East Asian Studies Research Guide

Books

  1. Reference Books:
    Reference books (listed below & housed in the Denison Learning Commons) give you a general overview of a person or topic. They can be a good starting point, useful to peruse for topics of interest, since the entries are written by leading scholars in the field and entries often include bibliographies.
    Oxford Reference Online is an online index to reference books where you can search the indexes as well as the text of selected reference books such as some of those listed below. Reference Universe is a similar tool.
    The list below also includes some books in the circulating collection, marked as (Main).

      East Asia (General) China
      • The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China / DS705 .C35 1991
      • Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy / B126 .E496 2003
      • Twentieth Century China / DS706 .T92 2003 (2 vols.)
      • The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature / PL2264 .I53 (1986 & 1998 vols.)
      • Chinese History: A Manual / DS735 .W695 2000
      • Early Chinese Literature / PL2280 .W3
      • The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History / DS755 .S635 2000 (Main)
      • The Columbia History of Chinese Literature / PL2265 .C65 2001 (Main)
      Japan
      • Biographical Dictionary of Japanese History / DS834 .B56 1978
      • Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan / DS805 .K633 1983 (8 vols.)
      • The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan / DS805 .C36 1993
      • Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan / DS833 .P3 948
      • The Columbia Guide to Modern Japanese History / DS881.9 .A75 1999 (Main)
      • Women and Class in Japanese History / HQ1762 .W625 1999 (Main)


  2. Bibliographies:
    Once you understand your topic and have defined it, a bibliography can lead you to more books and journal articles. Some bibliographies are housed in the Reference Collection; others are in the Main stacks. Here are a few examples:

    • Bibliography of Asian Studies:
      Contains more than 410,000 records for articles and books on all subjects pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present.
      Also in print, 1969-1991: DS501 .F274
    • Japan and Korea: A Critical Bibliography / Z3301 .S55
    • China: A Critical Bibliography / Z3101 .H8
    • The New Religions of Japan / BL2210.5 .J3 E2
    • Shinto-Bibliography in Western Languages / BL2220 .S38 1986
    • Chinese Religions: Publications in Western Languages
      [Note that some volumes have a slightly varient title]
      Volume 1 [through 1980]: BL1802 .T55 1985
      Volume 2 [through 1990]: BL1802 .T55 1993
      Volume 3 [1991-1995]: BL1802 .T55 1998
      Volume 4 [1996-2000]: BL1802 .T55 2002
    • Guide to Chinese Religion / BL1802 .Y8 1985
    • Religion in Postwar China / BL1802 .Y83 1994


  3. Finding More Books...
    You can find more bibliographies, along with other books on your specific topic, by searching these library catalogs:
    1. CONSORT Catalog
      Searches Denison, Ohio Wesleyan, Kenyon, & College of Wooster. Request items directly from the catalog, using the "Request this Item" button.
    2. OhioLINK Catalog
      Searches the combined holdings of 83 academic libraries in Ohio. Request items directly from the catalog, using the "Request this Item" button.
    3. WorldCat
      Searches libraries all over the world. Request books via Interlibrary Loan.

Indexes & Databases

Indexes and databases are similar to bibliographies, because they also lead you to articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers. Some of these databases are online, while others are in print format. Also, some databases give only citations, while others provide abstracts of articles. Some databases even provide an online version of the whole article ("full text").

    Subject-specific Indexes & Databases:
  • Bibliography of Asian Studies (Also listed above)
  • Religion Index:
    The comprehensive database for religion. Date coverage: 1949-present.
  • Anthropology Plus:
    Citations for anthropological literature. Date coverage: late 19th century-present; no full text.
  • Art Full-text:
    Abstracts from over 400 art journals & magazines. Date coverage: 1929-present; no full text.
  • China Data Online
    A collection of databases on China, includes statistical databases and census databases and is available in both English and Chinese languages.
  • Historical Abstracts:
    Indexes key historical journals from virtually every major country. Date coverage: 1955-present; no full text.
  • Humanities International Complete:
    Indexes journal articles from diverse subject areas within the humanities. Date coverage: 1984-present; some full text.
  • PAIS:
    Citations for 1,800 journals, 6,000 books, and more relevant to the study of public affairs. Date coverage: 1972-present; some full text.
  • PAIS Archive:
    Same as above, except date coverage is to the early 1900s.
  • Sociological Abstracts:
    Citations & abstracts from 2,600 sociological journals and related fields. Date coverage: 1963-2005 some full text.
  • Sociological Collection:
    Citations and abstracts from 523 journals, with 500 of them offered in full-text. Date coverage: 1965-present.
  • SocIndex:
    Full-text for core sociological journals back to 1895, with extensive indexing for books, monographs, conference papers, and other sources.


    • General & Multi-disciplinary Databases:
  • Academic Search Complete:
    Date coverage: 1984-present; lots of full text. You can limit to scholarly journals only.
  • ArticleFirst:
    Citations from over 13,000 journals. Date coverage: 1990-present; no full text.
  • Web of Science Citation Index:
    Contains three citation databases (You should focus on the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences). Date coverage: 1980-present; no full text.
  • JSTOR Journal Archive:
    Online access to back issues of many journals. Browse, search, or find citations in other databases and use JSTOR to obtain the articles.
  • Lexis-Nexis Academic:
    Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, medical, and reference information from nearly 5,000 sources, most of them available in full text. Updated daily.
  • Periodical Index Online:
    Indexes thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences. Date coverage: 1770- present; links to full text.
  • Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature:
    Index to most popular general-interest periodicals. Date coverage: RGA, 1984-present; RGAR, 1957-1982.

Websites