Introduction
This subject guide highlights some key discipline resources to get you started with study and research.
- Refer to the New Students Library Guide for everything you need to know about Library services and resources.
- Build your researching, reading and writing skills with the Research Essentials Library Guide.
- Streamline your access to online resources with the Library's quick access tools.
Chinese Language Learning
Expand the following sections to view some resources you may find useful in your Chinese language studies.
Reference sources
- Chinese-English Dictionary OnlineThe Chinese-English resource of choice for all those reading Chinese texts from the period of approx. 500 BCE to 1000 CE. Allow searching with Pinyin and traditional Chinese characters.
- Oxford Dictionaries. Chinese This link opens in a new windowOnline Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionaries. Access definitions of words, phrases, and idioms, with advice on style, usage, grammar, and spelling; plus specialist guides for legal and technical writing.
- China Reference Works OnlineThis encyclopedia database contains thousands of China-based reference works, including dictionaries, thesauruses, cyclopedias, illustrated books, and more. Covering subjects across the arts and sciences, this is a great starting point for your research.
Databases and Journals
Chinese studies-specific databases:
First of all, try searching in one of these subject-specific databases.
- China Knowledge Resource Integrated DatabaseStart your search of any or all CNKI databases subscribed to by Unimelb Library at this homepage of the CNKI database platform.
- China Academic Journals full-text databaseOne of the most comprehensive Chinese academic journals worldwide, with more than 9,000 journals and covering all subject areas.
- Century Journals ProjectDigitised selection of the most important academic journals published in China from their very first issue until 1993 in an effort to expand the China Academic Journals Full-text Database. The earliest journal dates back to 1887.
- Taiwan Electronic Periodical ServicesA collection of over 900 full-text journals from Taiwan. The Library has access to the Humanities and Social Sciences collections.
- Hong Kong Journals Online (Open Access)An open access full-text image database of selected academic and professional journals published in Hong Kong (English and Chinese). Covering a range of disciplines, including law, medicine, and education. Earliest content from 1872.
- National Social Sciences Database 国家哲学社会科学数据库Free access to hundreds of high level academic journals in humanities and social sciences published in China. Register for access to full-text.
Core Arts and Humanities databases:
The databases below are multidisciplinary so you can expect lots of results from different subject areas.
- Discovery (EBSCO)Use Discovery to look for books, ebooks, journal articles and more. It's a great place to start your search but does not give you everything the Library has. We highly recommend searching in at least one other database on this list as well as Discovery.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar is one of the most popular ways to find academic sources for study and research. Did you know you can use it to search for journal articles that the University of Melbourne has access to? You can do this through the link above or set up your Google Scholar preferences to include Library content..
- JSTORJSTOR is one of the largest databases the Library has access to. It is a multidisciplinary database so it looks in thousands of journals in over a hundred subjects - many of them related to arts and humanities. Highly recommended as your first or second place to search.
Browse eJournals on Browzine:
For Chinese language journals, please visit the China Academic Journals full-text Database, and browse journal titles by clicking the Journal Navigation button.
You can view a selection of online Chinese Studies eJournals (English language) that the Library holds by clicking on the button below (this will open in a new window). For a more comprehensive list of eJournals please visit our A-Z eJournals page.
Books
You can access print and eBooks via the Library Catalogue. To find books on a particular subject, try a keyword search:
To improve your searching skills, see the Research Essentials Library Guide. Note that you can search the catalogue in non-Latin scripts (including Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese and Korean).
For information on access and loans, including material from other libraries, see the borrowing from the library page. The eBook Guide provides information on eBook access.
Books within the General East Asian Collection:
The East Asian Collection is divided into two parts:
- Rare East Asian Collection (housed in Baillieu Library and are available via the Baillieu Library Reading Room)
- General East Asian Collection (able to be borrowed from the ERC Library). The General East Asian Collection consists of both print and electronic research materials in Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. This collection mainly covers the areas of arts and humanities, social sciences and architectural history.
Search this collection in the Library catalogue using Chinese characters (simplified and traditional) or Pinyin Romanisation. If you search with Pinyin Romanisation, please refer to the Library of Congress' Chinese romanization guidelines.
Contemporary eBook databases:
- Chinamaxx Digital LibrariesPopular eBook platform in China. The Library has access to selected titles in the humanities and social sciences areas.
- Apabi Digital LibraryAnother popular eBook platform in China. The Library has access to selected titles in the humanities and social sciences areas.
- Airiti BooksAs a Taiwan platform, Airiti Books provides access to a selection of Chinese ebooks covering a range of topics within Taiwan Studies.
