Development of ancient Chinese inscription rubbings knowledge base in the context of cultural communication and art appreciation

Purpose - To promote the cultural communication and art appreciation of Inscriptions and calligraphy which are important cultural heritages in China, with a broad crowd base and educational appreciation value, by using digital humanities methods and technologies, the paper aims to discuss how to develop a new user-oriented knowledge base according to user needs for inscription rubbings research and appreciation. Design/methodology/approach - The paper investigates user needs and current problems on the basis of status quo and summation of extensive service experience; validates the rationality of requirements and user scenarios with user research methods including focus groups, interviews and behavior observations; then designs and develops the technical solution of data process, knowledge base construction and service platform through experimental research methods based on agile project management. Findings - The paper proposes a new reading mode for browsing and appreciation inscription rubbing works, a diverse knowledge-integrated knowledge organizational structure, a systematic user experience and service guiding framework which can be widely applicable to the development of other cultural heritage knowledge bases. Apart from that, the paper puts forward intelligent service development goals for the future. Originality/value - The paper proposes a new reading mode with the overall functions and user experience design and development for browsing and appreciation inscription rubbing works, a diverse knowledge-integrated knowledge organizational structure, a systematic user experience and service guiding framework which can be widely applicable to the development of other cultural heritage knowledge bases. Apart from that, the paper puts forward intelligent service development goals for the future.