Re-Use of Editions and Text Collections: The Role of APIs – Workshop Report

In late January 2026, approximately 50 researchers, developers, and representatives of memory institutions from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom gathered at the University of Zurich for a two-day event to discuss specific use cases for APIs in digital editions and to develop ideas for future API specifications. The event was organized in collaboration between the Università della Svizzera italiana, the University of Bern and the University of Zurich within the context of the swissuniversities-funded project ReSED API. 

Little Data Reuse in Digital Editions

Digital editions data is extensive, varied, and high quality. Despite this it rarely gets re-used beyond the original project context. Richly encoded TEI editions with carefully structured metadata and detailed annotations often remain locked within individual project websites, making it difficult to compare texts across corpora or integrate annotations and materials in new research or teaching contexts. We see this as a great missed opportunity.  

This concern motivated us to run the workshop “Re-use of Editions and Text Collections: the Role of APIs” (Zurich, 29-30 January 2026), aided by the Open Research Data funding line of swissuniversities.

The Potential of APIs

The interest in APIs for digital scholarly editions is growing, particularly within the technically-oriented segment of the community. Evidence of that could be seen at the recent Heidelberg workshop “APIs for text-based digital editions” (September 2025) which was very well attended. With our workshop, we wanted to build on the insights gained from the highly acclaimed event in Heidelberg, especially the three key findings:

• While the benefits and possibilities of APIs are obvious to many developers, they remain less tangible for the editors and users of digital editions.
• While promising API solutions for digital editions already exist, they are still rarely implemented in editorial projects.
• While there is general agreement that a common standard would bring significant benefits, there is uncertainty about how such a standard could be achieved.

Against this backdrop, the workshop organized within the swissuniversities-funded project “ReSED API—Re-Use Standards for Editions Data with Application Programming Interfaces” in cooperation between the Università della Svizzera Italiana, the University of Bern and the University of Zurich intentionally adopted a use-centered perspective. At the same time, we wanted to make the topic of APIs—which many people still find very technical—as accessible as possible, with a particular focus on reaching those without prior knowledge.

Objectives and Outcomes of the Workshop

The aims of the workshop were two-fold: to provide training to digital editors about application programming interfaces (APIs) and to stimulate community discussion about what a standardised API for editions might look like. We were hoping to attract an audience of scholars who work on digital editions and who come from other disciplines that might have an interest in re-using editions data. The target was specifically to bring together people without extensive technical background. The reality turned out to be better: the participants of the workshop had a range of backgrounds, many with extensive technical expertise, and all – with a burning enthusiasm for APIs.

The workshop sought to include the excellent initiatives that exist in the field (e.g. the DTS API that was presented at the workshop) and launch a community discussion around what we want these tools to do for us, which has been lacking until now. We started with a morning of APIs training including a theoretical and a hands-on component. We then went on to hear about six APIs – some already implemented and others in various stages of development. The second day began with presentations of editions data re-use from domains of linguistics, literary studies, and digital history. Inspired by these (and equipped with knowledge acquired the previous day) the participants went on to spend the afternoon proposing specific scenarios for re-use of digital edition data and to discuss the possible parameters of a standardised API. All presentation slides are available via the Zenodo community of the Center for Digital Editions.

The discussion was very productive. The participants highlighted the need for both core elements common to all editions and specific functionalities applicable to a few. It was stressed that a potential API would need to work for both dynamic and static editions (minimal computing approach), which are growing in popularity. It became clear from the comments of the participants that any proposed solution should be practical and easy to implement and run. The participants noted that REST APIs probably hold an advantage in this sense over GraphQL APIs (the latter being more suitable for large settings with complex queries). A demand for a clear and consistent terminology denoting different data representations was also voiced. Not least, the discussion touched upon possible ways to communicate and track re-use of editions and editions data both with the creators of the resource and the community.

Outlook

By failing to standardize APIs for editions, we risk perpetuating silos that limit scholarly innovation, slow down research, and underutilize decades of digitized cultural heritage. For this reason the work of developing an edition API must and will continue beyond the workshop with an emphasis on community discussion.

Drawing on the results of the workshop and on interviews with key stakeholders conducted as part of the project, we are planning to publish a report that surveys the state of the art and proposes pathways towards a potential standardized API for digital editions. This will of course be returned to the community of workshop participants and other scholars and RSEs whom we hope to get on board with this initiative.

If you would like to get involved in the development of a recommendation for editions API please contact Elena Chestnova: elena.chestnova@usi.ch.