- Digital Collection on China StudiesContains Chinese language eBooks on Chinese culture and society. In the landing page, view titles that UniMelb library has access to under My Library 我的图书馆, or browse the full range of titles under CNKI Books 全部图书.
- China Economy, Public Policy, and Security DatabaseOffers high-value Chinese language analytical reports 'Pishu' (皮书) which are intended to guide policymaking in the People’s Republic of China. Published by the Social Sciences Academic Press, it covers a variety of topics including international relations, agricultural policy, industry competitiveness, and more.
- Ebook Central (Ebook Library, Ebrary)Comprehensive eBook database offering both English and Chinese languages eBooks on China studies.
Classical text databases:
- Gu jin tu shu ji chengElectronic version of 古今图书集成
Theses
- China Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses full-text DatabaseThis database is one of the most comprehensive, high quality databases of dissertations and theses in China. Coverage is 1984 onwards and is updated daily. It covers all subject areas.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses GlobalThis database is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997.
- NLC Digitalized Doctoral Dissertations and Post-doctoral Research Report Database 中国国家图书馆馆藏博士论文与博士后研究报告数字化资源库Provide free access and download.
- National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan 臺灣博碩士論文失知識加值系統Registration is required for full-text.
Statistics and Yearbooks
Chinese statistics and yearbook databases:
- China Yearbooks full-text databaseCYFD is the largest, continuously updated contemporary yearbook database in China, covering national/ regional/ industry/ enterprise yearbooks, and more.
- National Population Census of China This link opens in a new windowThis database includes all published volumes of national, provincial, municipal and county level statistics from the 2010 census, and selected volumes from the 1982, 1990 and 2000 census. Data Analysis function is available.
- China Statistical Yearbooks DatabaseCSYD covers all important statistical yearbook titles published in Mainland China since 1949. It contains over 3,569 volumes census and survey data as well as statistical charts.
- National Bureau of Statistics of China 中华人民共和国国家统计局Full-text China Statistical Yearbooks, Population Census Data, Statistical Communiqués, as well as various kinds of data, indicators, indexes, etc.
Search tips for finding more statistics and yearbooks:
For print sources, try keywords search in our library catalogue with the following:
Click on the button below to view more statistical resources that the Library holds/has access to (this will open in a new window).
Newspapers
For more information about finding news, click on the button below (this will open in a new window).
Chinese Historical Newspapers in Microform
Visit the Baillieu Library for on-site access to the University of Melbourne Library's Chinese Historical Newspapers in Microform Collection (this will open in a new window).
Primary Sources
The Rare East Asian Collection and microforms
The Rare East Asian Collection houses more than 20,000 volumes of titles ranging from the 17th century to the 21st century.
Collection items can be requested for viewing in the Special Collections Reading Room at Baillieu Library, Level 3.
The University of Melbourne Library holds a significant Chinese Microform Collection containing a wealth of primary and secondary source material. For example, 红卫兵资料 OR 申報; 大公報. For more information about accessing the microforms collection, click on the button below (this will open in a new window).
Selected primary source databases
Below are selected China-related primary source databases, you can find more by visiting the A-Z eJournals and Databases website.
- Quan guo bao kan suo yin shu ju ku 1857-1992Developed by Shanghai library, this database covers millions of records of digitized newspapers and periodicals from Late Qing period to contemporary China. The library has access to selected series from 民国时期期刊索引数据库 and 现刊索引数据库.
- Hytung Chinese Old Periodicals Database (1792-1949)Contains thousands of magazines and newspapers printed in China from 1792 to 1949, plus important materials for modern literary studies such as "Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial", "Education World", and more.
- Foreign Office Files for China, 1919-1980The six parts of this collection make available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980. Due to the long-unique nature of the relationship between Britain and China, these formerly restricted British government documents, consisting of diplomatic dispatches, letters, newspaper cuttings, maps, reports of court cases, biographies of leading personalities, summaries of events and diverse other materials, provide unprecedented levels of detail into one of the most turbulent centuries of Chinese history.
- Chinese Anti-Rightist Campaign Database (1957- )This database is a major historical archival project containing first-hand original written materials about the 1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersThese historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. The individual titles can be cross-searched alongside all ProQuest Newspaper collections.
Browse all primary source databases
Click on the button below to browse all online primary source databases the Library subscribes to (it will open in a new tab).
You can sort the list by searching with China in the search box.
Chinese Legal Research
Click on the button below to view a selection of resources on Chinese legal research that the Library holds (this will open in a new window).
Referencing and Citing
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