CrossAsia Talk: Forrest McSweeney 20.06.2024

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(See English below)

Im Rahmen seines Projektes “Medicine at Arms: Medicine, the State, and the Military in Imperial and Republican China” forscht unser Referent Herr Forrest McSweeney als SPK-Stipendiat an der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin in der Ostasienabteilung. Er wird das Thema am Donnerstag, den 20.06.2024, ab 18 Uhr in seinem Vortrag “Military Medical Legacy: The Impact of Military Drug Distribution on the Pharmaceutical Field in Qing and Early Republican China” genauer vorstellen. Der Vortrag wird über Webex gestreamt.

This presentation will focus on the impact of military drug distribution in the 18th century high-Qing on medical discourse and practice through the 19th century and into the Republican Period. The period from the late 18th to early 19th century was one of continued territorial expansion and rebellion suppression by the Qing empire under the reigns of the emperors Qianlong (1735-1796) and Jiaqing (1796-1820). To maintain the health of their soldiers, the Qing maintained a continuous pipeline of single-ingredient drugs from provincial markets to its Green Standards garrisons lüyingbing 綠營兵, particularly in rebellious areas in southern China. The Qing emperors also purchased ready-made formulas chengyao 成藥 from Beijing-based bulk pharmaceutical firms such as the Tongrentang 同仁堂 and Heniantang 鶴年堂pharmacies and distributed them as honorary conferrals to Manchu Eight Banners baqi 八旗 colonists and soldiers stationed in Xinjiang and Mongolia. Through the early Qing, the imperial state underwrote a vast subsidy to the private pharmaceutical industry, promoting both drug therapy and the products of targeted firms.

There remains several questions about these developments, though, such as what these drugs were used for? Did their soldierly use correspond to their application in larger medical discourse? Did Qing drug distribution enhance the profiles of specific drugs over those of others in medical literature? Most scholarship has tended to portray the Qing as the period when the influence of the Chinese dynastic state over medical discourse collapsed while the field of medicine in China became an unregulated free-for-all. In this talk I will go over the limitations of this interpretation. I will demonstrate the impact of military drug distribution on Qing medical publishing and explore the varied use of military formulae at the level of the individual practitioner visible in medical manuscripts at the Berlin Library. The connection between the military and medical services was so implicit by the late Qing, that military imagery was used extensively in patent medicine advertisements in the early 20th century, and the Nationalist army employed traditional herbs up to World War II.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie uns unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

Der Vortrag wird via Webex gestreamt*. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Zum Vortrag

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account an.

—

As part of his research project ‘Medicine at Arms: Medicine, the State, and the Military in Imperial and Republican China’, our lecturer Mr Forrest McSweeney is a SPK fellow at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin at the East Asia Department. He will present his current research in more detail on Thursday, June 20, 2024, from 6 pm with the lecture ‘Military Medical Legacy: The Impact of Military Drug Distribution on the Pharmaceutical Field in Qing and Early Republican China’. The lecture will be streamed via Webex.

This presentation will focus on the impact of military drug distribution in the 18th century high-Qing on medical discourse and practice through the 19th century and into the Republican Period. The period from the late 18th to early 19th century was one of continued territorial expansion and rebellion suppression by the Qing empire under the reigns of the emperors Qianlong (1735-1796) and Jiaqing (1796-1820). To maintain the health of their soldiers, the Qing maintained a continuous pipeline of single-ingredient drugs from provincial markets to its Green Standards garrisons lüyingbing 綠營兵, particularly in rebellious areas in southern China. The Qing emperors also purchased ready-made formulas chengyao 成藥 from Beijing-based bulk pharmaceutical firms such as the Tongrentang 同仁堂 and Heniantang 鶴年堂  pharmacies and distributed them as honorary conferrals to Manchu Eight Banners baqi 八旗 colonists and soldiers stationed in Xinjiang and Mongolia. Through the early Qing, the imperial state underwrote a vast subsidy to the private pharmaceutical industry, promoting both drug therapy and the products of targeted firms.

There remains several questions about these developments, though, such as what these drugs were used for? Did their soldierly use correspond to their application in larger medical discourse? Did Qing drug distribution enhance the profiles of specific drugs over those of others in medical literature? Most scholarship has tended to portray the Qing as the period when the influence of the Chinese dynastic state over medical discourse collapsed while the field of medicine in China became an unregulated free-for-all. In this talk I will go over the limitations of this interpretation. I will demonstrate the impact of military drug distribution on Qing medical publishing and explore the varied use of military formulae at the level of the individual practitioner visible in medical manuscripts at the Berlin Library. The connection between the military and medical services was so implicit by the late Qing, that military imagery was used extensively in patent medicine advertisements in the early 20th century, and the Nationalist army employed traditional herbs up to World War II.

