Database Migration Case Study: Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG)

In 2017, the RAG research project faced a challenging situation. The database they had relied on for years was so outdated that updating the software was no longer feasible. The frontend was running on MS Access 2003 and the backend on MS SQL Server 2005. A significant issue was the lack of technical restrictions on data entry, such as dependent combination lists. Although there was an internal Wiki documenting the data entry rules, many of these rules were outdated. As a result, the dataset was heterogeneous and inconsistent when I began my work at RAG. Additionally, the outdated software setup made it increasingly difficult for RAG to publish research data online, as the data had to be exported from the SQL Server and imported into a web application, a process that was time-consuming and prone to errors. Therefore, it became imperative to evaluate new software for RAG. A colleague at the University of Bern, who had attended a nodegoat workshop, introduced me to nodegoat. It quickly became clear that nodegoat provided exactly the functions we urgently needed for RAG's research data: integrated data management and visualization within a single software solution.