• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.111-119
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• 2015

Objectives : The Dongui Bogam in My Hand', which is an output of computerizing Donguibogam (Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine), is an interim outcome of the research project led by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine. This study examined the process in which Donguibogam, a record in Chinese and a classic of Oriental medicine, expanded into a modern content. Methods : This study will classify the modernization of Donguibogam into three 'contents' that form Donguibogam, 'container' that will hold the contents, and 'community' that is the consumer of Donguibogam. Towards the end, this study will sketch out the status of computerizing Chinese records in Korea, and point out the reality faced by computerization of ancient documents on Oriental medicine as well as the direction for the future. Results : 'The Dongui Bogam in My Hand' has been downloaded more than 10,000 times for 4 months since it releases in August 2014, and is used for at least 6,000 times on average every month. This achievement can be due to the two following reasons. First, the application contains high-quality contents such as the original text of Donguibogam as well as Korean and English translations. Second, it satisfied the needs of Donguibogam users with (1) the Browse function that well displays the table of contents, (2) the Search function that separates the title from the main text, and (3) the Personalization function designed to link and share relevant knowledge. Conclusions : Computerization of Chinese records was triggered by the request of the academia, but it was accelerated after being selected as a public laboring project to overcome the IMF crisis. However, computerization of ancient documents is not a simple task but a field of study to modernize classical knowledge. The success or failure of computerization of Chinese records is determined by whether high-quality modern 'contents' are secured, whether the 'container' design adequately implements the search, browse and link functions, and how well it fulfills the needs of the consumer 'community'.