Murdoch University
Library

Asian Studies & Development Studies Resources

Introduction

This guide has been created to help you find Asian Studies and Development Studies related resources that are either held in Murdoch University Library or are available electronically on the web. It is not an exhaustive guide, but rather a sample of the many kinds of information sources you can use for your research topics.

Use this guide to help you to:

If you require further assistance to find subject-related resources enquire at the Reference Desk located on Link Level 3 in the library. For general queries ask at the Enquiry Desk near the entry to the library on North Wing Level 3. If you are unable to access the library, try the following options:

  • Ask a Librarian
  • Online Librarian
  • Asian Studies Subject Librarian by email.

    Library Home Page

    The     Library Home Page offers a gateway to locating the information sources provided by the Library. It gives access to the Library's
  • Catalogue
  • Databases
  • Past exam papers
  • Library Portal
  • Alerting Services
  • Digital Thesis.

    Library Catalogues

    Use the Library Catalogue to find books, journals and other resources that may be helpful in providing information about your topic. From here you will also be able to determine the availability and location of any resource that you are interested in. The Murdoch Library     Web Catalogue is accessible from the Library Home Page. For assistance using the catalogue go the Help With Searching page which is found on the left hand side of the web catalogue search pages.
    Access to the catalogues of Other Western Australian Libraries is also available from the Library's Home Page.

    The Libraries Australia database is a very useful resource containing records from major databases world wide. Where an item is held in Australia details of each library's holdings are indicated in the record.

    My Library

    My Library is a service which allows you to stay informed about new materials added to the Library collection by setting up email alerts. Connect to My Library from the Library homepage or from the catalogue, using your Murdoch Username and Library PIN. Once logged into My Library, you can search the catalogue, save your searches, set up email alerts, renew your loans, recall items on loan and change your Library PIN.

    Ebooks

    The library has access to thousands of electronic books, which are available to you whenever you are using the Internet. Where a book is available electronically there will be a link to it in the catalogue record. It is possible to limit your search so that you only find e-books. For example, try doing a keyword search for development stud*, limiting the Location to ELECTRONIC and Serial/Monograph to MONOGRAPH. For more information on the titles that are available see the Ebooks page.

    Theses

    To find theses completed at Murdoch University select the T>TITLE option in the Web Catalogue and then type the words murdoch university theses. Select from the result by scrolling through the display to find Honours, Masters or PhD level theses in your chosen subject area.
    You may wish to look at further information about Murdoch University theses.

    Other universities also record theses in their respective library catalogues.

    In recent years the Australian Digital Theses Program has been developed to deliver Australian theses (PhD's or equivalent and Masters by research only) in digital full-text format. There were about 3096 digital theses online in this database as at January 2005. Murdoch University now contributes to the Australian Digital Theses Program.

    ProQuest Digital Dissertations
    Free access to the most current two years of citations and abstracts in the Dissertation Abstracts database.

    The following printed index may also be of assistance:

    Index to theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by the universities of Great Britain and Ireland, 1986-1999 London, ASLIB. (Murdoch University Library no longer has a current subscription to this title)

    Link Level 3 R 013.370941 I38 I

    Reference Resources

    For background information on aspects of Asian Studies and Development Studies, there are many reference books available, a selection is listed below. It includes both printed and electronic encyclopaedias, dictionaries and general reference:

    Dictionaries

     Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia 2001
    Link Level 3 R 320.959 LEI 2001

    China : a historical and cultural dictionary 1998
    South Wing Level 1 951.003 CHI 1998

    Dictionary of development: Third world economy, environment, society 1990
    Link Level 3 R 338.9009172 DIC

    Penguin Dictionary of environment and sustainable development 1996
    Link Level 3 R 363.703 GIL

    Dictionary of environment and development: people, places, ideas & organizations
    Link Level 3 R 363.7003 CRU

    Butterworths environmental management and law dictionary 1997
    Link Level 3 R 344.4603 BUT 1997

    Encyclopaedias

    Encyclopedia of Asian history 1988

    Link Level 3 R 950 ENC

    Companion encyclopedia of Asian philosophy 2000
    Rockingham R 181.003 COM 2000

    Encyclopedia of modern Asia 2002
    Rockingham R 950.03 ENC 2002

    Encyclopedia of Japan
    Encyclopedia of Women and Gender 2 v.
    Link Level 3 R 305.403 ENC 2001

    General Reference

    Electronic Reference - This list of ready reference sites is maintained by Murdoch University Library staff.
    Human development reports - 1990-
    OECD statistics
    The sociology of the environment 3 vols. 1995

    South Wing Level 3 304.2 SOC 1995

    Journals

    The library has journals available in print and electronic format. In some cases both the paper and electronic versions of titles are held. To find out what journals the library holds, where they are located, and in what format they are available, use the library's Web Catalogue.

