Draft:Duxiu Academic Search
Duxiu Academic Search (读秀学术搜索; 讀秀學術搜索; Duxiu Xueshu Sousuo), commonly shortened to Duxiu, is a Chinese academic search and document delivery service focused primarily on books and scholarly literature.[1][2] The platform brings together bibliographic and full-text search, page previews, links to library holdings and licensed electronic book collections, and mechanisms for requesting portions of documents that are not directly available in full text.[1][3]
Super Star Company launched Duxiu in November 2004.[1] Although closely connected with the wider SuperStar digital library environment, academic sources describe Duxiu as a distinct search and access layer rather than simply as another electronic book collection.[1][4] A 2026 Chinese government procurement notice identifies Beijing Century Duxiu Technology Co., Ltd. (北京世纪读秀技术有限公司) as the developer and operator of the Duxiu Knowledge Base.[5]
History
[edit]Duxiu emerged during the expansion of commercial and institutional digital library services in China. According to Conghui Fang, Super Star Company introduced Duxiu Academic Search in November 2004 as one of its digital library products.[1] Within several years, the platform had also become a subject of library and information science research. Li Aiguo examined it in 2009 as a case study in Chinese book digitization, referring to the service as the "SuperStar DuXiu Scholar Search Engine".[2] Chinese library literature during the same period evaluated its retrieval functions and its role in integrating otherwise separate information resources.[6]
The distinction between Duxiu as a search service and the collections to which it provided access was also noted outside China. In 2010, Jacqueline Nivard and Wang Ju described Duxiu as a search engine through which users could search the Chinamaxx collection as well as other digital collections.[4] Their account positioned Duxiu primarily as a means of discovery and access across collections, rather than as a single collection in its own right.[4]
The scale reported for the service expanded substantially during its early years. As of 1 December 2011, Fang reported that Duxiu indexed metadata for nearly 3.3 million Chinese book titles and contained approximately 2.4 million complete books.[1] These figures describe the service at that point in its development and do not represent current collection totals.
Search and document delivery
[edit]Duxiu combines several levels of retrieval within the same interface. Users can search bibliographic information, book chapters and tables of contents, as well as indexed full text.[1][3] The results can lead to print holdings in participating libraries, electronic books available through institutional subscriptions, or previews that allow users to examine portions of a work before seeking further access.[1][3]
Its coverage is not limited to monographs. University library descriptions also identify journal articles, dissertations, conference proceedings and other forms of scholarly literature among the materials retrievable through Duxiu and services integrated with it.[7]
A distinctive part of the platform's access model is document delivery. When full text cannot be accessed directly, users may request portions of a document for delivery by email.[1][3] The extent of material available through this mechanism varies according to the resource, institutional access arrangements, and copyright or licensing restrictions.[1][3] Fang identifies this combination of document delivery, local library catalog integration and electronic book access as an important element of Duxiu's role within library services.[1]
Relationship with SuperStar
[edit]Duxiu has historically operated within the broader SuperStar digital library ecosystem, but available sources do not treat Duxiu and the SuperStar Digital Library as interchangeable services. Fang lists SuperStar Digital Library and Duxiu Academic Search separately among the products associated with Super Star Company.[1] Nivard and Wang similarly describe Duxiu as a search layer capable of retrieving resources held in Chinamaxx and other digital collections.[4]
Later legal and institutional records provide additional detail about how responsibilities connected with the platform were divided. A 2023 judgment of the Beijing Internet Court identified Beijing Century Duxiu Technology as a defendant and Beijing Century SuperStar Information Technology Development Co., Ltd. (北京世纪超星信息技术发展有限责任公司) as a third party in the same copyright proceeding.[8]
The judgment records a 2018 joint statement by the two companies. According to that statement, Beijing Century Duxiu developed the Duxiu Academic Search platform, while Beijing Century SuperStar provided book content accessed through links on the platform and was responsible for content processing, uploading, maintenance and rights authorization.[8] This division of functions illustrates the operational connection between Duxiu and SuperStar without establishing that the two services were identical.
A 2026 government procurement notice likewise identifies Beijing Century Duxiu as the developer and operator of the Duxiu Knowledge Base. The same notice names Hunan Century SuperStar Information Technology Co., Ltd. as its authorized regional agent in Hunan.[5]
Copyright litigation
[edit]Duxiu's document delivery model has also been examined in Chinese copyright litigation. A 2021 study in Library and Information Service reviewed a 2019 appeal before the Beijing Intellectual Property Court concerning document delivery through Duxiu and the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province. According to the study, the court found that the document delivery arrangement infringed the right of communication through information networks.[9]
The same study discussed a different outcome in a 2018 case involving Suzhou Library. In that case, the library's provision of a link and remote access to Duxiu was not itself found to constitute copyright infringement.[9] The contrasting cases illustrate that the legal treatment depended on the form of access being provided rather than on the mere presence of a connection to Duxiu.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Fang, Conghui (2013). "The digital library in China". Chinese Librarianship in the Digital Era. Chandos Publishing. pp. 27–36. doi:10.1016/B978-1-84334-707-1.50003-3.
- 1 2 Li, Aiguo (May 2009). "Digitizing Chinese Books: A Case Study of the SuperStar DuXiu Scholar Search Engine". The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 35 (3): 277–281. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2009.03.012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Duxiu". Zhejiang University International Campus Library. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Nivard, Jacqueline; Wang, Ju (2010). "Les ressources électroniques. Évolution des métiers et des usages". Études chinoises (in French) (Hors–série): 163–185. doi:10.3406/etchi.2010.975.
- 1 2 读秀知识库单一来源采购. 中国政府采购网 (in Chinese). 25 May 2026. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ Hong, Yue (2010). 读秀学术搜索系统述评. 新世纪图书馆 (in Chinese) (3): 76–78, 63.
- ↑ "Databases". Interdisciplinary China Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- 1 2 Beijing Internet Court (27 March 2023). 北京君贤林文化传媒有限公司与苏州图书馆等侵害作品信息网络传播权纠纷一审民事判决书 (in Chinese). Retrieved 31 August 2026 – via Chinese Wikisource.
- 1 2 3 Gu, Wenhao; Li, Honggang; Zhang, Libin (2021). "Risk Analysis and Modification Suggestions of Digital Resource License Agreement Terms from the Perspective of Judicial Practice". Library and Information Service. 65 (18): 15–23. doi:10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2021.18.002.