Employing bibliometric methods to identify topics and facilitators of digital 3D modeling in the humanities

Abstract

One of the core topics of information studies is quantifying and mapping of new scholarly knowledge. This paper employs methods from bibliometrics to investigate authors, structures and topics in a very particular field, virtual 3D modeling in the humanities. Even if research outcomes are limited reliable due to the relatively small and potentially flawed sample available for investigation, they indicate that 3D modeling is an emerging field of research. Several facilitators, such as people who interconnect groups of researchers, could be identified on a structural level. Automated topic mapping and qualitative methods also identified a range of topics: A scholarly discussion in the field of digital 3D modeling is primarily driven by technologies and from the perspective of digitization of cultural heritage.