Asian and Pacific Studies Collections and Services

History

The ANU Library has been developing collections of Asian and Pacific material for over forty years to support research and teaching in the University, notably the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies and the Faculty of Asian Studies.

Located in the R.G. Menzies Building, the ANU Library's holdings represent the most comprehensive collection of Asian scholarly material in any Australian university library. Combined with the National Library of Australia, also located in Canberra, the collections represent one of the world's major resources for the study of Asia.

Languages

Material is in all of the major European languages as well as in Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Arabic. A selection of material is also to be found in Korean, Tagalog and minor regional and ethnic languages of Asia. Pacific material is chiefly in English and French.

Collections and Services

Material is held on most parts of Asia and the Pacific and is in both printed and electronic formats.

The following are the major strengths of the printed collections.

China

Chinese language and literature, history (including local histories), politics, economics and statistics (including statistical yearbooks), religion, classical studies in collectanea, 20th Century newspapers and periodicals (including many unique materials), and resource materials on the Cultural Revolution.

Japan

Japanese language and literature, history, especially local histories, philosophy, religion, education, geography, and economics.

Indonesia/Malaysia

Indonesian and Malay language and literature, history, politics, statistics and economics, religion, anthropology, geography and culture, including strong collections of Dutch archival material relating to Indonesia, together with Javanese, Malay and Buginese manuscript collections (in microform).

Thailand/Vietnam/Philippines

The collections have a concentration on history, literature, language and society, including statistical material on contemporary Thailand and the Philippines. There are several sets of Western archival material on 19th Century Thailand.

Burma

A useful collection of economic data, history, literature and Buddhism in Burma.

South and West Asia

Australia's strongest collections of Sanskrit, Hindi and Tibetan material, with strong holdings of periodical material for Middle East Studies, and contemporary statistics and official documents on South Asia.

Pacific

A distinctive collection of the history and society of the Pacific (particularly PNG and other parts of Melanesia). Current publications from the Pacific relating to development.

Access to the Collection

Material in all languages except Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Burmese, Thai and Vietnamese may be located through the on-line public access catalogues in any branch of the ANU Library. Access to recently acquired material in the above languages is also available via these catalogues. Users may access the ANU's electronic library, including the catalogue, through the Internet by pointing their WWW browser to URL anulib.anu.edu.au. A web interface to the library catalogue is available at library.anu.edu.au

To be sure of finding all material available in East Asian languages and in Thai, Burmese and Vietnamese it is may be necessary to consult the card catalogue in the foyer (Level Two) of the Menzies Building of the ANU Library, as well as the online catalogue.

Collection Enquiries

The responsibility for the development and servicing of the Asian and Pacific collections resides with the Manager, Menzies Precinct. The Manager and other Asia and Pacific staff are located on Level Two of the Menzies Building, corner of Garran and Fellows Roads on the ANU campus in the Canberra suburb of Acton.

The Menzies Building of the Library is the focus of the Asian and Pacific collections and services. Enquiries should be made at the Readers' Advisers Desk on Level Two.

More advanced information on all aspects of the Asian and Pacific collections and services may be obtained from the specialist staff in the Menzies Precinct.