Esther Chen

Esther Chen is a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, specializing in digital humanities infrastructure and library science. She plays a key role in developing research data management systems and advancing open access initiatives at the institute, bridging traditional scholarly practices with digital innovation.

Chen studied comparative literature and Polish language and literature at Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Her academic journey includes teaching at the Institute for Slavic Studies at Humboldt-Universität, participating in European research projects, and completing academic librarianship training at Berlin's Central and Regional Library. Prior to MPIWG, she served as chief librarian at the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research (2012-2015).

Her research focuses on transforming library services into dynamic research infrastructure through digital humanities methodologies. Chen specializes in practical implementations of linked open data for historical scholarship and has pioneered approaches to virtual research environments that support remote scholarly work. Her work addresses critical challenges in research data management for humanities scholars, particularly regarding long-term digital preservation. She has documented the evolution of Max Planck libraries' digital services and explored how digital tools can model historical knowledge systems. Chen also investigates copyright frameworks for academic publishing, developing practical services for copyright clearance that balance legal requirements with open access principles.

Chen's publications reveal a progression from addressing immediate library service challenges toward developing comprehensive digital research infrastructure. Her recent work emphasizes sustainable linked data strategies and the transformation of libraries into active research partners rather than passive repositories. She has documented collaborative efforts across Max Planck libraries to modernize virtual research spaces and has explored practical applications of semantic web technologies for historical scholarship.

Chen actively contributes to the scholarly community through numerous presentations and workshop organization. She co-organized the 2021 workshop 'Research Data Management & Infrastructures in the Humanities' and has presented at major conferences including SWIB (Semantic Web in Libraries), OCLC EMEA, and the Deutscher Bibliothekartag. Her presentations consistently address the practical implementation of digital infrastructure for humanities research.

At MPIWG, Chen collaborates with the Digital Humanities team on projects including the Central Knowledge Graph (CKG) and Open Access to Publications, Sources, and Research Data. She has been instrumental in developing the MPG-DRIH (Max Planck Digital Research Infrastructure for the Humanities), contributing to initiatives that create sustainable digital infrastructure for humanities scholarship across the Max Planck Society.