The lecture will be held in English. If you have any questions, please contact us: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.

The lecture will be streamed via Webex*. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

To the lecture

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X.

 

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.

 

New Database Trial – Media Korean Studies

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(English below)

 

Liebe CrossAsia-Nutzer:innen,

Wir freuen uns, Ihnen mitteilen zu können, dass wir einen Testzugang zu Media Korean Studies (LINK) eingerichtet haben, einer Datenbank, die eine umfangreiche Sammlung koreanischer literarischer Werke mit mehr als 4.000 Bänden bietet.

CrossAsia-Nutzer können bis zum 10. Juli auf folgende Materialien zugreifen:

  • The Collection of Korean Anthologies DB (한국역대문집): Besteht aus 4.000 Anthologien, die eine Vielzahl historischer Ereignisse, Kultur, Kunst, Diplomatie und verschiedene Studien von der Silla-Periode bis zur modernen Zeit abdecken.
  • The Collection of Korean Geography, Customs, and History DB (한국지리풍속지): Die Datenbank enthält den umfassenden Index und das Inhaltsverzeichnis der 400 Bände der Korean Geography and Customs Series (韓國地理風俗誌叢書).
  • Historical Resources for Relations between Korea and Japan DB (한일관계사): Koreanische Übersetzungen von Inhalten zu den Korea-Japan-Beziehungen von der Zeit der Drei Königreiche bis zur Öffnung des Hafens. Diese Sammlung umfasst Übersetzungen Korea-Japan-bezogener Texte wie “Samguksagi”, “Samguk Yusa”, “Koryŏsa”, “Koryŏsa chŏlyo” und Dokumente aus der Chosŏn-Dynastie.
  • Korean Translation of Koryŏsa DB (국역고려사): Koreanische Übersetzung der Koryŏsa, einer der bedeutendsten historischen Texte über die Koryŏ-Dynastie.
  • The Series of Geography, History, and Customs of Manchuria-Mongolia DB (만몽지리풍속지): Ursprünglich veröffentlicht von der japanischen Regierungsgeneraldirektion von Korea (朝鮮總督府) während der japanischen Besatzungszeit. Die Bände decken eine Vielzahl von Themen ab, darunter Industrie, Handel, Diplomatie, ethnische Gruppen, Bräuche, Traditionen, Legenden, Volkslieder, Anekdoten, Ortsnamen, verschiedene Aufzeichnungen, Reiseberichte und Geschichten über die Mandschurei und die Mongolei, Regionen in Nordostchina.

Wir bitten Sie, diese Ressourcen während der Testphase (bis zum 10. Juli) zu nutzen und freuen uns sehr über Ihr Feedback oder Kommentare. Ihre Rückmeldung helfen uns dabei, zu entscheiden, ob wir ein Abonnement abschließen werden.

 

Ihr / Euer

X-asia Team

————–

Dear Users,

 

We are excited to announce that we have arranged trial access to Media Korean Studies (LINK), a database offering an extensive collection of Korean literary works with more than 4,000 volumes.

CrossAsia users can access the following materials before July 10th:

  • The Collection of Korean Anthologies DB (한국역대문집): consisting of 4,000 anthologies covering a variety of historical events, culture, arts, diplomacy, and miscellaneous studies from the Silla period to modern times.
  • The Collection of Korean Geography, Customs, and History DB (한국지리풍속지): the database includes the comprehensive index and table of contents for the 400 volumes of the Korean Geography and Customs Series (韓國地理風俗誌叢書).
  • Historical Resources for Relations between Korea and Japan DB (한일관계사): Korean translation content on Korea-Japan relations from the Three Kingdoms period to the opening of the port. This collection includes translations of Korea-Japan related texts such as “Samguksagi“, “Samguk Yusa“, “Koryŏsa“, “Koryŏsa chŏlyo“, and documents from the Chosŏn Dynasty.
  • Korean Translation of Koryŏsa DB (국역고려사): Korean translation of Koryŏsa,one of the most significant historical texts on the Koryŏ Dynasty.
  • The Series of Geography, History, and Customs of Manchuria-Mongolia DB (만몽지리풍속지): originally published by the Japanese Government-General of Korea (朝鮮總督府) during the Japanese occupation period. The volumes cover a wide range of topics including the industries, trade, diplomacy, ethnic groups, customs, traditions, legends, folk songs, anecdotes, place names, miscellaneous records, travelogues, and histories of Manchuria and Mongolia, regions in Northeast China.

