Humanities Graduate Students’ Use Behavior on Full-Text Databases for Ancient Chinese Books

Ming-der Wu and Shih-chuan Chen

Abstract. Digitizing ancient books, especially those related to the humanities, is practiced in many countries. The number of full-text databases in the humanities is increasing. Studies have shown that ancient books are important resources for humanities scholars and researchers. However, comparatively little research has been done concerning the use of those databases. Thirty graduate students majoring in Chinese Literature or History were interviewed in this study. This study attempts to answer the following questions: How do interviewees use the databases? Do they encounter any problems? What do they have to say concerning ancient books in digital or paper form? The results show that humanities graduate students use ancient books databases to locate information concerning their research interests. Most of them are satisfied with the search functions and feel that the databases are convenient to use. However, they comment that the coverage, quality, and search interface could be improved upon. As well, a few graduate students suggest that links to related resources should be added. They state that they do not totally rely upon the databases and continue to use paper sources.

Keywords: Full-text databases, Ancient Chinese books, Humanities graduate students, User behavior

LNCS 4822, p. 141 ff.

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