Page 152 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021
P. 152

CAI Yingchun / Digital humanities evaluation: discipline, professionalism and technicality  151


               indexing, integration of linked data, management of research data, as well as the application
               of various digital humanities tools and methods, construction of database platforms, and other
               knowledge of key fields. They possess the natural conditions for conducting digital humanities
               evaluation. The application of these professional knowledge and skills is significant for building a
               relatively sound digital humanities evaluation system and its further revision.
                 (2) Advantage of professional personnel. In view of the above professional knowledge, the
               library, information and archives field is equipped with professional personnel with “professional
               expertise”, including those with humanities background who are familiar with the business of the
               library, information and archives field, as well as technical personnel who are familiar with the
               business and needs of the field. On the one hand, digital humanities evaluation cannot do without
               talents who are familiar with metadata indexing and corresponding tools and methods, and also
               have humanities background. They can play the role of “bridge” between humanities scholars and
               technicians in the evaluation, and evaluate the technical methods applied by humanities scholars
               to carry out digital humanities research. On the other hand, the evaluation needs the support of
               professional technical teams. They not only provide guidance in technical tools and methods for
               the launch of digital humanities projects, but also professional evaluation in the process of tackling
               technical difficulties and solving technical problems.
                 (3) Advantage of professional organization. Currently, there is no well-established mechanism
               for digital humanities evaluation, and there is a lack of unified organization and standardized
               workflow. There is also controversy over which experts to invite for evaluation. On this issue,
               the library, information and archives field can play their role of intermediary “bridge” and
               organizational function to establish a digital humanities evaluation committee platform for experts
               from the fields of humanities, library, information and archives as well as technology, and then
               organize experts to apply the evaluation indicator system to conduct collaborative evaluation, and
               improve the system in practice to further build a sound platform.

               4 Conclusion


               Digital humanities research is characterized by interdisciplinary research, with projects as the
               unit, cooperation as the main body, data as the foundation, technology as the means, and platform
               as the support. It differs from traditional humanities and social sciences research in terms of
               objects, paradigms, and nature of results, and requires the reconstruction of academic evaluation
               theory and evaluation indicator system [13] . Based on the characteristics and development stages
               of digital humanities research, this paper explores the evaluation of digital humanities from
               three dimensions: discipline, professionalism, and technicality. It can be seen that discipline is
               the core element, and the evaluation of digital humanities results ultimately depends on whether
               it promotes practical and academic innovation in the field of humanities. Professionalism is
               the key element. The library, information and archives discipline and institution construct data
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