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All work
7Span2023

PEMM · Princeton University

Princeton's digital archive of Ethiopian, Eritrean & Egyptian miracles of Mary.

Role
Backend engineer · Schema designer
Client
Princeton University
Domain
Academic · Digital Humanities
Academic2023
pemm.princeton.edu

PEMM

  • Schema & database structure for manuscripts & stories
  • Directus CMS for Princeton researchers
  • Powers pemm.princeton.edu

The challenge

Digital humanities research needs a schema rich enough for manuscripts, stories, people, places, and citations, but simple enough for scholars to edit without a developer every time.

The approach

Designed the relational schema and database structure in Directus for manuscripts, miracles, people, and places with bidirectional linking. Researchers edit and publish entries directly; the API feeds the public research frontend.

The outcome

Live Ivy League research platform used by scholars worldwide.

Highlights

  1. 01

    Schema & database structure for manuscripts & stories

  2. 02

    Directus CMS for Princeton researchers

  3. 03

    Powers pemm.princeton.edu

What shipped

  • Rich entity model: manuscripts, stories, people, places, citations
  • Bidirectional linking and provenance tracking
  • Editor-friendly Directus CMS for researchers
  • REST API feeding the public research frontend

Stack

  • Node.js
  • Directus
  • MySQL