Research Guides: Asian Languages & Civilizations Research Guide: Find Background Information

Reference Sources

Below are links to reference sources and collections that are most useful for this subject:

Cambridge Companions
Scholarly surveys of authors, literary history, culture, and philosophy.
Cambridge Histories
Provides political, economic and social history, philosophy, and literature of selected countries and subjects.
Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics
Includes all content of the print edition, with new content added annually to elaborate on or update themes already published.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Encyclopedias and reference sources on the Gale eBooks platform, including the Encyclopedia of Religion, Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, and the Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture.
JapanKnowledge Lib (date coverage varies)
Collection of dictionaries and encyclopedia, full-text articles, video files, maps, images.

The Oxford Dictionary of Islam
Call Number: Online
Includes biographical profiles, Islamic law, religious groups, major political movements, cultural terms, and key historical events.

Reference Universe
Searchable index of the library's entire reference collection, both print and electronic.

The Berkshire dictionary of Chinese biography by Kerry Brown
Call Number: Online
Comprehensive entries on major figures in China, including emperors, politicians, poets, artists, scientists, explorers, and philosophers.

Dictionaries

We have both online and print Chinese dictionaries. For Chinese-language learning resources, see the Chinese Language Learning Guide.

Han Yu Da Ci Dian
Comprehensive Chinese word dictionary

Macmillan-FLTRP Chinese character dictionary = Han yu xue xi zi dian
Call Number: AC Frost Reference PL1455 .M325 2010
Over 3,000 of the most frequently used Chinese characters and over 32,000 common words and expressions from the HSK proficiency test.
Oxford Chinese Dictionary by Julie Kleeman, Harry Yu
Call Number: AC Frost Reference PL1455 .O94 2010
Over 300,000 words and phrases and 370,000 translations, including tens of thousands of example phrases illustrating key points of construction and usage.

Tip: What are reference sources, and why would I use them?

Reference sources can include encyclopedias, bibliographies, dictionaries, handbooks, and atlases.

They provide overviews of and background information on a topic
They help you identify or refine your topic
They provide quick, reliable facts
They include bibliographies that will lead you to additional sources of information on your topic

You can find the Library's collection of reference books on Floor 1 of Frost. We also have many online databases that include collections of edited scholarly encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sources.