Page 162 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

NIU Li, GAO Chenxiang, ZHANG Yufeng, YAN Shi, XU Yongjun & LI Anrunze / Discovering, reorganizing 161
and storytelling: paths and methods of archives research on the perspective of digital humanities

emphasizes the introduction of DH technologies to conduct knowledge organization and visual
service of archival resources at the level of development and utilization, and deeply explore multi-
dimensional value of archival resources. Therefore, the model is consistent with the basic purpose
of DH research methods. Taking the development and utilization of archives as the starting point to
discuss archival research from DH perspective, it is feasible both in theory and technical logic.
The primitive expression of general research methods in DH field provides the conceptual
basis for this research. The methodological system proposed by scholars aims to summarize the
basic schemas of all DH research as a whole. In contrast, this study avoids constructing a grand
theoretical and technical system, but combines the basic mode of archival resource development
and utilization and its theoretical basis to build a methodological system that meets the basic
characteristics and developing needs of archival data. Therefore, based on the “Five Primitives”
of DH research methods, we scattered and mapped the five primitives into three primitives:
discovering, reorganizing and storytelling. From DH perspective, the three primitives embody the
research path of taking archival content as the core, archival authenticity as the basis, and archival
knowledge and mining archival value as the presentation. At the same time, sort out the basic mode
of archival research from DH perspective (see Figure 3), through the division and reinterpretation
of the above three primitives, and derive the corresponding technical system.

Figure 3. The basic model of archival research path from DH perspective

2.3 The basic model of archival research path from DH perspective

2.3.1 Discovering: fine-grained governance of archival data
From DH perspective, the focus of archival research is further tilted towards archival content,
and the research granularity of all-file and file-level research changes to individual archives and
knowledge units. The fine-grained archival research method offers the archival internal elements
the opportunity to present themselves, forming a more direct archival deconstruction mode than
ever. At this time, the focus of the “archival data” concept also shifts from the data preservation