We strongly encourage you to explore these resources during the trial period (before July 10th) and would deeply appreciate any feedback or comments. Your input will assist us in evaluating the potential for a future subscription.

 

Yours

CrossAsia team

Achtung! Service Unterbrechung CrossAsia 05.06.24 – 09.06.24

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Liebe CrossAsia Nutzende,

 

wegen Wartungsarbeiten an unserer Infrastruktur für geplante Serviceerweiterungen kommt es zwischen Mittwoch, dem 05.06.2024, ab 14 Uhr, bis einschließlich Sonntag, dem 09.06.2024 zu einer Unterbrechung aller unserer Web-Dienste. Auch per Telefon und E-Mail sind wir in diesem Zeitraum nicht erreichbar. Wir bitten vielmals um Entschuldigung für die Unannehmlichkeiten und bitten um Ihr/Euer Verständnis. Über unsere X und Mastodon Accounts halten wir Sie/euch auf dem Laufenden.

 

Ihr/Euer CrossAsia Team

 

 

 

Dear CrossAsia Users,

 

due to maintenance work on our infrastructure for planned service enhancements, all our web services will be interrupted between Wednesday, 5 June 2024, from 2 p.m. up to and including Sunday, 9 June 2024. We will also be unavailable by phone and email during this period. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your understanding. We will keep you up to date via our X and Mastodon accounts.

 

Your CrossAsia Team

CrossAsia Talks: TANG Sanjiao 14.05.2024

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(See English below)

Unser Stipendiat Herr TANG Sanjiao (University of Auckland, Neuseeland) hält am 14. Mai ab 18 Uhr einen Vortrag zu seinem aktuellen Forschungsthema “Lives in Mao-Era Militias under the Mass Mobilisation and Militarisation Context” im Simon-Bolivar-Saal bzw. online via Webex.  Der Vortrag findet in Kooperation mit der SBB Wissenswerkstatt statt, da Herr Tang Sanjiao derzeit im Rahmen eines Forschungsaufenthaltes, finanziert über das Stipendienprogramm der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, an der Staatsbibliothek forscht.

In China today, the younger generations are having militarised experiences. Admittedly, military training is a routine thing for students in many countries. Currently, the reviving nationalist trend is making the Chinese young people’s military training different. On the video-sharing platforms popular in China, such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), with keywords like “students’ military training,” tens of thousands of videos are well-received. As vividly shown in the videos, the Chinese young people, including children in kindergartens, were learning to have simulative combat with imaginary enemies. Indulging them in burning passion, the younger generations feel as if they were glorious soldiers fighting for the nation.

Surprisingly, many of these young people’s grandparents had paralleling militarised lives when they were young. It was the experiences of being involved in the Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation, becoming members of Mao’s militias. In the early 1960s, despite the famine causing tens of millions of deaths, the country was celebrating its militias nationwide maintaining a scale of over two hundred million members. In the mid-1960s, Chinese residents were mobilised to “prepare earlier for fighting a war, a big war, and even a nuclear war.” Resulting from the mass mobilisation and militarisation, as demonstrated by a well-known slogan, seven hundred million Chinese people had all “become soldiers” (qiyi renmin qiyi bing). While it was rhetorically exaggerating, it indicated that the younger generations in Mao’s China were involved as the core forces in the militias.

Through revisiting the experiences of joining Mao-era militias, this research aims to reconsider the legacies of Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. How did the lives in militias shaped their adolescence and early adulthood physically, psychologically, and profoundly? Benefitting from unique sources in the Berlin State Library, this project intends to answer these questions.

The results of the project contribute to understanding the mass-based legacies of Mao-era mobilisation and militarisation. Paying attention to the transgenerational resonance on young people’s involvement in war-preparing campaigns, it helps rethink today’s China, which is an urgent task for not only academics but also analysts and policy-makers worldwide.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Wir bitten Sie um Voranmeldung für den Vortrag unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de und eine kurze Mitteilung, falls Sie einen barrierefreien Zugang benötigen. Die Veranstaltung wird gefilmt.*

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Zum Vortrag

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account an.

