligning with funding frameworks like Framework Programme 7 and successor programmes administered by Research Executive Agency.

Objectives and Scope

SSHOC aimed to make social sciences and humanities data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable in ways compatible with European policies such as those advocated by European Commission Directorates and instruments administered by European Research Council. Its scope covered data curation workflows used by archives like British Library and national museums such as Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, metadata standards employed by organisations like International Council on Archives and legal frameworks associated with the General Data Protection Regulation. The project targeted users ranging from doctoral candidates at institutions like University of Oxford and Humboldt University of Berlin to analysts at think tanks such as Bruegel and research units within European Central Bank.

Consortium and Governance

The consortium brought together universities including University of Groningen, research centres such as Institute of Social and Economic Research, data centers like Finnish Social Science Data Archive, and commercial partners comparable to Atos and Elsevier-related services. Governance structures referenced models used by entities such as Scientific Advisory Boards in large-scale projects and followed legal forms seen in European Research Infrastructure Consortium. Management committees coordinated activities with liaison to funders such as European Commission services and national ministries comparable to Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands). Advisory bodies included representatives from organisations like UNESCO and professional associations such as International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Activities and Services

SSHOC developed training programmes akin to those organised by European Data Portal and produced tools for data discovery similar to platforms operated by DataCite and ORCID. Services included metadata harmonisation drawing on vocabularies from Getty Research Institute and authority control practices used by Library of Congress, anonymisation workflows reflecting approaches of UK Data Service, and data citation guidance aligned with Committee on Publication Ethics. Workshops and schools were modelled on events hosted by International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies and capacity-building initiatives run by Council of Europe bodies.

Technologies and Standards

Technical work integrated formats and protocols such as Dublin Core-style metadata models and interoperability layers comparable to Linked Data Platform approaches, and exploited persistent identifier systems like Digital Object Identifier and Handle System. SSHOC aligned with standards promulgated by organisations like World Wide Web Consortium and semantics frameworks resembling Resource Description Framework. It incorporated tools for linguistic processing used in projects with ties to Stanford Natural Language Processing Group and computational infrastructures similar to European Grid Infrastructure and cloud services promoted by OpenAIRE.

Projects and Collaborations

SSHOC collaborated with domain projects and infrastructures analogous to CESSDA ERIC data services, CLARIN ERIC language resources, and DARIAH digital humanities activities. It engaged in joint pilots with archives like National Archives (UK) and libraries such as Bibliothèque nationale de France, and partnered with consortia resembling Europeana to expose cultural heritage metadata. Cross-border initiatives involved stakeholders comparable to EuroGeographics and pan-European research networks like GÉANT, while capacity-building links were made with doctoral training networks similar to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Impact and Legacy

SSHOC contributed to improved discoverability and reusability of social sciences and humanities data across institutions comparable to Harvard Dataverse and ICPSR. Its outputs influenced policy discussions at European Commission working groups and informed standards activities in bodies such as ISO. Training materials and tooling seeded further uptake in university libraries including University of Copenhagen Library and research data services at universities like Pompeu Fabra University. The project’s integration work supported subsequent initiatives in the European research ecosystem, echoing legacy patterns seen after projects linked to EOSCpilot and OpenAIRE-Advance, and provided templates for collaboration among archives, libraries and research infrastructures.

Category:European research infrastructure projects