    New Journal Display

    Print copies of the latest issues of selected journals received in the Library are kept in the New Journal Display areas. Social Sciences, Humanities, Education and Science journals are displayed in Link Level 3. Law and Business journals are displayed in South Wing Level 3.
    Journal titles are arranged by Dewey number and shelved on the outside tray of the display shelves.

    Finding a Specific Journal Title

    The Library holds many journals that relate to Asian Studies and Development Studies courses. If you have a citation for a journal article, you can check to see if it is held in the library by doing a TITLE search in the Web Catalogue. Click on Title on the Web Catalogue screen and type all or part of the journal title in the search box.

    One journal the library subscribes to is Development and change. A Title search for this item will display a result screen that provides a summary of the library's holdings. The details described indicate that the library holds this journal in print format from Vol. 14 (1983)-v.34 (2003). The call number for the item is given, as well as the location within the library. From the information provided we are able to determine if the library is still receiving print copies of the journal. The result screen also advises that this particular journal is also available electronically. For this entry the catalogue provides links to the electronic version of the journal, access via Swets Wise or Blackwell Synergy. By clicking on either of these links you will be able to access the fulltext of this particular journal.

    Remember: The library catalogue records the titles of journals held in the library but does not index all the articles in each of the journals. To find individual articles on a particular topic use the Database Page. Instructions on when and how to use these will be covered in more detail below.

    Databases

    Databases are a collection of data which can be searched for a particular piece of information. The Library's databases include indexes to journal articles and full text collections of materials such as journals, newspapers, statistical publications, encyclopaedias and legal materials.

    All databases can be accessed through the Library Database Page. This page provides a number of paths for accessing databases :

  • Alphabetical list allows you to browse by database title.
  • Quick Links to Major Databases for the more frequently used databases especially most of the full text databases.
  • Browse by Subject Area

    NB Please check Off Campus Access for information about how to access the Library's electronic resources remotely. Some databases require a password for access, which you can get from the Reference Desk on Link Level 3 (9360 6838).

    Databases available through Murdoch University Library

    This list includes databases currently available at Murdoch which are most likely to provide useful resources for Asian Studies and Development Studies:

    Expanded Academic Index
    A multi-disciplinary database. Information on Astronomy, Religion, Law, History, Psychology, Humanities, Current Events, Sociology, Communications and the General Sciences.

    Factiva.com
    Provides fulltext access to significant news items from over 6000 international sources, including more than 100 Australasian sources. Coverage includes articles from newspapers, news wires, press releases, company announcements and journals. Also provides information on companies and industries.

    ProQuest
    Abstracting, full-text and image database which includes telecommunications, accounting & tax, applied science & technology, Asian business, computing, education and religions.

    Bibliography of Asian Studies
    Contains about 420,000 references to books, journal articles, individually-authored monographs, chapters in edited volumes, conference proceedings, anthologies, etc., published from 1971 until the present day. It includes citations to all articles since 1991 from the 100 most-used journals in Asian studies.

    Historical Abstracts
    Indexes the worldwide historical literature in a variety of disciplines: multicultural studies, sociology, psychology, women's studies/gender studies, religion, anthropology and political science. Approximately 1800 journals are indexed in over 50 languages. Includes citations to books and dissertations.

    Sociological Abstracts
    Indexes and abstracts scholarly literature in sociology and related disciplines. It provides abstracts from approximately 2500 journals, book chapters, conference papers, relevant dissertation citations from book reviews. Sociological Abstracts covers publications in sociology, anthropology, community development, economics, medicine, philosophy, demography, political science and social psychology.

    A complete listing of databases relevant to Asian Studies and Development Studies can be found on the Journal Databases page under the Browse by Subject Area listing.

    The Library Portal

    The Library Portal provides a single access point for Library Databases, Catalogues and E-Journals. You can search multiple databases and calalogues simultaneously and link to full text resources and other services.

    Alerting Services

    A number of databases allow you to save your searches in your area of interest, and set up an email 'alert' for new articles that are being published. This allows you to keep up to date with the latest research in your field without having to regularly repeat your search. For a list of the databases with this service available, and instructions on how to create your alert see the Alerting Services page.