—

The scholarship holder Mr. TANG Sanjiao (University of Auckland, New Zealand) will give a lecture on his current research topic “Lives in Mao-Era Militias under the Mass Mobilisation and Militarisation Context” in the Simon-Bolivar-Saal and online via Webex on 14 May from 6 pm. This lecture will take place in cooperation with the Wissenswerkstatt, as he is currently working at the Staatsbibliothek as part of a research stay funded by the grant program of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

In China today, the younger generations are having militarised experiences. Admittedly, military training is a routine thing for students in many countries. Currently, the reviving nationalist trend is making the Chinese young people’s military training different. On the video-sharing platforms popular in China, such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), with keywords like “students’ military training,” tens of thousands of videos are well-received. As vividly shown in the videos, the Chinese young people, including children in kindergartens, were learning to have simulative combat with imaginary enemies. Indulging them in burning passion, the younger generations feel as if they were glorious soldiers fighting for the nation.

Surprisingly, many of these young people’s grandparents had paralleling militarised lives when they were young. It was the experiences of being involved in the Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation, becoming members of Mao’s militias. In the early 1960s, despite the famine causing tens of millions of deaths, the country was celebrating its militias nationwide maintaining a scale of over two hundred million members. In the mid-1960s, Chinese residents were mobilised to “prepare earlier for fighting a war, a big war, and even a nuclear war.” Resulting from the mass mobilisation and militarisation, as demonstrated by a well-known slogan, seven hundred million Chinese people had all “become soldiers” (qiyi renmin qiyi bing). While it was rhetorically exaggerating, it indicated that the younger generations in Mao’s China were involved as the core forces in the militias.

Through revisiting the experiences of joining Mao-era militias, this research aims to reconsider the legacies of Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. How did the lives in militias shaped their adolescence and early adulthood physically, psychologically, and profoundly? Benefitting from unique sources in the Berlin State Library, this project intends to answer these questions.

The results of the project contribute to understanding the mass-based legacies of Mao-era mobilisation and militarisation. Paying attention to the transgenerational resonance on young people’s involvement in war-preparing campaigns, it helps rethink today’s China, which is an urgent task for not only academics but also analysts and policy-makers worldwide.

The lecture will be held in English. We kindly ask you to register in advance at: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de, and to let us know if you need barrier-free access. The event will be filmed.*

The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

To the lecture

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X.

 

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.

 

CrossAsia Classroom: Digital Humanities Lunchtalk

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Wir möchten Sie herzlich zu einer neuen Veranstaltungsreihe innerhalb des CrossAsia Classrooms einladen: den Digital Humanities Lunchtalks. Ab nächster Woche wird es bis März 2024 einmal im Monat um 12 Uhr einen kurzen Impulsvortrag zu Themen der Digital Humanities geben, der ca. 30 Minuten dauern wird. Selbstverständlich wird es auch die Möglichkeit für Fragen und Diskussionen geben.

Die Veranstaltung findet online über WebEx statt, alle Termine der Digital Humanities Lunchtalks finden Sie auf der CrossAsia Classrooms Website.

Bitte geben Sie die Informationen auch gerne an interessierte Kolleg:innen weiter, wir freuen uns sehr auf eine rege Teilnahme.

Nächster Lunchtalk:

 

Testzugang Airiti “Results Analysis Module” bis zum 30.06.2024

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Der taiwanische Anbieter Airiti hat bis zum 30.06.2024 einen Testzugang für erweiterte Bibliometriefunktionen auf den bekannten Portalen (TEPS, CETD, …) der airitilibrary.com Plattform eingerichtet. Diese ermöglichen Rechercheoptionen auf Grundlage von Zitationsindexen sowie Keywords der Volltexte, die auch im Batchexport zur Verfügung stehen.

Der Zugrunde liegende Academic Citation Index kann über ein eigenes Portal direkt aufgerufen werden, um bibliometrische Daten zu Autoren, Artikeln, Journalen, Disziplinen, Institutionen etc. recherchierbar zu machen.

 

Wir wünschen viel Spaß beim Testen, und freuen uns auf Ihr/Euer Feedback.

Database Introduction
Airiti Library 華藝線上圖書館

https://www.airitilibrary.com/

 Airiti Library primarily contains academic publications from Taiwan, as well as scholarly journals from the Hong Kong, and Malaysia. It is the most comprehensive and abundant Chinese-language academic resource integration and retrieval platform available. The platform provides full-text access to various academic resources, including journal articles, conference proceedings, theses, and dissertations. Subject areas covered include the humanities, social sciences, basic and applied sciences, biosciences and agriculture, engineering, and medicine and health.

