Outline of this guide: Reference Works Primary Sources Secondary Sources

Related guides: RefWorks RefWorks: A Guide Research Log Research Planner

• Style Guides
  • Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003.
    Reference R 808.02 C53 2003
  • A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Mary Lynn Rampolla. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
    Reference Desk R 907.2 R177p
• Reference Universe
  Don't know where to begin? Try Reference Universe, an index of the indexes in many of the library's reference books and e-books. Reference Universe will tell you which titles contain information on your topic.
• Biographical Works
  • Biographical Dictionary of Japanese History. Ed. Seiicho Iwao. Tokyo: International Society for Educational Information, 1978.
    Reference R 920.052 B615
  • Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson, 2003- .
• Art
  • Oxford Art Online
    Contains the full text of:
    • Dictionary of Art. Ed Jane. Turner 34 vols. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 1996.
      Reference R 703 D554
      Note: Oxford Art Online also contains updated entries and bibliographies for the Grove Dictionary.
    • ... and over 5,000 images.
  • Dictionary of Chinese and Japanese Art. Hugo Munsterberg. New York: Hacker Art Books, 1981.
    Reference R 709.5 M969d
• General Works on History and Culture
  • The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China. Ed. Richard Bowring and Peter Kornicki. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993.
    Reference R 951 C178
  • China: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary. Ed. Michael Dillon. Richmond, UK: Curzon, 1998.
    Reference R 951 C5392
  • The Columbia Guide to Modern Japanese History. Gary D. Allinson. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1999.
    Reference R 952.03 A437c
  • Companion to Chinese History. Hugh B. O'Neill. New York: Facts on File, 1987.
    Reference R 951 O58c
  • Cultural Atlas of China. Caroline Blunden and Mark Elvin. Rev. ed. New York: Facts on File, 1998.
    Reference R 912.51 B658c 1998
  • Cultural Atlas of Japan. Martin Collcutt et al. Oxford: Phaidon, 1988.
    Reference R 915.2 C697c
  • A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols. Wolfram Eberhard. Trans. G.L. Campbell. New York: Routledge, 1986.
    Reference R 951 E16L-T
  • Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture. Ed. Sandra Buckley. New York: Routledge, 2002.
    Reference R 952.04 E56
  • Encyclopedia of Asian History. Ed. Ainslie T. Embree. 4 vols. New York: Scribner, 1988.
    Reference R 950 E56
  • Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, its History and Culture. Dorothy Perkins. New York: Facts on File, 1999.
    Reference R 951 P448e
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
    A collection of over 200 scholarly reference books in all subject areas. Includes:
    • Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Ed. David Levinson and Karen Christenson. 6 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2002.
      Reference R 950 L665e
  • An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China. James S. Olson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.
    Reference R 951 O52e
  • An Historical Atlas of China. Albert Herrmann. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1966.
    Reference R 912.5 H552h
  • Historical Dictionary of North Korea. Ilpyong J. Kim. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2003.
    Reference R 951.9 K49h
  • Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea. Andrew C. Nahm. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1993.
    Reference R 951.9 N154h
  • Historical Dictionary of Revolutionary China, 1839-1976. Ed. Edwin Pakwah Leung. New York: Greenwood, 1992.
    Reference R 951 H673
  • Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Guo Jian et al. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006.
    Reference R 951.05 G977
  • Historical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China. Lawrence Sullivan. 2nd ed. Langham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007.
    Reference R 951.05 S949h
  • Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. 2 vols. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993.
    Reference R 952 J351
  • Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. 9 vols. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1983.
    Reference R 952.03 K76
  • Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism. Ed. James L. Huffman. New York: Garland, 1998.
    Reference R 952 M689

• General Tools
  • Library Catalog
    To locate primary sources, do a keyword search and add one or more of the following words:
    • sources
    • correspondence
    • diaries
    • interviews 
    • personal narratives
    You can also do a keyword search and limit your search by publication date.
  • WorldCat
    To locate primary sources, do a keyword search and add one or more of the following words:
    • sources
    • correspondence
    • diaries
    • interviews 
    • personal narratives
    Note: Rare and archival materials cannot be borrowed on interlibrary loan. You can sometimes locate microfilm or microfiche copies of these documents in WorldCat; try doing an advanced search, enter your keywords or subject terms, and then apply a "subtype limit," choosing "Microform" as the format.
