An Assessment of Readiness for Supporting Digital Humanities in Hong Kong Academic Libraries

Abstract

This book chapter will assess the state of digital humanities across Hong Kong academic libraries and evaluate the potential for international collaborations. A survey was administered to the eight member institutions of the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong to examine the level of engagement in digital humanities, support structure at their institutions, partnership opportunities, etc. Survey respondents indicated the importance of supporting digital humanities, but this importance has not been fully reflected on the institutional level. Hong Kong libraries have undertaken a range of activities to support digital humanities, and they embrace intra-institutional partnerships. Surveyed institutions also indicated that the potential for international collaborations, in particular, exists and is worth the efforts of further exploration. Their major challenges are building a strong faculty-librarian partnership, getting adequate financial and personnel resources, and enhancing staff experience and skills in this area.

Digital Humanities in European Research Libraries

“…Over the past decade, multiple surveys have been conducted in library communities. In November 2011 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the United States published a report titled 'Digital Humanities' (Bryson et al, 2011) Following this research, a survey was done amongst eight libraries in Hong Kong (Wong & Li, 2015). This 20 question-survey conducted in 2014 asked similar questions as the 2011 ARL survey related to -the then relatively new practice of -digital humanities in libraries.…”

“…The surveyed libraries range from having fully implemented digital humanities centres to those that had "not developed an awareness of the trend of digital humanities" (Wong & Li, 2015). It is therefore to be expected that the funding of the various libraries differs a lot.…”