Research On The Evolution Of Modern Library Function Under The Perspective Of Digital Humanities

The period of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China was a special and extremely important period of concussion and integration in Chinese history.The eastward spread of western learning and the reform of Chinese society have promoted the transformation of ancient book-collection building to modern libraries.The path and process of the formation and development of modern libraries are hot topics in the history of library science.However,placing the modern library in the social and historical context of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,less attention has been paid to the ecology of its development,its internal mechanism and its breeding and growth process from the perspective of social history.In the practice of modern library development and growth,Jiangnan Library has a unique position.Jiangnan Library was established at the time of political turmoil and the rise of new schools.It can be traced back to the Xiyin Academy and its academy,and has direct or indirect links with the academy,local records bureau and other institutions.The name and institutional nature of Jiangnan Library have changed repeatedly in the alternation of political situation,and the history of institutional change almost covers the whole modern history.From the initial construction to the subsequent development,Jiangnan Library has experienced various types of library forms,with Miao Quansun and Liu Yizheng serving as library directors.Jiangnan Library has a position that cannot be ignored in the history of modern Chinese libraries and the history of social culture,is of specimen significance.This study is based on the perspective of library social history,using digital humanities research methods,trying to reflect the relationship between libraries and social development and other cultural institutions in the historical period from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China through Jiangnan Library,and to explore the phenomenon and internal mechanism of the generation,transformation and evolution of library functions.First of all,in terms of data collection,the theme dataset of Jiangnan Library is transformed into structured data,with a total of 391 social entities including people and institutions,and a total of 2170 entities.Entity attributes include data fields such as the person’s birth and death year,origin,imperial examination results,affiliation and identity and activities in the institution.Through the collection,construction,multi-dimensional relationship analysis and visualization of the multi-dimensional relationship data of the characters and institutions of Jiangnan Library,the digital remote reading of the institutional change,character exchanges and public activities of Jiangnan Library in the long period of time is realized.Secondly,based on the results of digital remote reading visualization,this paper discusses the inheritance and development of the social function of local libraries in the social and cultural changes of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,and divides the macro evolution into three stages.During the hundred years from the Xiyin Academy to the Jiangnan Library and then to the Library of Chinese Ancient Culture Studies,wars,political turmoil and educational reform have prompted the establishment,abolition,reconstruction,merger and transformation of local cultural and educational institutions.By sorting out and depicting the complex phenomena,this paper reveals the changing process,path and mechanism of the functional orientation of modern libraries.Through in-depth analysis and interpretation of the case of Jiangnan Library,this study finds that the functional orientation of modern libraries is not a direct product of the eastward spread of Western learning and the influence of foreign culture.It is an active response and choice interwoven by the government,academic institutions,scholars and their academic and cultural activities in a specific social stage.Jiangnan Library is not only an important public cultural institution in Jiangnan area in the late Qing Dynasty,but also an open academic exchange space and cultural communication center.From academies,bureaus,local chronicles bureaus to libraries,library and literature institutions gathered a group of influential scholars in Jinling area and even Jiangnan area in the late Qing Dynasty.The function of Jiangnan Library has gone through the function dispute of only storing or reading and preserving at the beginning,and the function enhancement of archival document preservation during political turmoil.Finally evolved to determine the public library open reading,social education function orientation at the same time,also passed on the academy education and research functions.During the ten-year stable development period when Liu Yizheng was the curator,he undertook the functions of academic research,education and academic publishing,such as the guidance of sinology research,reference and consulting work,library reading service,editing and publishing academic journals,rare books and secretaries.Studies have shown that in the social and cultural context of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,Jiangnan Library has realized the integration of Chinese and Western cultures.While continuing the traditional literature management,the research methods of classics and history,and the ideal of academic research,it has accepted and carried forward the opening and service concept of Western library science,so as to achieve the purpose of disseminating culture,enlightening the public,and advancing with the times in academic research.The development and function evolution of Jiangnan Library,namely both foreign cultural shock response and internal and external cultural choice update,is a rational choice finally reached through two aspects of game,which embodies the consensus of social culture at that time.This study uses the digital humanities method to observe the development process of Jiangnan Library in the cultural context of social change,which can clearly and intuitively show the complexity of the transformation from ancient collections to modern libraries in the late Qing Dynasty.It reveals the inner track and evolution path of the emergence and development of modern libraries.This study not only supplements and promotes the understanding of the historical materials of modern Chinese libraries,but also provides reference methods for the study of library history.