• Newspapers
  • 19th Century Newspapers
    • Indexes to 19th Century Newspapers
    • 19th Century Newspapers in Little Library
  • 20th Century Newspapers
    • Indexes to 20th Century Newspapers
    • 20th Century Newspapers in Little Library
  • Current Newspapers
    • LexisNexis Academic
      (Approx. 1980 to present) Includes the full text of articles from local, national, and international newspapers, magazines, and trade journals as well as the text of newswires, patents, legal documents, and transcripts of radio and television broadcasts.
      Search Tips:
      • Use the "Guided News" search option
      • Try several types of searches:
        • For "News Category," choose "General News"; from the "News Source" drop-down menu, choose "Major Papers." Enter relevant keywords and choose an appropriate date range.
        • For "News Category," choose "World News"; from the "News Source" drop-down menu, choose "Asia/Pacific News Sources." Enter relevant keywords and choose an appropriate date range.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an exclamation point
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
      • Wildcard: use an asterisk *
    • Westlaw Campus Research
      Contains full text news and legal materials.
      Note: you will need to accept the terms of the Westlaw "Agreement" before you can search Westlaw Campus Research.
      Search Syntax (for "Terms and Connectors" searches):
      • Truncation: use an exclamation point !
      • Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
      • Wildcard: use an asterisk *
• Notable Collections
  • Archive of Americana
    (c. 1639-1980) A collection of digital facsimiles of American books, broadsides, pamphlets, newspapers, and government documents. Includes:
    • American Broadsides & Ephemera
      (c. 1760-1900) Contains more than 30,000 digital facsimiles of broadsides and ephemera, including advertisements, handbills, trade cards, theatre and music programs, stock certificates, menus, and many other works.
    • America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922)
      Contains digital facsimiles of over 1,375 seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth-century newspapers; the full text of these newspapers, including all articles, advertisements, and other contents, is keyword-searchable.
    • Early American Imprints
      • Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800
        Contains digital images of over 37,000 books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in the British American colonies, and later the United States.
      • Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819
        Contains digital images of over 36,000 American books, pamphlets, and broadsides.
    • U.S. Congressional Serial Set
      (1817-1980, but see note below) Contains the fully-searchable text of the Serial Set, a rich collection of primary source materials on all aspects of U.S. political, military, cultural, economic, ethnic, and social history. Includes U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reports, documents, and journals.
      Note: this digital collection is not yet complete, but all volumes through 1964 have been digitized.
    • ... and more!
  • ARTstor
    A collection of over 900,000 images covering art, architecture, and archaeology from a wide range of cultures and time periods as well as tools to manipulate and analyze those images.
  • Digital National Security Archive
    Contains over 61,000 declassified U.S. government foreign policy documents dating from the mid to the late twentieth century. Includes China and the United States: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960-1998 and the Kissinger Transcripts (1969-1977), among other collections. These documents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and are drawn from the collections of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
  • Early English Books Online (EEB0) (1475-1700)
    Includes over 125,000 books, pamphlets, broadsides, proclamations, almanacs, and other publications printed in Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and British North America from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries.
    Note: Does not include periodicals or newspapers.
    To print more than one page of a document, you need to "Add this Document Images set to your marked list," view your "Marked List," and then download the document images (not the citation). Once the document is downloaded, you can print out a range of pages or the entire document using the print function in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) (1701-1800)
    Includes the full text of 155,000 150,000 books, pamphlets, almanacs, advertisements, songs, and other materials published in Great Britain and British North America during the eighteenth century; also includes digital facsimiles of each of the works.
  • Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports
    (1974 to present) Provides English-language translations of selected foreign newspaper articles, broadcasts, and wire reports as well as government documents, technical reports, and conference proceedings from around the world.
    • 1974-1996: FBIS Daily Reports, 1974-1996
    • 1995 to present: World News Connection
  • Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-1949. Ed. Stuart R. Schram. 10 vols. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1992- .
