Research Resources for the History of China

 Finding Books & Videos

SFCC and SCC share an online "card catalog" at http://ccs.wash-id.net/ The catalog lists books, videos, magazines, journals, and other items held by one or both of the two libraries.

For books to check out, simply go to the second level of the library and look for Dewey call #951, which is Chinese history.

Community college libraries can't have everything. But thanks to friendly local libraries in the Washington-Idaho Network (WIN), students and faculty can use our online catalog's WIN-Borrow page to search at Gonzaga, Whitworth, North Idaho College, the University of Idaho, and others. Requested items will arrive within 3-4 days at the SFCC library's circulation desk, where they may be checked out. 

Google has been scanning entire books, so it's possible to see at least part of several million titles at http://books.google.com. Depending on copyright status and the owner's wishes, Google may show nothing, snippets of text, multiple pages, or the entire book.

Articles from Journals and Magazines

You will use journal and magazine articles for most of your research. The Library subscribes to several thousand journals, magazines, and newspapers. However, most of these are online rather than in print. They are the same as the print versions.

To locate articles on topics for this class, there are several databases we recommend:

History Reference Center

Full text of more than 130 history periodicals, plus more than 2,300 complete reference books, encyclopedias, historical documents, biographies, photos and maps, and hours of historical video

JSTOR

JSTOR provides complete academic journal articles in many subject areas; it offers articles 2-3 years old and before, not the most current ones

Academic Search Complete

Academic Search Complete is a database of more than 6,000 journals, mostly peer-reviewed. This database is more scholarly than ProQuest, which emphasizes popular magazines and newspapers

ProQuest

Although excellent for many topics, ProQuest is not the best database for scholarly articles in history. However, there are some East Asian history journals available here, so it's worth a look

Online Reference Books and Subject Encyclopedias

The Library has several dozen reference works available online. Specialized subject encyclopedias, particularly those which have signed articles written by scholars and specialists, can be valid research sources. At the least, you may find the following titles helpful for background information.

Cambridge Histories Online

The Cambridge Histories are part of a series of titles from the Cambridge University Press. The titles most likely to be helpful for this class are History of Ancient China, the 15-volume History of China,, and (possibly) the History of Early Inner Asia.

China: a Country Study

Complete online book from the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress; all volumes in the "Country Studies" series are solid, well-researched reference works, but bear in mind this one dates from 1987, and thus will not be useful for recent history. Much more current (August 2006) is the Federal Research Division's China Profile (PDF).

Encyclopedia of Multicultural America

Essays on specific culture groups in the United States, providing information on historical background and settlement patterns. Might be useful for Chinese immigration to the U.S., the "Yellow Peril" scare, and the role of Chinese in western U.S. history.

Immigration in U.S. History

Examines the many issues surrounding immigration from a wide variety of perspectives - from the earliest settlement of British North America in the 17th century through the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks of the 21st century. Places special emphasis on the many ethnic communities that have provided American immigrants.

Encyclopedia of U.S. History: Government and Politics

A concise history of the U.S. government and political scene throughout American history, this might useful if your subject involves Chinese-U.S. relations, particularly after 1949.

Encyclopedia of Politics

This reference work features over 450 articles on individuals, movements, political parties, and ideological principles, including Maoism; for research on modern China, some of these could be useful background material.

Political Theories for Students

Similar to the source above, this is a reference book that could help explain the ideological background of the Chinese Revolution, as well as providing insights into such figures as Mao, Deng, etc.

Daily Life through History

Searchable content of many social history books; you can also browse by region or time period. Perhaps not the first place to look, but might prove useful in locating information about Chinese culture and everyday life throughout history. Some possibly helpful titles include Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty, China Today: an Encyclopedia of Life in the People's Republic, Culture and Customs of China, Food Culture in China , and The History of China.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Ordinarily you would not use a general encyclopedia for college-level research, but the online version of Britannica does have useful features: an updated world atlas, thousands of images and videos, and links to over 300,000 articles from respected magazines and journals (some of which are not available through our other databases). The Britannica Online also recommends websites which have been vetted for quality and reliability. This should not be the first place you look, but do check it out.

World Wide Web Resources

The World Wide Web can be helpful for research, but the challenge is to identify stable, reputable academic sources. Search engines such as Google return too many hits, and most of them are not suitable. An excellent site listing various specialized search tools is

• Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Information Needs
  http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Look for sites that are kept up to date and which have an identifiable author or responsible party. You should be able to locate contact information easily (postal addresses, phone numbers, or at least an email address, ideally to someone more specific than "webmaster"). Individual or hobbyist sites are often entertaining and even authoritative for some subjects, but are not suitable for this class. Rather, seek out sites that have an educational, governmental, or non-profit organization affiliation, and even then use websites only as supplemental sources, not your primary ones.

Once you find suitable sources of information in any format, you will need to cite what you use. Please consult our list of citation resources.

Recommended Web Sites

History of China

Part of a larger site called "East & Southeast Asia: an Annotated Directory of Internet Resources," from the University of Redlands; like most website directories, this is a mishmash of good sites, dead links, and assorted detritus; however, also like most academically selected directories, the ratio of good to bad is better than one gets with a random Google search

Internet Modern History Sourcebook for China

Extensive list of web sites, chosen and organized by Paul Halsall, editor of several other "Internet Sourcebooks"

Internet Guide for Chinese Studies

A large list of web sites, organized and selected by the Sinological Institute at Leiden University, the Netherlands

Chinese Collection

Part of the Special Collections at the Univ. of Souther California, this online exhibit offers or links to numerous essays, images, and web pages from prehistory to the Qing dynasty

Classical Historiography for Chinese History

Compiled by Benjamin A. Elman, Professor of East Asian Studies and History, Princeton University

A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization

Hosted at Washington University, this site may be most useful as a source for images

China

This page, from the Univ. of Maine, may lead you to some nice pictures, but should prove useful for the bibliographies of mostly English-language works

Chinese History Research Site

Essays, sites, and other information selected and maintained by the Modern Chinese History program at Univ. of California, San Diego

Guides to the "How" of Writing

Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students

A guide from Bowdoin College

Some Tips for Writing History Papers

A Cornell University professor's recommendations

Garbl's Grammar Guides Online
http://garbl.home.attbi.com/writing/grammar.htm

Claims to offer "everything you'll ever want to know about sentence structure and using the parts of speech correctly." This is one of a set of related, interlinked pages, all addressing topics of clear writing, punctuation, and communication in general.

Writing Handouts Listed by Topic
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index2.html

The Online Writing Lab, or OWL, at Purdue University has dozens of handouts and guides available, both on matters of grammar, punctuation, and style, as well as on professional/business topics such as report writing, abtracting, resumes, cover letters, and so forth. A very useful resource.

Library Reference: (509) 533-3834 or 1-800-251-1972 or SFCC Reference Desk
SFCC Library 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. MS 3020 – Spokane WA 99224-5288

URL: http://libguides.spokanefalls.edu/China
Last modified:Wednesday, January 06, 2010 .