This poster presents findings from a nationwide survey mapping digital practices and needs among researchers in the humanities and social sciences, as well as professionals in cultural heritage institutions in Sweden. The survey was conducted in 2025 by the Swedish national research infrastructure Huminfra, in coordination with DARIAH-SE, to inform strategic development during Huminfra’s work and to contribute to the broader European discussion on digital research practices and needs. The survey builds on 208 valid responses from 26 Swedish higher education institutions and a range of museums, archives, and libraries.

The study addresses three core questions: (1) how digital tools and resources are currently used; (2) what training needs researchers and professionals identify; and (3) how digital tools, resources, and training opportunities are discovered, including awareness of infrastructures such as Huminfra and DARIAH-SE. The survey design aligns with the Digital Methods and Practices Observatory (DiMPO) survey developed by DARIAH-EU, enabling international comparison.

Findings show that digital tools and resources are widely embedded in everyday research practice. A majority of respondents use digital tools beyond basic applications, most commonly for data analysis, data collection, and data processing. Textual data dominate, though many respondents also work with images, metadata, numerical, and audiovisual data. Despite this widespread engagement, digital competence is uneven: approximately 40% of respondents rate their proficiency with digital tools as below adequate, with particularly high proportions among humanities researchers and early-career scholars.

Training emerges as a critical unmet need. Most respondents report having received no formal training in either digital tools or digital resources, while expressing strong interest in hands-on training. The survey also highlights a pronounced visibility gap. Awareness of tools, resources, and training opportunities provided through Huminfra and DARIAH-SE is very low, despite strong alignment between respondents’ needs and the infrastructures’ services. Researchers primarily discover digital tools and methods through informal channels, such as colleagues and conferences, rather than through institutional or infrastructural communication.

Overall, the findings depict a research community in which digital work is normalized but unevenly supported. The results point to integration, not adoption, as the central challenge for digital research infrastructures: integrating competence development into research careers, providing clearer guidance in a fragmented tool landscape, and embedding infrastructures more firmly into everyday research practices.