General policies and principles for the Library's collections are stated in the General Collection Development Policy.

Purpose of the Collection

The Far East Studies collection supports research and instruction of the East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies Department.  It collects materials in English and occasionally in German, French, and other western languages in all subjects related to China, Japan, and Korea.

Scope

Subjects

Major areas of collection activities at the research level include Chinese literature from medieval to contemporary periods; post-modern and contemporary Japanese literature; Chinese, Japanese, and Korean performing arts; Chinese and Japanese language pedagogy and translation studies; pre-modern Japanese theater; contemporary Japanese military, politics, popular culture, minority, and gender studies; Chinese Buddhism and Taoism and Japanese Shinto studies; contemporary Korean popular culture, television, motion pictures, and archeology; Taiwan literature from colonial period to contemporary and Taiwan film studies; Asian tourism and world heritage sites, comfort women, and colonial history.

Geographical Coverage

China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan.

Language

Almost all of the materials are in English.  Materials in other language such as German and French are collected upon request.

Chronological Limits

From ancient time to present.  Emphasis is on Song, Ming, Qing Dynasties, and contemporary China; colonial China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan; Edo and contemporary Japan, ancient and contemporary Korea.

Publication Dates

Emphasis is on recent imprints, but some older works are collected as appropriate.

Place of Publication

The majority of materials collected are published in the U.S.  Some are published in other countries and areas such as U.K., Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, and France.

Types of Materials Collected

Print is the primary format.  Due to space constraint, electronic format is preferred if available.  Audiovisual materials and dissertations are purchased on demand.  Microfilms are collected as needed, especially primary sources.  Antiquarian materials and manuscripts are generally not purchased.  Reference works such as bibliographies, dictionaries, and biographies are collected actively.

Electronic resources are actively acquired through collaboration with other UC libraries as budget allows.  We comply with the licensing requirements set forth by the California Digital Library.  In addition to the criteria used for the print format, preferences are given to electronic resources meeting the following conditions:

  • Full-text resources
  • Accessible through Internet by the campus IP address
  • No password or ID is required at login

Selected Internet resources are provided through the East Asian Studies web page.  The web page has minor updates throughout the year.  Major changes only take place in the summer. 

Systemwide and Other Resources

Interlibrary loan is used extensively.  Many requests for older materials are fulfilled through Interlibrary Loan, but if the demand is of a continuing nature, the material is considered for acquisition.

Subject librarian: Yao Chen

Policy Last Updated: June 2015