    Print Indexes

    If you are looking for information on research that occurred prior to the coverage of the electronic databases you need to look at the print indexes that are available in the library. The following sources would be of use and are found in the Reference collection on Link Level 3.

    Asian studies indexed journal reference guide

    Link Level 3 R 950.016 A832 1

    China during the cultural revolution, 1966-1976 : a selected bibliography of English language works

    Link Level 3 R 951.056016 CHA 1999

    International Bibliography of Social and Cultural Anthropology

    Link Level 3 R 306 I61 1

    The Future of Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific : a special select bibliography in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore

    Link Level 3 R 950.429016 FUT

    Social Sciences Citation Index(SSCI) 1975-April 2000 (1992 onwards available online from the ISI Web of Science database)

    Link Level 3 R 300 S678 3

    Journal Title Abbreviations

    In many information sources the abbreviated form of the journal title is used in the citation and you will need to know the full title of the journal in order to check it in a library catalogue, or to cite it correctly. The following title may be used to check abbreviated journal titles:

    Periodical Titles Abbreviations

    NW Level 3 Reference Desk

    There are also a number of online resources that can be useful in providing the full title of journal abbreviations. These include the following:

    All that JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources

    Ulrich's Periodicals Directory

    Document Delivery

    As part of the Library support to staff and research students, the Document Delivery service will request copies of documents, theses and other materials which are not held in the Murdoch collection. Requests are supplied from a number of sources including other libraries and commercial Document Supply services. For information on using this service including how to register, and details of the fees involved, look at the Library's Document Delivery web site.

    Subject Guides

    In addition to the online guide you are now reading, the library has developed other online guides to assist in finding information resources in specific subject areas. These can be accessed via the Library Home Page from the section Find, then Subject Guides.

    The Internet

    There are many varied sites and resources on the Internet, some more useful than others. Though you may have fun surfing the net, remember that it should not be seen as the only, or even first resource for information gathering. Evaluate the web sources carefully before including them in your repertoire of research materials.

    Selected Internet Sites

    Subject specialists in Murdoch University Library have selected internet sites in a number of different subject areas. Some sites which may be relevant to Asian Studies & Development Studies include:

    Flinders University Development Studies

    Asian Studies

    Sociology

    History

    Politics & International Studies

    Sustainability & Technology Policy

    Women's Studies

    The Government Information list provides links to some of the world's government agencies. Many government publications are now published on the internet and are freely available to the public. Look for the Publications link on these websites to see a list of the available fulltext resources.

    Search Engines

    You could use a search engine to help find information on the internet. The library web site provides a list of search engines. Click on Searching the Internet listed under Internet Sites to see the many web navigation resources available. Keep up to date with new search engines and websites by subscribing to one of the email alert services such as the Scout Report.

    Email Lists

    There are many email lists you could subscribe to in order to keep abreast of new developments. Some are discussion lists and some merely informative. For further information on lists, what they are and how to subscribe to them, look at the University's Discussion List web page.

    Citing References

    It is essential that any references used in your research projects are cited correctly. A comprehensive bibliography is an indication of how widely you have read for the topic. This record also allows any relevant papers to be found at a later date. The most important aspect of citing is to be consistent.

    The Library's publication, How to cite references, which discusses various citation systems, is available for consultation online.

    One specialised guide that may be of relevance for some is the Murdoch University Library Legal Citation Guide.

    Please remember that there are specific citation rules for electronic resources. The guides give examples of these materials.

    Managing References : EndNote

    EndNote for Windows is a software package that allows you to manage your references electronically. You can search databases, organise your references in a single database and create bibliographies and reference lists automatically in your word processor. For Honours and Postgraduate students it is considered a particularly valuable tool. Look at the Library's EndNote site for further information about the software and details on how to get access to it.

    The library holds introductory training sessions aimed at users new to the Endnote software. The Library's Information Skills Training page provides details of classes that are available.

    Information Skills Programmes

    During the year the Murdoch Library regularly offers training in how to use the resources it provides, such as the Journal Databases and Endnote, as well as how to research using the web. These classes are available to all University staff and students. Details are posted on the Library's Training Notice Board, North Wing Level 3 and on the Information Skills Training page. Postgraduate students should also refer to their Generic Skills Programme for details of Library related workshops.

    © 2007 Murdoch University | CRICOS Code: 00125J | http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/guides/arts/AS_DS.html