Like other models since, the SDM takes up the notion of Scholarly Primitives (cf. Unsworth 2000) and develops them further. On the basis of the analysis and observation of the practices of digital scholarship, we are endeavouring to acquire a better understanding of the requirements for instructing the development of sustainable infrastructures that enable scholars to harness the potential of digital technology and hence to develop appropriate digital methodologies and practices. This requires to proceed beyond the establishment of static models to the iterative and continuous activity of modelling. Starting from the Scholarly Primitives by Unsworth (2000), the SDM was further constructed and refined by analysing the research literature and related models (cf. Atkins et al. 2003; Project Bamboo 2010; Benardou et al. 2010; Palmer et al. 2009). Furthermore, the conceptual input has been subsequently revised and supplemented by empirical evidence collected through a series of interviews with scholars and researchers from the humanities, and experiments using the Linked Data annotation environment Pundit. Finally, the development of the SDM has continuously been monitored and counselled by an <ref xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" target="http://dm2e.eu/dhab/">advisory board of Digital Humanists</ref>.