DigItAnt: a platform for creating, linking and exploiting LOD lexica with heterogeneous resources

Over the past few years, the deployment of Linked Open Data (LOD) technologies has witnessed significant advancements across a myriad of sectors, linguistics included. This progression is characterized by an exponential increase in the conversion of resources to adhere to contemporary encoding standards. Such transformations are driven by the objectives outlined in "ecological" methodologies, notably the FAIR data principles, which advocate for the reuse and interoperability of resources. This paper introduces the solutions devised within a nationwide collaborative research project aimed at integrating techniques and methodologies from the conventional study of epigraphic materials, computational lexicography, semantic web, and other digital humanities subfields. It details its services, utilities, and data types and shows how it manages to produce, exploit, and interlink LLOD and non LLOD datasets in ways that are meaningful to its intended target disciplinary context, i.e. historical linguistics over epigraphic data. The paper also introduces how DigItAnt services and functionalities will contribute to the empowerment of a recently started Italian infrastructure cluster project devoted to the construction of a nationwide federation of research infrastructures for the humanities and cultural heritage, and in particular to its pilot project towards establishing an authoritative LLOD platform.