New Features of the Results Analyzer Module:

l   Analysis data of highly cited literature using Academic Citation Index (ACI).

l   Integration of keyword analysis function to assist researchers in expanding or narrowing down their search scope.

l   Full-text search service with online reading integration, enhancing the convenience and efficiency of finding relevant knowledge.

l   For researchers requiring bibliography research or literature review, batch export of bibliographic data is available, saving significant time in downloading bibliographies.

l   Inclusion of access to the ACI Academic Citation Index Database.
華藝ACI學術引用文獻資料庫
Academic Citation  Index
https://www.airitiaci.com		 ACI adheres to one of the three laws of bibliometrics (Bradford’s Law), and through strict selection criteria, prioritizes the inclusion of high-quality journals and articles to ensure the significance and value of citation database measurement results.

 

l   Enhanced Citation Analysis – Enhances citation analysis results, highlighting the research performance in the humanities and social sciences fields in Taiwan, allowing the strength of the research to be visible.

l   International Integration – Integrates services such as PlumX, Airiti Library, DOI, etc., and adds bibliography export functionality, seamlessly interfacing with existing citation analysis tools like VOSviewer, enabling researchers to explore literature and cutting-edge research visually.

l   Data Authority Control – In recent years, ACI has continued to complete and control bibliographic data (journals, institutions, authors, etc.) with the aim of presenting rich and objective research results and impact, continuously accumulating research energy.

l   Online Modules – Five major modules: literature, journals, disciplines, institutions, authors, etc. Data between the modules are interconnected, allowing users to explore data from multiple perspectives, meet different needs, and quickly find objective and high-quality integrated information.

Ihr/Euer

CrossAsia Team

Startseite des Fanyun Datenbank Portals

Testzugang für taiwanische Zeitungen (1905-1965) und Mantetsu 滿鉄 Materialien (bis 15. Juli 2024)

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Das uns allen als Diaolong bekannte Portal für historische chinesische Quellentexte hat sich eine übergeordnete Webseite zugelegt: Fanyun (zum Öffnen klicken). Im Testzugriff bis zum 15. Juli 2024 sind dort für CrossAsia- und Stabi-Nutzer:innen alle Ressourcen aus den Blöcken taiwanische Materialien/Zeitungen vom Anfang des 20. Jahrhundert bis in die 1960er Jahre und Dokumente zu Mantesu 滿鉄/Manchurian Railway geöffnet (Mantetsu ist auch in CADAL ein eigener Themenblock, dort aber ohne Volltext). Auch in Fanyun liegen nicht alle Materialien bereits im Volltext vor. Die Tabelle unten listet auf, was aktuell wie im Test verfügbar ist.

Tabelle mit eine Übersicht über die um Test freigeschalteten Materialien mit Hinweis, ob sie bereits im Volltext vorliegen oder nur Images oder Metadaten und Images verfügbar sind

Fanyun: Trial Overview

Bitte ausführlich testen und uns Feedback geben. Ist etwas darunter, dass CrossAsia in sein Angebot aufnehmen sollte (ist natürlich dann auch eine Frage des Preises etc.)? Gibt es Featurewünsche/-ideen, die wir dem Anbieter weiterleiten sollen?

Wir freuen uns von Ihnen/euch zu hören.

CrossAsia Team

CrossAsia Classroom: Online-Seminare im Sommersemester 2024 | CrossAsia Classroom: online seminars in the summer semester 2024

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Im Sommersemester 2024 bietet das Team von CrossAsia wieder zahlreiche Online-Schulungen zu den hauseigenen Angeboten an.

Neben allgemeinen Einführungsveranstaltungen zu CrossAsia werden auch spezielle Veranstaltungen zu den einzelnen Regionen (China, Japan, Korea, Südostasien und Zentralasien) sowie zu einzelnen Materialtypen angeboten.

Das aktuelle Programm finden Sie wie immer im CrossAsia Classroom und unter der Rubrik “Workshops und mehr” im Veranstaltungskalender der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.

Auf der CrossAsia Classroom-Seite finden Sie außerdem aktuelles Informationsmaterial zu den einzelnen Regionen und Links zu unseren CrossAsia Tutorials.

