Humanities Computing=人文資訊學; Tibetan Studies=西藏學; Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library=西藏喜馬拉雅數位圖書館 (THDL)
摘要
A quiet revolution is brewing in the Academy in the cauldron of new digital library technologies and the field of humanities computing. The fundamental relationship between knowledge and community that has governed colleges and universities over the past five decades is being challenged in unprecedented ways. In humanities research, publication, and teaching, this involves major transformations in the areas of collaboration, interdisciplinary approaches, active student reading, internationalization, public outreach, and publication. Particularly interesting for the field of Buddhist Studies is the way in which such developments are enabling a much more radical convergence of religious studies with the broader field of area studies relevant for the study of a particular religion. My paper will use the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (www.thdl.org) as a test case to discuss these new developments. I will focus on four interlinked initiatives within THDL concerning Tibetan Buddhism. First, the Tibetan monasteries project involves the detailed survey of monasteries combined with rich immersive models of a small set of monasteries. Second, the audio-video initiative is documenting oral traditions concerning literature, history, places, and much else. Third, the Tibetan Buddhist Literature project involves the integration of deep cataloging with extensively marked up e-editions, including the famed Kangyur and Tengyur. Fourth, the rich historical Tibetan dictionary project is documenting terminology based upon the OED’s approach. Through discussing these projects and their relationship to research and publication, I will raise broader issues of the changing nature of the academy with the rise of humanities computing and digital libraries. In particular, I will use the test case of Tibet to discuss the relationship of area studies and Buddhist studies, and outline the way in which new technologies are enabling us to readdress the nature and importance of that relationship.
Introduction 333 Beginnings: Buddhist Catalogs 334 Authority Files to Reference 336 1.Terminology 2.The Oral, Practical and Social Dimensions of Literature 3.From Place to Cultural Geography: Monasteries 4.Community Conclusion 345
