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

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