Guide purpose
There is no single database that will cover the literature of Asian American Studies, but Asian American Studies literature is indexed in a variety of databases. This guide begins with two important journals in Asian American Studies. The discourse in these journals may provide important key words for those searching the more general databases listed below.
If you have questions about the use of these databases, research in Asian American Studies, cultural studies, social sciences, or if you need support with social sciences data, I am happy to help, or get you in contact with those who can.
Key Resources
- Amerasia JournalImportant peer-reviewed journal for Asian American Studies since 1971. It is published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Yale Asian American Students Association.
- Journal of Asian American studiesImportant peer-reviewed journal Issued by the Association of Asian American Studies. 1998 - present.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSociological Abstracts, and its companion file Social Services Abstracts, cover the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. It provides abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
[Coverage: 1952-present] - America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowBibliographic database containing citations to articles on American and Canadian history, including ethnic history and relations, from prehistory to the present. Covers more than 2000 journals published worldwide.
[Coverage: 1964-present] - MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowThe Modern Language Association International Bibliography (MLAIB) covers international scholarly materials on all languages, literatures, linguistics, and folklore from around the world. It includes citations to items from journals, series, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. MLAIB does not index book reviews.
[Coverage: 1926-present] - Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowCitations to articles on the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: history and life.) Indexes more than 2000 journals worldwide.
[Coverage: 1967-present] - Ethnic Newswatch This link opens in a new windowA full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press in the United States.
[Coverage: 1960-present]
Historical and Primary Sources
- Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
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More than 250 plays, some previously unpublished, along with related biographical, production, and theatrical information.
[Coverage: late 19th century-present] - Densho Digital Repository This link opens in a new windowThe Densho Digital Repository provides digital access to oral histories, historical newspapers, photography, and other primary source material documenting the Japanese American experience, including the forced relocation and incarceration of American citizens in concentration camps by the US government in during World War II.
- Pioneering Punjabis Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowThis archive offers a window into the story of South Asian immigrants from the Punjab region in north India to California since the turn of the twentieth century. Explore over 700 video interviews, speeches, diaries, photographs, articles, and letters in which Punjabi Americans share their life stories, values, and contributions to California’s history over the last hundred and twenty years.
- The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) This link opens in a new windowThe South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) documents, preserves, and shares stories from South Asian American history and experience.
- Chinese in California, 1850-1925 [via OAC]The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials.
- Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience (SEAAdoc)SEAAdoc is an educational resource of the Southeast Asian Archive at the UC Irvine Libraries focusing on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States. It contains 1,500 visual images and 4,000 pages of searchable text.
- Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA)The Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA) serves as a gateway to the archival and manuscript holdings of numerous California archives, libraries, oral history programs, and museums featuring online finding aids, images, texts and oral histories.
- Korean American Digital Archive (USC Digital Library)This collection brings more than 13,000 pages of documents, over 1,900 photographs, and about 180 sound files together chronicling the Korean American community between 1903 and 1965.
- Japantown AtlasThe Japantown Atlas maps nearly two dozen communities in California where Japanese Americans lived and worked prior to World War II.
- Welga! Digital Archive and RepositoryThe Welga Project Digital Archive and Repository focuses on preserving and presenting primary sources regarding the Filipino American activism, labor, and immigration history.