Falls Sie als Institution ein auf Sie und Ihr Publikum zugeschnittenes Web-Seminare kostenfrei buchen möchten, können Sie sich gerne über xasia@sbb.spk-berlin.de mit uns in Verbindung setzen oder direkt unsere regionalen Referent:innen dahingehend kontaktieren. Gerne kommen wir auch zu Ihnen, um Schulungen Live vor Ort abzuhalten.

***

In the summer semester 2024, the CrossAsia team will once again be offering numerous online training courses for the CrossAsia offerings.

In addition to general introductory events on CrossAsia, special events on the individual regions (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Central Asia) and on individual types of material will also be offered.

As always, you can find the current programme in the CrossAsia Classroom and under the heading “Workshops and more” in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin’s calendar of events.

On the CrossAsia Classroom page you will also find up-to-date information material on the individual regions and links to our CrossAsia tutorials.

If you are an institution and would like to book a web seminar tailored to you and your audience free of charge, you are welcome to contact us at xasia@sbb.spk-berlin.de or contact our regional speakers directly. We are also happy to come to you to hold live training sessions on site.

Results of the Digital Humanities Survey: CrossAsia Dialogue: Customised DH curriculum for CrossAsia Classroom

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The Specialised Information Service Asia (FID Asia) with its online platform CrossAsia has conducted a comprehensive survey as part of the CrossAsia Dialogue to determine the needs and wishes regarding a tailor-made DH curriculum for the CrossAsia Classroom. With the increasing integration of digital tools and methods, new horizons are opening up for research and teaching in the humanities. In this article, we present and analyse the results of this survey, in which a total of 88 people participated. It should be noted that some questions were asked in a dependent manner, for example when previous knowledge was asked for and this was answered with “No”, which meant that the respondents automatically skipped the relevant areas. This dynamic is reflected in the analysis by the answer option “Question skipped” and is taken into account in the context of the analysis.

Part 1: Regions and technical background

In order to be able to offer customised services to meet the needs of our users, we have collected data on their regional and professional background.

Figure 1: (Question 1) Which category best describes you?

 

The survey results show a diverse participation of different groups with an interest in the FID’s DH programmes. While PhD students (15) are the most common single group within the overall majority of post-graduate researchers (53). In contrast, there is a minority of MA and BA students (12) as well as a small group of library users (6) and others who do not belong to an academic institution (6). This composition reflects the general user base of the FID and makes it clear that the services are primarily used by established academics, doctoral students and advanced students. This emphasises the focus on cutting-edge research and confirms that the FID’s services are primarily developed to meet the needs of these groups. In terms of the relationship to university services, this shows a need for services for established researchers regardless of their academic training during their studies.

The regional origin of the interviewees also shows that the interest in DH offerings broadly corresponds to the composition of CrossAsia users as a whole.

 

Figure 2: (Question 2) In which regions do you work/study?

 

The majority of respondents (36) stated that they were interested in China, followed by Japan (27) and Korea (15). Southeast Asia and Central Asia were mentioned by 5 and 2 respondents respectively. The “Other” category had 10 responses, with regions such as South Asia, West Asia, Greater China, the USA and Europe being mentioned. This distribution also reflects the usage patterns of our services, with China being the most requested region for FID Asia’s offerings, followed by Japan and Korea. This emphasises the relevance and importance of these regions for the research activities and interests of our users.

The following questions are aimed at the specific DH background of the participants, based on the question about the initial contact.

 

Figure 3: (Question 3) How did you first hear about the digital humanities?

 

The responses, for which multiple answers were permitted, show that structured educational programmes and self-study are on a par. University seminars or workshops are the most common answer (41) for initial contact with the topic. This was followed by 27 responses for online research. Under the category “Other” (8), lectures, programmes offered by their own university and personal interest were named as sources. These results suggest that structured offerings such as those provided by CrossAsia are useful for promoting interest in the digital humanities and that they should be made available online on an ongoing basis

This is followed by a question on the participants’ self-assessment of their current level of knowledge of the digital humanities.

 

Figure 4: (Question 4) How familiar are you with the field of digital humanities?

 

The majority of survey participants already have some understanding of the topic of DH. Even if this does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the entirety of FID users, it shows that offers that require prior knowledge best reflect the level of knowledge of those interested. Just over half (52%) are somewhat familiar or familiar. Around 11% of participants stated that they were “not at all familiar” with DH topics. Given that the user base consists mainly of prospective and established scientists, specifically targeted training programmes for a smaller group of users may be beneficial.

We then asked them to assess the relevance of the topic for their own research.

