General information
The iConTxt project brings a transformative innovation to the DLBT by integrating advanced artificial intelligence to unlock the full potential of its unique multilingual collections. As one of the most comprehensive and authoritative resources on Dutch literature in translation, the DLBT holds vast scholarly value, yet much of this material remains underused due to language and accessibility barriers. iConTxt directly addresses this challenge.
Developed collaboratively by eight European universities (see: Cooperations, partners and projects) and in partnership with the Vienna University Library and the Vienna University Computer Centre, the project leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to automate metadata curation, generate English-language summaries and analytical information from reception materials and, where legally permissible, English-language versions of source materials, and produce new contextual knowledge derived from existing database materials. In this way, iConTxt transforms isolated records into interconnected, research-ready information.
By embedding these AI capabilities directly into the YARM[1] software that powers the DLBT, iConTxt transforms the library into a dynamic, self-enriching research infrastructure. It enables user-friendly access for researchers, students, translators, literary agents, cultural institutions, and policymakers, fostering new opportunities for cross-cultural analysis, educational innovation, and literary exchange. Its open-source design ensures that the resulting tools and methodologies remain freely available to registered users. It enhances global accessibility to cultural heritage, strengthens the visibility of Dutch literature worldwide, and contributes to a broader understanding of literature as a living, transnational ecosystem.
Research infrastructure and use of source materials
iConTxt supports scientific research into the reception of literary works and their translations. Its research infrastructure comprises iConTxt and iConTxt-Info. iConTxt-Info serves as the project's research and knowledge environment, in which bibliographical information, reception documents and other research materials are collected, structured, processed and analysed. These materials include content from publicly available sources as well as digitised reception documents originating from the Digital Library and Bibliography of Literature in Translation (DLBT), including archival material collected since the late 1980s.
AI-assisted analysis of literary reception
Reviews and other reception documents lawfully accessible to the university or participating research institution may be subjected to automated text and data analysis using artificial intelligence, including Large Language Models (LLMs) accessed through the OpenAI API. The purpose of this analysis is to generate new scholarly information from the source materials. This may include identifying and synthesising critical assessments, recurring themes and issues, agreements and disagreements between reviewers, as well as patterns and trends in the reception of literary works and their translations.
The resulting reception overviews primarily consist of independently generated summaries, paraphrases and analytical classifications, accompanied by references to the underlying sources. By identifying and structuring significant themes and issues addressed in individual reception documents, iConTxt facilitates comparative research across literary works, translations, languages, periods and reception contexts.
Research framework and access to source materials
iConTxt is conducted within a university-based research infrastructure and supports scientific research into literature in translation and its reception. The project is developed collaboratively by European universities and operates in partnership with the Vienna University Library and the Vienna University Computer Centre. The DLBT and iConTxt-Info provide the research and knowledge environment in which the relevant source materials and research data are managed.
Source materials are included in the research environment only where the university or participating research institution has a lawful basis for accessing and using them for the relevant research purpose. These materials may include publicly accessible online sources, materials available through institutional or other authorised access, and documents held in the DLBT research archive. The legacy DLBT collection includes reception documents assembled by a university research project from original printed materials consulted in libraries and archives as source documentation for scholarly research into literary reception.
Access to copyright-protected source materials within the research infrastructure is restricted to authorised researchers and other persons whose access is required for the research activity, including, where appropriate, collaborative research and the verification of research results. Access is limited according to the research purpose and the applicable legal, licensing and institutional conditions. Inclusion of a document in the research corpus does not make that document publicly accessible.
Copyright-protected research materials are stored and processed within a controlled research environment. Appropriate technical and organisational measures are applied to access, storage and processing. Where external AI services are used for automated analysis, they are accessed through institutionally controlled interfaces and configurations; API data sharing for model improvement is disabled.
Source materials may be retained where and for as long as this is justified by the scientific research purpose, including further analysis and the verification of research results. Public access through iConTxt is distinct from access to the underlying research corpus: publicly available results primarily comprise bibliographical information, independently generated summaries and paraphrases, analytical classifications and other information derived from the research.
Source materials and publicly available research information
iConTxt maintains a distinction between source materials held and processed within the research infrastructure and information made publicly available through iConTxt.
The inclusion of a copyright-protected document in the research corpus does not in itself result in that document being made publicly accessible. Publicly presented research results primarily consist of bibliographical information, independently generated summaries and paraphrases, analytical classifications, contextual information and other information derived from scholarly analysis.
Where the original wording of a copyright-protected reception document is reproduced, direct quotations are limited to the extent justified by the scholarly purpose and are accompanied by appropriate source references. Complete translations of reception documents are made publicly available only where the underlying source documents are no longer protected by copyright or where another appropriate legal basis permits their publication.
Access for researchers
Access to copyright-protected source materials held within the iConTxt research infrastructure is restricted to authorised researchers and is not provided as general public access. Researchers wishing to use such materials for scientific research may request access through the project or the responsible university unit. Access is granted only where the proposed research purpose and the applicable legal, licensing and institutional conditions permit such use and is limited to the materials and forms of access required for the approved research purpose.
Depending on the research activity and the rights applicable to the source material, access may include consultation of documents within the research environment, access to a defined research corpus, or the use of materials for automated text and data analysis. Where appropriate, access may also be provided to researchers participating in collaborative research or in the verification of research results. Copyright-protected source materials made available for these purposes may not be redistributed or made publicly accessible unless a separate legal basis permits this.
Access arrangements are designed to ensure that research materials remain within a controlled environment and that appropriate technical and organisational safeguards are maintained. Bibliographical information and research results derived from the analysis may be publicly accessible even where access to the underlying source documents remains restricted.
Book covers as sources for research
The DLBT also documents book covers of translated editions as visual paratexts associated with the bibliographical records of particular translations and editions. In addition to assisting with the identification and documentation of editions, book covers constitute potential source material for research into the publication and reception history of translated literature.
Cover design, imagery, typography and changes across editions, publishers, periods and target languages can be studied comparatively to investigate how translated works have been framed, marketed and presented to different readerships and cultural contexts. Cover images are therefore incorporated into the project's research environment of iConTxt as potential sources for the study of translation and reception history.
[1] YARM – Reference management system developed at the Vienna University Library. YARM provides the database and the tools of the DLBT and links the DLBT with PHAIDRA.
