Introduction
  The Construction of Database for Motifs in German Literature — A Foundational Study for Story Bank Management, a two-year project selected for the foundational research project of the former Academic Promotion Foundation in 2006, had the purpose of “systematizing and providing different types of motifs, the basic components of each story, and the detailed examples of using those motifs, thereby providing a foundation for a story bank that is useful for developers of cultural products.” Also, the project successfully delivered the outcomes befitting the purpose. This research was an attempt to create a database of 85 motifs repeatedly found or found in varied forms in the history of German literature as well as the major works that used these motifs. The outcome of this research was published as a coauthored book (󰡔Construction of Database for Motifs in German Literature󰡕, Gonggamin Publishing, 2010). This achievement, however, was limited in its usage. This was because of the fact that this motif dictionary, the first of its kind in South Korea, was not accessible for interested public and researchers in general. Against this background, we set the purpose of this research to improve the accessibility and use of the outcome of the project mentioned above. We reconstructed the Construction of Database for Motifs in German Literature — A Foundational Study for Story Bank Management, which was previously published in texts, into an Internet database that is more readily available for utilization during the duration of the 2011 DB Construction Project for Foundational Research Outcomes for two years.
The research team added some contents to the previous publication and processed the data to create a database in the form of a regular Web dictionary. In the course of such works, we discovered that one important motif had been missing: “love.” We added this motif, completing a motif database consisting of 86 indexes.
The research team determined that key word search is the data search method best suited to the nature of the previous outcome and created a database out of the previous outcome using Microsoft Excel. In terms of contents, we saved each of the 86 motifs into individual files and converted them to pdf files. We also composed the database so that each of the 86 motifs will be the primary index. This was because of the consideration that for users who search motif data, the titles of each motif itself holds the foremost importance. In addition, the database offers the original German word as well as the Korean translation thereof, making it possible to search the data based on the titles as well as the motifs. The research team also composed the tables to allow the cross link among related motifs. This allows users to search for motif data and other motifs related with a specific motif. The team used the existing structure for table items for search items and search results. Also, we tried to go beyond mere digitalization and creation of searchable database by reprocessing the existing data using the link function of each data. The original linked texts used the texts that are currently being serviced. Links to works that are subject to copyrights or not serviced are not provided. Despite some restrictions, we expect that the database will provide more useful functions to users who search for motifs related with German literature.
Considering that one of the central key words of the human science researches today is convergence and communication and the research outcomes so far have been lacking in terms of accessibility and ease of use for the general public and expert researchers, this project is significant in that it addresses these issues and shares the outcomes accumulated so far. The Motif Database for Story Bank Management, a standardized and integrated online database, represents the systematization of motif types, narrative structures, examples of such types and structures, list of literature works, and related motifs. This database will be able to provide sources for knowledge production in the human/social science field and can be used as basic data for cultural contents businesses, art therapy studies, and anthropology by serving as a story bank.

The Construction of Database for Motifs in German Literature — A Foundational Study for Story Bank Management, a two-year project implemented as a foundational academic project of the former Academic Promotion Foundation in 2006, successfully constructed a database on major motifs from German literature, and based on this database, it accumulated an outcome that allows us to see an overview of the major motifs in general.
Although the works mentioned therein are German literature works, their application is not confined to a certain language zone because the nature and development of those motifs have universality that transcends the confines of German literature. Furthermore, because a research on motifs represents a research on a behavioral pattern that is crucial for human lives, the database can be useful for comparative culture studies. Against this background, the reconstruction of existing research findings on basic motifs for stories that are made by humans and the process of story making through the connection of those motifs into information that is more readily available is one of the most significant achievements of this project.

To ensure efficient archiving, maintenance, and utilization of the outcome of the previous research, the researchers constructed a database and a search system for story bank management for six months from December 2011 to June 2012 with sponsorship from the National Research Foundation of Korea. The database and the search system employed intuitive navigation and Web search engine to provide information on numerous terms as fast as possible.
Project Title : Funding for Basic Research, Human/Social Science (Foundational Research)
Research Title : Construction of Database for Motifs in German Literature — A Foundational Study for Story Bank Management [KRM Task Information]
Chief of Research : Lee, Seung-jin
Research Institution : Wonkang University
Research Period : 2 years (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2008)
 
Project Title : Tracking and DB Construction for Foundational Researches
Research Title : Motif Database for Story Bank Management [KRM Task Information]
Chief of Research : Jung, Min-Yeong
Research Institution : Kankuk University of Foreign Studies
Research Period : 6 months (December 30, 2011 – June 29, 2012)