Propylaeum is a specialized information service (FID) for ancient studies and a joint project of Heidelberg University Library and the Bavarian State Library in Munich, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Since 2016, the FID has been supporting researchers and students from all fields of ancient studies with its services and has been a participant in NFDI4Objects since 2023. Propylaeum’s subject-specific and interdisciplinary services complement each other within the framework of the subject and acquisition profile: In terms of time, the profile of the specialized information service extends from the Palaeolithic period to the early modern period, while the regional focus is on the areas of the ancient world, particularly in the Mediterranean region and Central Europe.

In addition to the e-publishing services for articles, books and journals, Propylaeum offers classical scholars worldwide the opportunity to have the associated research data permanently archived in the research data repository Propylaeum@heiDATA operated by Heidelberg University. These can be dynamically linked directly to online publications on the Heidelberg publication platforms. There is also the option of archiving research data independent of publications on Propylaeum@heiDATA. All research data, be it images, videos, audio files, tables, graphics, etc., receive a DOI (Digital Object Indentifier) and are therefore permanently citable and visible as independent scientific achievements and can be linked in a targeted manner. Versioning of the data is also possible.

The long-term archiving of research data is a central aspect of good scientific practice. It is the prerequisite for the fundamental traceability and verifiability of scientific results that are based on the evaluation of this data. In addition, archiving such data offers the opportunity to reuse it in the context of new scientific questions in the future.

Images, audio and video data and other multimedia objects are either stored on the heidICON platform operated by the University Library or integrated into the Heidelberg digitization system DWork, which is also sustainably hosted by the University Library. In future, not only the publications themselves, but also the media objects used will be archived sustainably in the OAIS-compatible long-term archive system heiARCHIVE, which is currently being developed by the University Computing Center and the University Library as part of the Competence Center for Research Data (KFD).

The code of software used in the context of publications can also be published and archived sustainably on Propylaeum@heiDATA.