Construction over operation? A study of the usage of digital humanities databases in China

Abstract

PurposeDigital humanities database is one of the essential tools in digital humanities research area. Therefore, examining the usage of digital humanities database in academic papers is conducive to assessing the value of digital humanities database for scientific research activities and improving the construction of digital humanities infrastructure.Design/methodology/approachThis paper constructs an evaluation system of digital humanities database from the perspective of academic influence and social influence, with mention frequency, usage motivation, platform access data, usage region and usage discipline as indicators and takes China Biographical Database Project as the empirical object to explore the usage of digital humanities database in China.FindingsThe data analysis result demonstrates that digital humanities databases are widely used and recognized in China. However, the problem of low actual usage remains.Originality/valueThis paper constructs the digital humanistic database's evaluation system and discusses applying the digital humanistic database in China, which provides a new perspective and method for the influence evaluation study of the digital humanistic database.