The main purpose of the workshop was to develop skills in database building and record linkage. Topics that were discussed were database standards and models, methods for consistency and standardizations and different aspects of linkage. Participants had different experiences of building databases, which created vivid discussions on all levels – from the basic requirements to advanced topics.

The workshop was attended by 16 participants as well as a number of the CEDAR staff.

In summary, a couple of topics rendered suggestions for future actions:

Can there be similar principles of linkage between organizations?

• Linkage is an on-going discussion and the group will look into possibilities of participating in workshops and conferences on the theme.

Coding and documentation

• International standards of coding, for example HISCO for occupations and ICD-10 for cause of death, should be further discussed and developed in a wider context.

Transcriptions

• (Semi)-automatic transcription, including word spotting in texts, is a promising research method. However, more attention should be put to dealing with digits and sources structured into fields and columns.
• Web-based transcriptions, online and offline, is the future.

Open access and IDS

• Participants was generally accepting the Intermedia Data Structure (IDS), but with modifications to be expected during national or regional implementation.