Heritage institutions as the largest providers of digital historical content and specialised information services as demand-driven service facilities for research offer a large range of digital contents, services and competencies, from which a national research data infrastructure (NFDI) to be set up can benefit enormously.

In its position paper on the establishment of national research data infrastructures, the German Historical Association (VHD) emphasises the necessity of a "cooperative network organized in line with fields of specialisation of institutional data centers operating on a local, regional and national level and a matching coordination body for historical studies".

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek as Germany's leading library for historical studies and as one of the organisations managing the DFG-supported Specialised Information Service for Historical Studies and the Specialised Information Service for Classical Studies, as well as the sole managing organisation of the Specialised Information Service for Russian, East and Southeast European Studies, welcomes the initiative of the VHD and supports the course set by the paper "Research data infrastructure for historical studies" of keeping digital research data accessible for academic research in the long term and of sustainably maintaining them as elements of the cultural heritage.

Research data infrastructure for historical studies: Position paper of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek on the VHD initiative for the establishment of the NFDI
Position paper of the German Historical Association (VHD) on the set-up of national research data infrastructures (NFDI)
RfII discussion paper "Cooperation as an opportunity"