    Little Library Stacks 951.04 M296s-T
  • Missionary Correspondence
    • Methodist Church
      In 1843, the Methodist Episcopal Church split into the (Northern) Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; each was a separate ecclesiastical body, with its own missionary boards. The churches remained separate until 1939, when they merged to form the Methodist Church.
      • Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1846-1912: China [microfilm]
        Microfilm cabinet C-19
        Guide: Reference R 016.266 M6782
        The files are arranged geographically and then by name; most contain incoming correspondence from missionaries in the field.
      • Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS), 1897-1940 [microfilm]
        Microfilm cabinet C-19
        Guide: Reference R 016.266 M6783
        Includes correspondence from missionaries in China. The files are arranged alphabetically by missionary name; consult the index to identify the names of missionaries in China and the dates of their correspondence.
      • "To Save their Heathen Souls": Voyage to and Life in Fouchow, China, Based on Wentworth Diaries and Letters, 1854-1858. Ed. Polly Park. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 1984.
        Little Library Stacks 266.76 T627
    • Presbyterian Church
      • Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 1833-1911: China [microfilm]
        Microfilm cabinet C-29
        Guide:
        • Reference R 016.266 P928
        • Online: introduction; scope & content; reel contents
        Calendar of correspondence: reels 296-298
        Personal name index (arranged by geographic area): reel 301
        Includes incoming correspondence and records from missionaries as well as outgoing correspondence from the headquarters of the Board of Foreign Missions.
      • To Bend and Rise as the Bamboo: Letters from China, 1931-1942. Comp. Arthur Romig and Helen Romig. Albuquerque, NM: Franklin's Press Masters, 1993.
        Little Library Stacks 266.5 R765t

• Books
  • Library Catalog
    Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library.
    • To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records.
    • To locate works about a person, do a subject search for the person's name (last name first).
    • To locate bibliographies on a person or topic, do a keyword search and add the following: su bibliography.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use a dollar sign $
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • ebrary
    A collection of over 38,000 e-books published by over 220 academic, trade, and professional publishers; covers all subject areas. Also includes tools that allow you to create your own virtual bookshelf, bookmark pages, and add and save notes and highlights.
    Note: for full functionality, you need the ebrary Reader. This plugin is on all library and ITS computers, but if you are using your own computer, you can download it from the ebrary home page.
  • WorldCat
    Indexes books, periodicals, and other materials held by libraries around the world. Search WorldCat to identify additional books on your topic and then order the books on interlibrary loan.
    Note: It can be helpful to identify relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Library Catalogue first; you can then do a subject search in WorldCat to find additional items with these subject headings.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: insert a "w" between the words in a phrase (for example, "cold w war")
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
• Articles
  Starting Points | Core Resources | Other Resources
  • Starting Points
    • Academic Search Premier
      (1975 to present) Indexes popular and scholarly articles in a broad range of subject areas; also includes citations to book reviews and citations to articles in several national newspapers.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
    • OmniFile Full Text Mega
      (1982 to present) Indexes articles from over 3,000 scholarly and popular periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; also includes the full text of selected articles from over 1,650 of these periodicals.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
      • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • Core Resources for Asian Studies
    • Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) Online
      (1971 to present) Indexes articles, essays in edited collections, conference proceedings, and other materials on all subjects related to East, Southeast, and South Asia. Also lists books published between 1971 and 1992. International in scope; most citations are to works written in Western languages.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: automatic
    • Historical Abstracts & America: History & Life
      (Time period covered: 1450 to present [world history]; prehistory to present [U.S. and Canadian history]. Publication coverage: 1954 to present). Indexes journal articles, book chapters, doctoral dissertations, and book reviews. (Each database can also be searched separately.)
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Other Resources
    • JSTOR
      Includes pdf copies of scholarly articles from a core collection of journals; also includes book reviews. Note:JSTOR does not contain articles from the most recent 3-5 years.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use a plus sign +
      • Phrase searching: automatic
    • PAIS International
      (1915 to present) Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, and conference papers in political science, public affairs, and economics.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: automatic
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
    • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
      (1975 to present) Indexes articles on a broad array of political science and international relations topics; international in scope.
      Search Syntax:
      • Truncation: use an asterisk *
      • Phrase searching: automatic
      • Wildcard: use a question mark ?