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Sylva. A Flexible Database System for the Humanities < back to projects

Recent research in the field of Digital Humanities has identified several common patterns in how information is related. We have observed that topics are connected by a net of relationships that can be seen as a complex network. Complex networks, or graphs, are mathematical concepts with a group of properties that allow a deep analysis of the links between the different objects of the studied environment. Sylva is a tool developed within the CulturePlex Laboratory in order to manage complexity in a straightforward manner and allow the researcher to share the results with other colleagues. Ultimately, Sylva will provide a standard framework within the field of Digital Humanities. It is comprised of three main components: - Sylva Data: An application that stores data avoiding traditional SQL restrictions. It employs a free schema that is created by the user and that can be modified at any time with painless programming tasks. The graph-based representation used creates links that associate entities in the same way they are related in the real world. - Sylva Visualization: A collection of tools providing easy ways to query the data stored. It allows the user interact with the data and shows it in an understandable way. - Sylva Analysis: A suite of advanced tools to apply statistical and data mining processes to the information stored in the system.

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