 

Figure 5: (Question 5) How important is knowledge of digital humanities for your work or studies?

 

The survey results illustrate the relevance of digital humanities for one’s own work or studies. Especially in a direct comparison of the answers given (red and blue in Figure 5). Over 80% of respondents stated that the digital humanities were “very important” or “fairly important” to them. This distribution emphasises the importance of digital humanities and the need to provide corresponding offerings.

 

Evaluation part 1:

The results show that the FID Asia should further develop its programmes in the CrossAsia Classroom in order to meet the needs of cutting-edge research. The survey shows that the majority of respondents are in advanced studies or already have a doctorate. This emphasises the need to view our services as complementary to university courses. Our programmes are not purely introductory courses. Rather, they are designed to teach advanced methods and techniques. The aim is to make a sustainable contribution to the research community.

 

Part 2: Technical knowledge of respondents

In order to make customised offers, it is necessary to identify the technical background of the target audience more precisely. The second part of the survey therefore aimed to record the technical skills and tools of the digital humanities. A selection of common programmes and services were surveyed. However, respondents also had the opportunity to freely name applications.

 

Figure 6: (Question 6) Please indicate which of the following tools or services you have used as part of your research work.

 

The answers illustrate the focus on the China region already visible in question 2. Of the top five tools and services used, three have a regional focus on China (CBDB, CGIS, MARKUS). The most frequently mentioned service is GitHub/GitLab, which is used by 28 respondents. This confirms the FID’s efforts to use GitHub for collaborations as well as for its own developments, which is currently being implemented. Among the four free responses, MeCab and ChatGPT were each mentioned twice. The survey was also approached with the expectation that universal tools that can be used regardless of region and language would be more strongly represented overall. This was not confirmed in this survey.

 

Figure 7: (Question 7) Which of the following technologies do you use in your research?

 

Question 7 aimed to find out the technologies used by the survey participants in their own research. Python is the most frequently used technology with 21 responses, followed by a relatively high prevalence of xml-based technologies. It is also interesting to note the low number of responses on JavaScript (10), which is a central component of the World Wide Web. In the free responses (4), relational databases (SQL) were mentioned once.

 

Evaluation part 2:

A certain need for action can be deduced from the answers given. Given the small number of participants, services that provide structured data appear to be much better known than the analytical tools for processing this data. Imparting knowledge about the relevant tools can therefore be seen as a requirement for the CrossAsia training programmes. Furthermore, the ongoing efforts to strengthen the FID’s GitHub presence should be continued and included in the DH educational programmes.

 

Part 3: Training programmes offered through the CrossAsia Classroom

The third section of the survey determines how respondents feel about training programmes, in what form they should be offered and which topics are particularly relevant.

 

Figure 8: (Question 8) Would you be interested in taking part in workshops or training courses on digital humanities?

 

As expected, the level of interest among participants is high, with the survey results showing a clear interest in workshops or training courses on digital humanities. 43.18% of respondents fully agreed, while 21.59% somewhat agreed. Only 2.27% stated that they were not very interested. This illustrates the need for training in this area. In order to tailor the training programme to the needs of the users, the users’ preferences for the different forms of training should be surveyed.

 

Figure 9: (Question 9) Which format would you prefer for teaching knowledge about digital humanities?

 

The survey results show a clear preference for online formats. Under “other”, three respondents mentioned “asynchronous video inputs” and “hackathons” as other possible options. The comparatively low interest in academic courses reflects the backgrounds of the survey participants described in Part 1. In order to take the preferences and needs of users into account when planning and designing training and further education programmes, the final survey focuses on the selection of topics.

 

Figure 10: (Question 10) Which digital skills or tools would you most like to learn?

 

It is clear that the topics of “data visualisation” (45) and “text mining” (41) are in particularly high demand, with “network analysis” (31) in third place. In addition, offers on the topics of “digital archiving” and “digital editions” were requested with 30 mentions each. In the open question about projects, “digital editions” was mentioned most frequently (7 out of 26).

 

Figure 11: (Question 11) What specific projects or research work do you have in mind in which digital humanities methods are applied?

 

The interest in other topics such as “OCR (Optical Character Recognition)” (29) as well as “Machine Learning” and “GIS (Geographic Information Systems)” (24 each) shows the diversity of respondents’ needs in the field of digital humanities and helps the FID to plan the training programme within the CrossAsia Classroom and the specialist training courses accordingly.

