The expert workshop on the translation of population register data into IDS was held at the Centre for Economic Demography (Lund University, Sweden) on September 19 and 20. The aim of the workshop was to discuss shared solutions to common problems faced when translating data into IDS. Members from eight different databases participated. All participants had some knowledge and experience with IDS, but they were in different stages in the process of translation and use of IDS.

During the workshop different issues concerning the translation of data into IDS and the extraction of data from the IDS to construct datasets for analysis were discussed. As a result of the workshop the IDS structure of existing databases will be improved and new databases will be translated into IDS. Discussions were also started about forming a research collaboration in order to write a collaborative paper based on data from the different databases. The aim is to present the results of this work at the next European Society of Historical Demography conference. Most of the participants of the workshop will try to take part in this research collaboration.