Introduction

In recent years, the bibliographical data (bibliodata) landscape has entered a critical phase of digital transformation. This era is characterised by the growing amount of data available, greater automation and data exchange capacities and the increased ability to produce data-based knowledge.

These overarching trends have also produced a number of tensions in the landscape that now call for closer analysis. First of all, there is a tension driven by the need to adapt and change traditional curation approaches. Historical models have been tested by the transfer of older descriptions to newer standards and platforms as well as by the pressures of curation for a growing but sometimes elusive user base. Second, there is a tension between open and closed data exchange ecosystems, which has also exposed conflicts between the solutions of stakeholders from different sectors and business models. Third, there is a tension based on the gap between the quality of current data and the growing expectations of stakeholders engaged in databased knowledge and research. For many of these entities, older means of information retrieval are simply no longer enough.

Since this chapter aims to analyse these tensions from the perspective of the humanities community, we need to address the specificities of the humanities environment. In particular, we must examine two large groups of stakeholders of critical importance to the humanities: libraries, archives and museums (LAM) and the research sector. A range of varied stakeholders represent these two groups, including research infrastructures, publishers, information services, libraries and archives.