Page 142 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

CAI Yingchun / Digital humanities evaluation: discipline, professionalism and technicality 141

the new digital and data forms that literature exhibits in the new media environment, and then
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develop into smart data . Exploring the new changes and potential of traditional literature in the
new digital media environment, and using the professional theoretical knowledge, methods and
experience of library science, such as indexing and retrieval, to provide resources and platforms
for digital humanities, are two powerful supports of library science for the development of digital
humanities.
(3) Technicality. Digital humanities uses digital methods and technologies to bring new
epistemology and new methodology to the production and analysis of knowledge in the process
of humanities research, that is, new forms of knowledge production . Digital humanities mainly
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starts with the innovation of tools and the revolution of methods, and the research and development
of technologies, methods, and platforms are the material foundation of its research and practice. By
developing diverse digital humanities tools targeted at humanities scholars, more scholars will be
attracted to participate in digital humanities research.
At present, the relevant technologies and methods involved in digital humanities are extremely
rich, including computer technology, information technology, multimedia technology, natural
language processing technology, semantic web technology, text mining technology, GIS
technology, visualization, VR/AR and so on. Digital technology makes a close connection
among humanities scholars, resources and media. It “plays a big role” in the humanities field. It
constantly enriches the perspectives and methods of humanities research, and strive to find the
balance between digital technology and humanities. Therefore, for traditional humanities research,
digital humanities “can effectively solve the problems of independence and irrelevance between
academics”. With the diversity, inclusiveness and extensibility of digital technology, it can change
or reshape humanities knowledge through calculation, analysis, visualization and other means,
provide more macro, regular, differential and trending research methods for humanities scholars,
and promote the realization of “contour redrawing” in the field of humanities. Incorporating
humanistic values and analytical methods, the functions of digital technology become more
powerful and diverse. It can deal with different issues across media, language, location, and
history. It can also guide, expand, and even change the research habits of humanities scholars, and
become an important means of facilitating the development of digital humanities.
Data management, information visualization, human-computer interaction technology, machine
learning technology and other digital humanities technologies and research methods continue to
expand and innovate in the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and computer. It
lays the foundation for digital humanities research, provides materials, tools, and communication
platforms for research, and gradually forms the characteristics of “cross-border problems,
disciplinary integration, and common tools”.
Humanities scholars driven by the new liberal arts begin to take digital humanities as the
“tool” and the “thinking”, learn the new technologies of digital humanities actively, graft the
new paradigm of digital humanities research onto the traditional research methods, and use it