CSUF History Research Guide

This site concentrates primarily on South and South-East Asia. For countries that also fall under the title "Middle East", an additional history resources site is being developed.  

Prepared by Rosemary McGill, Judy Ruttenberg, Robert Sage, and Susan Tschabrun. Maintained by Robert Sage.
An administrative page of the Paulina June & George Pollak Library at California State University, Fullerton.
(c) 2007 California State University, Fullerton. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: October 10, 2007 .

 

Books and Reference

The General Library of Congress classification for Asian history is DS

THE LIBRARY CATALOG SUBJECT TERMS FOR ASIAN HISTORY

Asia or [country, e.g. China]

-- History
-- Economic Conditions
-- Foreign Relations
-- Politics and Government
-- Social Conditions
-- Civilization
-- Antiquities

HOW TO FIND BOOKS CSUF DOESN'T OWN

The following books are good sources to consult at the beginning of a research project. They help define your topic, provide chronology and context, identify key people and events, and locate both primary and secondary source material for your research. There are many books in the reference collection related to Asian history, by region or specific country.

Examples:

Search or browse Reference shelves, section: DS

Library of Congress Classification for Asian History

History of Asia DS1-937
  • India
 DS401-486
  • Vietnam
 DS556-560
  • Thailand
 DS561-589
  • Philippines
 DS651-689
  • China
 DS701-799
  • Japan
 DS801-897
  • Korea
 DS901-937

Bibliographies -- Examples

General

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature
 Call Number: D20z A55 1995 Catalog Record
27,000 annotated citations, selected from the best recent scholarship in all fields of history

Asia

Asia, Reference Works Call Number: DS35z N79 1980 Catalog Record
A bibliography of reference books arranged by Asian country, with categories for each country including statistics, yearbooks, encyclopedias, maps, etc.

South Asian History, 1750-1950: A Guide to Periodicals, Dissertations, and Newspapers Call Number: Z3185 .C3 Catalog Record
 Lists of important journal articles, dissertations and newspaper titles. Includes subject index.

 

Finding Articles and Journals

For electronic and print indexes to find journal articles in History, see Indexes on the main History page. The following are additional resources specific to Asian history and studies.

Indexes specific to Asian History

Bibliography of Asian Studies
  • Interdisciplinary, emphasis on humanities and social sciences
  • Coverage of literature 1971-present
  • Citations only, no full-text
Index to SouthEast Asian Journals, 1960-1974
  • Print reference source: DS501z .J64
  • Index of articles and book reviews
Guide to Indian Periodical Literature
  • Print reference source: AI19 .I7 G9
  • Index of periodical literature from 1964-1986

Use the Journals Title List to check to see if we have a particular periodical available online or on the shelf.  Use the Library Catalog to check and see if we have a particular, older periodical available in microforms or in special collections. 

 

Local Collections
 

The following regional libraries have strong collections in Asian history:

UCLA Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library
21617 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Phone: (310) 825-4836

UCI South East Asian Archive and East Asian Collection
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
Irvine, CA 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-6836

UCSB East Asian Library
Davidson Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-2365

The Libraries of the Claremont Colleges Asian Studies Department
Asian Studies Department
Honnold/Mudd Library
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont CA 91711
Phone: (909) 607-3970 

 

Web Resources

The following web sites provide substantive research information about Asia. When you come across additional sites, use Six Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites to determine whether the information is credible, and then e-mail this site to suggest a link.

Evaluation: Six Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites

Maps

 

Associations & Scholarship

Scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional association open to all persons interested in Asia. Publishes Journal of Asian Studies and Bibliography of Asian Studies.

Online discussion network of Asia historians and other scholars. Contains book reviews, listserv archives, web links.

Subject Directories

Provides annotations and rankings of new Asian studies-related web sites, links to sites providing conference and association information, links to publishers, study abroad information, and online journals.

Maintained by graduate students in the Modern Chinese History program at UCSD, this site contains book reviews, links to archives and source material, web links, and bibliographies of print resources.

Links to history-related sites by country or region

Primary Sources

Links to images of art, social and political documents, other subject-directory web sites, and secondary scholarly sources. Predominantly focused on China and Japan, with some information on other East Asian countries.

Links to images of art, social and political documents, other subject-directory web sites, and secondary scholarly sources

A collaborative effort of the University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center and the University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library to make texts of classical Japanese literature available on the World Wide Web.

University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center makes texts of Chinese literature available on the World Wide Web.