 

Evaluation part 3:

It can be stated that there is a clear interest in workshops or training courses in the field of digital humanities. The majority of respondents were in favour of such offerings, with online formats being particularly preferred. This reflects the need for flexible and accessible training programmes. The different degrees of specialisation of the individual academics lead to a wide range of desired uses. While a certain basic knowledge of the digital humanities is already available, some participants are still at the beginning of their work with it and would like targeted training programmes. The clear identification of desired topics helps us to expand the training programme accordingly and adapt it to the stated needs.

What’s next?

The survey has shown that the topic of digital humanities is also becoming increasingly important in the Asian sciences. Based on your many helpful responses and suggestions that we received as part of the survey, we can now tackle this task in a more targeted manner. As a first step, the DH Lunchtalks were launched in November 2023, which serve as a low-threshold introduction to the topic of digital humanities and as a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practices.
In addition, the Digital Humanities Conference “Charting the European D-SEA: Digital Scholarship in East Asian Studies” will take place in summer 2024 in cooperation with the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. The aim is to provide an overview of the current state of digital research in East Asian Studies in Europe, to build a European community of East Asian scholars and to offer a platform for the exchange of important methods and resources in innovative digital projects worldwide. In addition, it aims to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue that brings together scholars and technical experts from different disciplines to share their knowledge on the application of digital methods and exchange experiences.

We invite you to accompany us in the further process with your suggestions and feedback.

Der Blaue Leihverkehr erfindet sich neu!

/in , , /by

(See English below)

Laufend erreichen uns im Blauen Leihverkehr (BLV) Bestellungen für westlichsprachige Materialien, die wir bisher ablehnen mussten. Als Fachinformationsdienst (FID) Asien möchten wir diesem Bedarf von Seiten der Nutzenden Rechnung tragen und unseren Service im Sinne eines One-Stop-Shop verbessern. Wir freuen uns, Sie über die folgenden Veränderungen im Hinblick auf den BLV zu informieren, die ab sofort in Kraft treten:

  • Die Bestellung von Materialien in allen Sprachen und Schriften ist nun möglich, sowohl im Hinblick auf Monographien als auch für Zeitschriftenaufsätze.
  • Über den BLV können alle ausleihfähigen Bestände der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin bestellt werden.
  • Die neue Leihfrist beträgt vier Monate. Bis zu zehn Fristverlängerungen sind möglich, sofern keine Vormerkung vorliegt.
  • Die Verlängerung der Leihfrist erfolgt direkt durch die teilnehmende Bibliothek. Bitte wenden Sie sich an die für den BLV zuständige Person.
  • Aktuell ausgeliehene Bücher im BLV behalten die bisherigen Leihfristen, so wie sie sind. Erst ab der nächsten Verlängerung greifen die neuen Takte der Fristen.

Im Fall von Fragen rund um den BLV schreiben Sie uns bitte Ihr Anliegen: getit@sbb.spk-berlin.de

Die Erweiterung des Services bedeutet auch für uns als CrossAsia Team eine große Veränderung. Wir steigen damit auf ein anderes Verwaltungssystem um und führen neue Workflows ein. Wir hoffen auf Ihr Verständnis, wenn in der Anfangsphase vielleicht noch nicht alles rund läuft, denken aber, dass sich der Aufwand für die Verbesserung für alle Nutzenden des BLV lohnt.

 

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The Blue Loan Service (Blauer Leihverkehr, BLV) is starting anew!

We are constantly receiving orders via BLV for Western-language materials that we had to reject up to now. As a Specialist Information Service (Fachinformationsdienst, FID), we would like to take this need from users into account and improve our service in the sense of a one-stop shop. We are pleased to inform you about the following changes to the BLV, which come into force immediately:

  • Ordering materials in all languages and scripts is now possible for both monographs and journal articles.
  • All borrowable holdings of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin are available via the BLV.
  • The new loan period is four months. Up to ten extensions of the loan period are possible, provided there is no reservation.
  • The loan period is extended directly by the participating library. Please contact the person responsible for the BLV at your institution.
  • The books currently on loan retain their loan periods as they are. The new loan periods will only take effect from the next extension.

If you have any questions about the BLV, please write to us with your concerns: getit@sbb.spk-berlin.de

The expansion of the service also means a big change for us as CrossAsia Team. We are switching to a different management software and introducing new workflows. We hope for your understanding, if everything may not be running smoothly in the initial phase, but we think that the effort to improve is worth it for all users of the BLV.