Un LLM per le Scienze Umane e Sociali? ReSearch_SSH come esperimento europeo

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Abstract

The adoption of Large Language Models (LLMs) in the context of scientific research, particularly for bibliographic research and discovery, raises significant challenges for the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), especially with regard to the diversity of disciplinary practices and the evaluation of results. This paper presents ReSearch_SSH, a use case developed within the European project LLMs4EU and the ALT-EDIC infrastructure, as an experiment in adapting and evaluating language models grounded in SSH research practices, with a specific focus on Digital Humanities. The contribution describes the methodological architecture of the use case, based on domain alignment, task-oriented fine-tuning, and a GraphRAG approach integrated with open science infrastructures such as ISIDORE and ISTEX. Particular attention is devoted to multilingual data resources, requirements of factuality and source traceability, and a qualitative evaluation framework based on the involvement of a panel of Digital Humanities experts. The paper situates itself within the Digital Humanities debate on LLMs as infrastructural components for research, advocating a practice-oriented and community-driven approach to critically guide the development and evaluation of LLM-based research and discovery systems in the SSH domain.

Citation

@techreport{faci_research_ssh_2026,
       title = {Un LLM per le Scienze Umane e Sociali? ReSearch_SSH come esperimento europeo},
       author    = {Faci, Adam and
                 Miaschi, Alessio and
                 Combe, Anne and
                 Cuxac, Pascal and
                 Frontini, Francesca and
                 Larrousse, Nicolas and
                 Pouyllau, St{\'e}phane},
       publisher = {AIUCD},
           month = {May},
          series = {Quaderni di Umanistica Digitale},
         address = {Cagliari},
          editor = {Cristina Marras and Andrea Pergola and Giampaolo Salice},
            type = {Proceedings},
           title = {Digitale e Public Engagement: pratiche e prospettive nelle Digital Humanities, Atti del XV Convegno Annuale AIUCD},
            year = {2026},
            isbn = {9791298618817},
        abstract = {AIUCD 2026, il XV Convegno annuale dell'Associazione per l'Informatica Umanistica e la Cultura Digitale (AIUCD), e? dedicato al tema "Digitale e Public Engagement: pratiche e prospettive nelle Digital Humanities". Il convegno mette al centro pratiche, strumenti e metodologie che rendono la conoscenza pi{\`u} aperta, condivisa e inclusiva e contribuiscono alla diffusione di una cultura digitale, intesa come componente costitutiva della cittadinanza contemporanea.},
             url = {https://amsacta.unibo.it/id/eprint/8980/}
}