J300: China in the age of "The Dream"

Getting Started
A good way to get started on a research project is to consult reference books, such as Encyclopedia of Asian History (DS31 .E53 1988), Cambridge History of China (DS 735 .C3145), International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (H41 .I58 2001) or Encyclopedia of Religion (BL31 .E46 2005), all in the Wells Library Reference Room. Use sources like these for overviews of your topic, fact-checking, and most importantly, suggestions for further reading, which will help you begin your search. Even the Encyclopaedia Britannica can be a helpful basic reference, with articles written by leading scholars, and good bibliographies.

Finding Primary Sources
To find primary sources for Chinese history, in English, use the Advanced Search screen in IUCAT. Either use keywords, or use this Library of Congress subject terms:
   china history
Use
   sources
as an additional subject term. Then select English as the language limit.

For literature, try
   chinese literature translations into english
as the subject.

Finding Secondary Sources: Books
Use IUCAT to find secondary sources too. Look up books or authors that are mentioned in the reference books above, or in the bibliography and footnotes in your assigned readings and sources recommended by your instructor, using the Keyword screen. The Advanced Keyword screen can be a good place to start if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. Try
   china history
or
china history qing dynasty
as a subject term, but also include a keyword (like war or education) to narrow your results, or, don't include another keyword, but use the choices in the right side-bar to narrow your search results once they display. Or, use the Browse screen and browse by subject on one of the subject headings suggested here, such as chinese literature, to find good subject headings.

Finding Secondary Sources: articles
To find articles in scholarly journals, search in Historical Abstracts, where you can search for articles about a specific time period (first click on Add/Remove Fields, Add All, then enter a time period in the Time Periods box). Many articles in these databases are available online: if you don't see a link to full text, click on the IU-Link button to see your options.

If your topic is connected with religion in any way, try ATLA Religion Database, for scholarly research on religious studies.

For topics relating to women's studies or gender studies: Gender Studies Database.

Bibliography of Asian Studies is another good place to look for secondary sources on all of your topics. It includes both books and articles.

Getting articles (once you've identified them)
You know to how to use IUCAT to find a book, but how do you find journal articles? Let's say you notice a journal article in a footnote, or you search one of the databases above and you find the citation for the article, but not the actual article--now what? If you're in the database still, look for the IU-Link button in the record for the article. If not, or if there's no IU-Link button, use the "Find a specific article" search box on the On-line Full Text Journals page.

Need help or more ideas?
You're welcome to get in touch with me anytime--Celestina Savonius-Wroth, librarian for History and Religious Studies, cewroth@indiana.edu. Some other useful resources are listed on the East Asian Languages and Cultures library page, and the East Asian Studies librarian, Wen-Ling Liu, wliu@indiana.edu can help you with Chinese-language materials (and translated primary texts) and Chinese literature if you get stuck.

Last updated October 30, 2007